Poetry Challenge #44-A Neat Idea . . .
Sometimes all you need to write a poem is something to get you started. A number, a color, a word, or a phrase.
Poetry Challenge #44
Here’s a Neat Idea:
For this poem, begin with the phrase “Here’s a neat idea:” and write.
You could be talking to yourself about something you’ve done or that you want to do.
You could be talking to someone else about something you want them to do.
You could be talking about something real or imagined.
Whenever you get stuck, write the phrase again and see where it takes you.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 850 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This one is Cindy's.) If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem. Scroll down and click on the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #42: WIZZ! BOOM! BANG! BWEEEEE!
This year's Fourth of July celebration was the longest ever--almost 2 weeks long! Fireworks began popping, smoke bombs frizzing, grills sizzling, ice clinking the last weekend in June and carried on to last night's finale-- WIZZ-BANG-BOOM TAH-DAH! (hence the tardiness of this post.) While Firework memories are still fresh, let's try capturing them:
Poetry Challenge #42:
WIZZ! BOOM! BANG! BANG! BWEEEE!
Make some Fourth of July noise!
Close your eyes and recall all those Fourth of July celebration sounds. Try to describe them with onomatopoeia (sound words like BOOM!) or simile (comparison using like or as: The fireworks were like giant bees buzzing the crowd) or metaphor (comparison not using like or as: The fireworks were thunder). Be poetic! Be loud or quiet! Listen…Hear those Sparklers sizzle?
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 850 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This one is Cindy's.) If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem. Scroll down and click on the comments.
Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl
Poetry Challenge #39-Kodachrome
When I think back on all the @#$! I learned in college, a disturbing experiment I learned about in PR 101 floats up: Subliminal Advertising. (Okay, yes, maybe it came to mind because I’m feeling a tad guilty and extremely bloated after devouring by the fistful more than my half of the movie popcorn last night.)
As if Psyco wasn't scary enough . . .
Short History Lesson: This idea of Subliminal Advertising came from a 1957 study by James Vicary, a market researcher who inserted the words "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" into a movie. “The words appeared for a single frame, allegedly long enough for the subconscious to pick up, but too short for the viewer to be aware of it.
The subliminal ads supposedly created an 18.1% increase in Coke sales and a 57.8% increase in popcorn sales.” As noted in this 2011 article from Business Insider, the results Vicary reported were falsified. But the idea of Subliminal Advertising, that images and words can and do subconsciously influence us, is widely regarded as true. Assuming it is, let the mind-bending commence:
Poetry Challenge #39
Kodachrome
Begin with some Words of Wisdom: select a quotation or adage from a book, the wall, or the Internet—or make up your own. For example:
“The Chief enemy of creativity is good sense.”—Pablo Picasso.
”All cats look grey at night”—Ben Franklin
”The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.”—Steve Jobs”
Now, in a blatant effort to subliminally impact readers—and maybe ourselves—let's hide those words of wisdom within the body of the poem. The trick is to insert the kernels of “wisdom” so deftly your reader doesn’t notice them. How?
Take out an unused piece of paper.
Working top to bottom, write the quotation down the center of the paper—one word to a line. As we are not creating an Acrostic poem, vary the position of the word on the lines.
Now write a poem around the words, thus "hiding" your message in a poem.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
My not-so-subliminal message to YOU!
Kodachrome Playlist:
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge approximately 26 Months, 2 Weeks, 6 Days, 13 Hours, 33 Minutes and 20 Seconds days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem. Scroll down and click on the comments
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Poetry Challenge #37-Put Me In Coach!
The “Kansas Comet,” Gayle Sayers, considered “one of the greatest players in NFL history,” was born on May 30, 1943.
(I don’t recall ever actually seeing Gayle Sayers play. In my mind he’s Billy D. Williams from the 1971 movie Brian’s Song. If you haven’t seen it, you should—bring tissues.)
Sayer, who played for the Chicago Bears, said, “I had a style all my own. The way I ran, lurchy, herky-jerky, I kept people off-guard…”
“Lurchy, herky-jerky” works! Football fans take note: For the record, Sayer piled up “4,956 yards rushing in his 68-game career and was voted to four Pro Bowls. Sayers scored 22 touchdowns and 132 points in his first season, both then-rookie records.”
Poetry Challenge #37
Put Me in Coach
Write a poem about football in your own “Lurchy, herky-jerky style.”
Or . . .
Write a poem to the “Coach” of your imagination asking to be “Put in” to something you really, really, really want.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 800 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl
Poetry Challenge #34-I Have Never __________
There are many things I’ve never done. Truths and Lies: I’ve never pet a tiger although I had a stuffed one growing up. I’ve never eaten snails or octopus. I’ve never run a marathon or climbed a mountain over 3000 feet tall.
Poetry Challenge #34
I Have Never ___________________
Make a list of some things you’ve never done. Try dividing your list into sections: things you’ve never done and never want to do, things you’d like to do but haven’t done yet, and things that seem impossible. Write a poem using some of these. It could be a list poem or it could be about one of these things. Maybe it’s a wish poem of things you want to do.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*Cindy Faughnan (an excellent baker!--click on the hyperlink to see) and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 750 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl
Poetry Challenge #32-Pick A Number . . .
Feeling lucky?
Poetry Challenge #32
Pick a Number . . .
Do you have a favorite number?
Cindy's is 5; mine is 8. You can pick your own number for this challenge or use a deck of cards or a pair of dice to come up with a random one. Same with the letter. Pick your own or draw a letter from a word game. Have fun!
1) Pick a number between 1 and 10.
2) Pick a letter.
3) Write a poem using that many syllables (or that many words) on each line.
4) Use as many words as possible beginning with your letter.
5) Write at least seven lines. Play with those words.
Here’s a poem Cindy made up following these directions entitled 5,L:
“Lucy leaves little
lines between luscious
legumes planted in
her least favorite
plot of the garden.
Limited color
of light leaves lay to
the left creating
some leathernecking.
Let them alone and
they will grow lavish.”
Pick A Number Playlist:
I Feel Lucky by Mary Chapin Carpenter
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Poetry Challenge #27-Here Comes the Sun!
Yesterday, today or tomorrow—depending on where you live—is the March (vernal) equinox. So?
So, the day will be divided into two equal parts: 12 hours night and, for the first time since last year at 12:15 pm EST, *12 hours of sunshine! (Equinox literally means “equal night.”)
So, It’s Springtime!
What’s more, the amount of sunlight each way will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer!
Technically speaking, the vernal equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator. This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. For more about the vernal equinox, including photos & diagrams, here’s a link to a great article on VOX.
Poetically Speaking, this takes us to:
Poetry Challenge #27
Here Comes the Sun!
Move to a brighter spot, somewhere you are either in the sun, or where you can witness the effects of sunshine. Don your sunglasses and shade hat to get you in a springy mood. There, now your ready!
First: Brainstorm a list of words that rhyme with either the word “Spring” or “Sun”--your choice.
Now: Using the words from your list, write a springy-sunny poem entitled "Here Comes the Sun!"
Here Comes the Sun Playlist:
- Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles
- Feeling Groovy by Simon & Garfunkle
- Sunshine on My Shoulder by John Denver
- And one for Max: Springtime in Alaska by Johnny Horton
- One that is anything but springy, but I couldn't resist: Three Days sung by KD Lang:
For more on the Vernal Equinox, click here.
*12 hours of sunshine is not exactly correct. The time the sun crosses the equator marking the Vernal Equinox is different for each time zone. For those in the Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones, this
Occurred yesterday, March 19th. For those in the Eastern time zone, spring begins on March 20th at 12:30 a.m. What’s more, “Not every place will experience the exact same amount of daylight. For instance, on Tuesday, Fairbanks, Alaska, will see 12 hours, 17 minutes of daylight. Key West, Florida, will see 12 hours and seven minutes. The differences are due to how the sunlight gets refracted (bent) as it enters Earth’s atmosphere at different latitudes.”
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Poetry Challenge #25-Double Dog Dare You Not To . . .E!
How Dare You Dare Me . . .
When it comes to “don’t dos” I’m like a bull in a ring and that’s the red flag. It’s almost impossible for me to resist doing what I’m told not to do.
And yes, that does make me a lousy at word games like Password and Taboo.
As hard as it is for me (and maybe you) to resist using a word or phrase on purpose, it’s fun to try. As having fun with words is the purpose of these 7-Minute Challenges, for this prompt I double dog dare you to put on your logologist’s hat and write a lipogram.* Say what?
Poetry Challenge #25
Double Dog Dare You to Delete the E
A lipogram consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided. In its easiest form, a writer avoids using uncommon letters like X, J, Q, or Z. Or avoids words with “ing” or “ed” endings. More difficult lipograms avoid common letters like A, T or E—E being the most common letter in the English language.
If you think avoiding using E is tough, consider this: Ernest Vincent Wright wrote an entire 50,000 word novel, GADSBY, without using the letter E.
Well, dang. If Wright could write a whole novel without "E", surely you and I can write a poem without "E", can’t wii?
Begin with a poem you’ve already written. Revise it by deleting every “E” word and replacing it with another word, if necessary.
Or, if you’d rather, revise the poem using only “E” words.
Or, try writing an entirely new poem without the letter “E”.
(And no fair intentionally mis-spelling words to avoid using “E”, that’s cheating.)
For Inspiration:
American logologist A Ross Eckler Jr. recreated Mary Had a Little Lamb six times, excluding different letters each time. To see the results of his efforts, click over to Wikipedia.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Select a poem to revise.
Start deleting "E" . . . I dare you!
*We have award-winning author/VCFA faculty advisor Tim Wynne Jones to thank (or curse) for this prompt. He shared his passion for logology during a VCFA lecture last summer.