Poetry Challenge #69-The Sound of Silence
I’m writing this from the middle of a snowstorm. Heavy snow blankets the ground, outlines the trees, and continues to fall. Schools and businesses are closed. There’s no traffic. The world is silent. And that got me thinking: what does silence sound like?
Poetry Challenge #69
The Sound of Silence
Write a poem that’s filled with silence. What images make you think of silence? What can you see and not hear?
Try using quiet sounds—s and l and w—for your words so your poem has a quiet sound to it.
Shhh. Listen. Write.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
The Sound of Silence Playlist:
Simon & Garfunkle’s Sounds of Silence (Of course!) BTW: If you are wondering where the usual link is, my resolution is to stop promoting compensation-free downloading. The link attached is to info about the song. Please buy it if you want to listen.
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 998 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This prompt was Cindy’s idea.) 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #68-For Old Time’s Sake
Happy first 7-Minute Poetry Challenge of the New Year!
Did you sing Auld Lang Syne on New Years? Or maybe watched/heard it sung in scores of movies including, It’s A Wonderful Life, Charlie Chaplin’s The Goldrush, Harry Met Sally, Meet Me in St. Louis, Out of Africa, or, naturally, the movie New Year’s Eve?
If “yes,” then the first stanza and chorus of that iconic song is familiar—although you probably don’t actually “know” the words. According to a CNN report I googled (to be sure I had the words correct) “just 3% in the United Kingdom know the words (42% of millennials have no clue).” For the record:
Auld Lang Syne* penned by Robert Burns in 1788
“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.
CHORUS
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
*Note not “old land sign.””
Those words “Auld Lang Syne” literally meaning “old long since,” are commonly translated as “days gone by” or “old time’s sake.” The song is basicallty a call to share “a cup o’ kindness.” The “kindness” in Burns cup is believed to be firewater, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Poetry Challenge #68
For Old Time’s Sake
Let’s begin this spanking new year by sharing a cup of kindness in the form of a poem. Think back over the past year and recall a kindness someone gave to you. What was that kindness? How did it make you feel to receive it? With that in mind, fill a cup with a kindness of your own. To whom will you pass it?
Title your poem “Cup of Kindness”
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think too much, just do it!
More movies featuring Auld Lang Syne
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 990 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #67-Are You Blue? or Green? or Purple?
End of the year-post/mid holiday crush check in time . . .
Poetry Challenge #67
Are You Blue? or Green? or Purple?
Look around the room. List as many things as you can see that are that color. Look again. Find one more.
Pick one or more items on your list and write about them. What is it? Where did it come from? How long have you had it? Is it useful? Do you need it? Do you want it?
When you’re finished, try to cut 10 words from your poem. Play with your word choices to add better sounds, rhythm, or rhyme.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think too much, just do it!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 988ish 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #66-Blank in a Box
It’s that time of year! Porches all across America are heaped with boxes. Such tempting boxes. (Too tempting for some; more than one friend has had packages pilfered.) Ever wonder what’s inside those boxes? Let’s find out!
Powetry Challenge #66
Blank in a Box
Imagine a mysterious box on your doorstep. What’s inside?
For today’s prompt, begin by filling in the blank: I found a ___________ box . . .
With that as the first line, compose a five-line poem of one syllable words about what’s inside that box.
Challenge yourself by creating a box-shaped concrete poem. For example, 5 lines of 5 three-letter words would look box-like, or vary the length of the words so each line is the same length.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Blank in a Box Playlist:
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 975+ 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #65-I Yam! Channeling Shakespeare/Popeye
William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, 4 poems and 154 sonnets (that we know of). Of these, many of the plays and all 154 sonnets are written in iambic pentameter. Popeye guzzled spinach from the can and sang one truly memorable song, “I Yam what I Yam.”
What do Shakespeare and Popeye have in common? I Yam!
“I Yam” as in I-Yam-bic Pentameter. Iambic meaning a two-syllable soft-hard beat foot: “I-am” or “I-Yam”; Pentameter meaning five metrical of these feet, thus creating that singsong rhythm—da DA da DA da DA da DA da DA.
That pattern soft-HARD-soft-HARD-soft-HARD (like a horse gallop) is said to “fit the natural rhythms of English fairly well” in that it offers “enough structure to be memorable and enjoyable, without feeling sing-songy.”
Too, in Shakespeare’s case (and maybe Popeye’s creators, too) the words were intended to be memorized—not read. Mimicking the natural rhythm of the english language I am I yam I am I yam I am made memorization easier.*
If Shakespeare and Popeye could do it, surely we can to.
Poetry Challenge #65
I Yam! Channeling Shakespeare/Popeye
Can you write a four-line rhyming stanza of iambic pentameter?
Or, in Popeye-ese, four-lines each line five I-Yams long?
You can rhyme each pair of lines (AABB) or every other one (ABAB), whichever you choose.
Write on any subject you want or choose one of the prompts below.
I wish I could remember…
I love the smell of…
I’m waiting for…
Once you’ve got the rhythm, ala Shakespeare, try writing a complete 14-line sonnet.
BTW: “French and Italian frequently use six-foot lines, which correspond to about the same number of words but with more gender-marked endings,” (Literature Stack
Channeling Shakespeare Playlist:
*Cindy Faughnan nd I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 950 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #64-Got Bubbles?
Dec. 5th is a Red Letter Day on my calendar. It’s National Bathtub Party Day!
According to my go-to need a reason to celebrate site, National Calendar Day:
“Bathtub Party Day was created as a way to skip the ordinary, everyday shower and to luxuriate in the pure pleasure of a good soak in the tub.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Gather your favorite bath bomb, a good book and a glass of Moscato and let the worries of the day fade away while you relax in the tub.”
Poetry Prompt #64
Got Bubbles?
Write a poem about a Bathtub Party which incorporates some or all of the following words:
Bub, Bubbles, Suds, Splash, Scrub, Soap, Splash, Rubber Ducky and Ninja (It’s International Ninja Day, too.)
Extra points if your poem rhymes.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Got Bubbles? Playlist:
*Cindy Faughnan nd I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 950 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #63-Five Books High
Do you have a pile of books? I always have a stack that I want to read. Sometimes it grows so large I’m afraid it will fall on me and hurt!
Poetry Challenge #63
Five Books High
For this prompt, take a look at a stack of five books or five books on a shelf. Take the first word (not A or THE) and write it down. Use these words in a poem.
Here are the words from the first five books Cindy’s stack:
cool miracle spell tamed bird
And here’s the poem Cindy wrote in 7 minutes:
“Watching the sun go down
was a cool miracle,
a study in pink and orange and red,
a mystical spell
that tamed the world.
And like the evening bird,
we sang one last word.”
No excuses! If you don’t have a stack of books nearby, use mine!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*Cindy Faughnan (reader/reviewer extraordinaire) and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 950 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #62-Please Pass The PieCaken!
Thanksgiving! Say the word and visions of food—crispy golden roasted turkey, cranberry, stuffing, creamy gravy and pie, glorious pie, dance though our heads. ERRRRK, but that’s what traditionalist’s feasts include.
A favorite new picture book, brought to my attention as many interesting new titles are, by Ronna at one of my favorite book blogspots Good Reads With Ronna, not only has me rethinking those traditional foods, it’s inspired this 7-Minute Poetry Prompt.
Poetry Challenge #62
Please Pass the PieCaken!
One layer of pumpkin, one spice cake, one pecan pie, frosted together with buttercream and topped with apple pie filling. Yum!
Take a moment to imagine your favorite Thanksgiving Feast. What foods are on your table? If you’re like me, that feast is going to include mashed sweet potatoes topped with melted marshmallows and PIE! Several kinds of pie. Maybe even this four-layer PieCaken my sis-in-law Valarie sent specially created for those of us who can’t decide which kind of pie to choose.
However . . .
The characters in Ethan Long’s new picture book FANGSGIVING are definitely not traditional. The “Garlic mashed potatoes get eyeballs and earwax added, the turkey gets burned to a crisp and the pumpkin pie gets maggot meatballs thrown in.”
Now it’s your turn:
In the spirit of FANGSGIVING, imagine you are some other creature. An animal for instance, or an alien . . . or maybe even a monster! What would your favorite Thanksgiving Feast be then?
For the title, fill in the blank with whatever creature you are:
________________ Thanksgiving Feast
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Take a moment to imagine fantastical foods your creature would love.
Start Writing!
Whip those words into a Thanksgiving feast of a poem!
Happy Thanksgiving!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 940 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!
Join the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge. . . If YOU dare. Click on the Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl)!