Poetry Challenge #178-Bust Out the Bumbershoot!
For more than 4,000 years—longer if one counts fronds—umbrellas have been working tirelessly on our behalf. They protect us from rain, shield us from sun, make excellent walking sticks, rubbish picks, pool cues, tushy pokers & ice shades in fruity drinks! And that’s only when acting as nouns.
Umbrellas serve and protect as adjectives and verbs, too. And so today, Feb. 10th, National Umbrella Day, with one huge sweeping—umbrella-esk—gesture we honor this most useful invention.
“The word umbrella comes from the Latin word umbra, meaning shade or shadow.” Brolly, parasol, gamp are slang for umbrella as is bumbershoot, “a fanciful Americanism for an umbrella from the late 19th century.”
FYI: According to Merriam-Webster, Bumbershoot is said to be a melding of the British “Brolly” and slang for parachutes they resemble when unfurled.
Bumbershoot! If Gene Kelly can dance and sing in the rain with an umbrella partner, we can praise them poetically, can’t we?
Click on the pic for this DIY umbrella
Poetry Challenge #178
Bust Out the Bumbershoot!
Create a shape poem about, involving, or inspired by an umbrella—fully open in all its unfurled glory or tightly rolled and snapped closed—poet’s choice.
FYI: A shape poem is a poem in which the words on the page are arranged to resemble the subject of the poem, or somehow relate to the subject.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cheers!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1755 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 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 #177-Play Like a Girl!
There was a time not so long ago when women were considered too “fragile” or “delicate” to play sports (even though hauling—water, rocks, grain, kids—scrubbing floors, laundry, slinging iron pots etc. was woman’s work.) It took a President proclamation by Ronald Reagan, in 1987, to officially recognize the history of women’s athletics and the Title IX amendment, in 1972, to make it against federal law to excluding students from participating in educational and athletic programs on the basis of sex. And even after it’s taken “Girls with Guts, Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records” to begin to equalize the gender playing field. So for today’s prompt, let’s here it for the girls!
Poetry Challenge #177
Play Like a Girl
In celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, write a poem describing a girl’s sporting event. It might be basketball, track, swimming, gymnastics, hockey, skiing…you name it.
Use poetic devices such as sounds, rhythm and repetition to simulate the sounds, feeling, action of the game.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just Do it!
Let the Games Begin!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1750 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 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 #176-Hooray! Library Shelfie Day
Every fourth Wednesday in January, bookies, biblophiles, readers, library nerds, like us—OK us—celebrate Library Shelfie Day. They (we) take a picture of themselves (ourselves)—a selfie—in front of a shelf of books—making it a shelfie.
Pictures are taken at the library, bookstore, school, or home—anywhere there is a shelf of books—and posted to social media #LibraryShelfieDay #ShelfieDay #Shelfie. Check out this collection of NYPL Favorites & Shee for your shelf!
When it comes to celebrating, they stop a snapping shelfies but, that’s not how we click:
Poetry Challenge #176
Library Shelfie Day
In honor of Library Shelfie Day, this week’s prompt is to write a spine poem. Find books on your shelves and arrange them so that when you read the spines, each book creates a line in the poem. See if you can include at least 5 books.
Here’s Mine writing Shelfie
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Spines Out! Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just do it!
My Shelfie—read it in the comments
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1742 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you.
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Poetry Challenge #175-Say Cheese!
Today is National Cheese Lover’s Day—a perfect day to enjoy cheese all day long. Maybe some cream cheese on a bagel for breakfast, a nice slice of cheddar or swiss on your sandwich at lunch, and macaroni and cheese for dinner. MMMM!
But cheese is also one of the words most used by photographers trying to get their subjects to smile: “Say cheese,” they call before they click their camera.
Poetry Challenge #175
Say Cheeeeeese!
For today’s prompt, find a photo with one or more people in it. If you are in the picture, do you remember what you were thinking at that moment?
What about the others in the picture? What about the photographer? Were they thinking of where they’d rather be? Did they have something to say to someone else in the picture?
What were they wishing, hoping, wanting at that moment?
Write a poem with real or imagine thoughts for the people in the picture. Include the people outside the picture—the photographer, onlookers, passersby, a person receiving the photo.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just do it!
Remember to say CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1737 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This is one of Cindy’s.) If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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MLK Day Poetry Challenge
Adding a world wide poetry prompt to our usual weekly challenge. Celebrate MLK Day by writing your own "I Dream A World" Poem. Honor Martin by working toward living it true.
MLK Day Poetry Challenge
Honor MLK By Describing How You Dream A World
From NPR:
As we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, Morning Edition asks for you to write a poem that starts with the words "I dream a world.”
Write a poem that, like Hughes did, begins with the line: "I dream a world" and describe the change you hope for.
Your poem can rhyme like Hughes' poem, but it doesn't have to. It just has to dream us out of tribulation.
Share your poem through the form below, then Alexander will take lines from some of your pieces and create a community crowdsourced poem. Alexander and Martin will read it on air, and NPR will publish it online, where contributors will be credited.
CLICK HERE for more, including How To Submit Your Poem
Poetry Challenge #174-Stick It To Me
Have you ever taking a bite of fruit only to come away with stick-on-label in your mouth? Tasty, right? Ugh! Fruit, electronics, elbows, signs…you name it, seems a sticker’s stuck to it—today especially—for annoying or not, today, Jan 13th has been designated National Sticker Day.
Along with being the officially recognized day to scrape off labels stuck on shoes, picture frames, do-dads, thing-a-ma-bobs and what-zits, National Sticker Day activities include:
Get some new stickers
Give some stickers away
Make your own stickers
To that, in celebration of the day, we’re adding this 7-Minute Challenge:
Poetry Challenge #174
Stick It to Me
For this challenge we’re paraphrasing Judy Carnes, the original “Sock it to Me” girl . Rather than racing around chanting Sock-it-to-Me-Sock-it-to-Me-Sock-it-to-Me until something bad happens as she did on the 60s Variety Show Laugh-in, race around collecting sticker slogans to create a Found Poem. (Chanting “Sticker-Me“ while collecting is optional)
Historically speaking, stickers have been pasted on produce as far back as 300 bc. Now everything—apples still included—has some sort of sticker plastered on it, so finding stickers should be easy. You might have a slew of stickers in your own space or bumper. If not… Field Trip Time! Check out passing cars, trucks, electronics, pinterest—or your neighbor’s fridge.
Snuck a Snap of the Kid’s Neighbor’s Fridge—Yours to use if you can read it.
To Create Found “Sticker” Poem:
First copy a variety of stickers onto a page. The stickers might have one word or a phrase.
Choose one sticker to be the title of your poem.
Now, arrange and rearrange the remaining sticker slogans into a Found Poem. For purposes of this prompt, try not to add extra words or letters to the poem, break phrases apart, or use only part of a slogan—even to help clarify meaning.
As you play with the words and phrases, pay attention to sounds, patterns, rhythm or meaning.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just stick to it until the timer dings!
And for more fun: “How to Make Stickers” at Skip to My Lou—a great DIY with Kids site!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1730 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 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 #173-Cha-cha Chain of _____________
Cuddles are chains of sort. We link arm in arm, snuggle to snuggle, heart to heart when we cuddle. Which brings me to today, Jan 6, National Cuddle Up Day. The same way we cuddle up, thoughts jump, mingle and connect—cuddle— one to another to another.
In the same way letters cuddle up—cluster—to form words, and words linked together to form passages and worlds and images that bundle, group, cuddle up to create stories and poetry. Let’s try it:
Poetry Challenge #173
Cha-cha Chain of ______________________?
Fill in the blank with a noun: Chain of ____________.
With that at the title, write a Chain Poem. Chain poems have two known forms:
1. The last word or syllable of a line become the first word or syllable of the next line. You’ll need to extend the poem out at least five lines for the chain to be effective.
2. Or if you’re game for writing a long poem, the last line of each stanza becomes the first line of the next stanza.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do the Cuddle up!
Cha-Cha Chain Playlist:
About Cuddle Up Day: Holiday Insights : Cuddle Up Day, January 6
About Chain Poems: Chain verse at a glance : Poetry through the Ages (webexhibits.org)
Chain of Fools the best: sung by Aretha, danced by Travolta: Aretha Franklin | Chain Of Fools || John Travolta Dance || - Bing video
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 1700 days ago! (with nary a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl): SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #172-Revisionist Poetry
20/20 hmmmmm. Along with everything else, 2020 has forced us to revise: revise our thinking, our habits, our actions past and to rethink—revision—going forward.
It’s not as simple as upgrading our eyewear prescription, is it? But necessary.
As we zoom into 2021, Let’s take time to revise!
Poetry Challenge #172
Revisionist Poetry
Choose a poem you like and see if you can really make it sing!
Look for repeated sounds in your poem—maybe several words contain an “O” sound or a bunch start with the letter “B”. . . a hint of a pattern, rhythm or beats.
Now’s that you’ve found them, play with those accidental patterns by changing some of your words so they have the same sound; some lines breaks to intensify the rhythm, etc. Try adding some onomatopoetic words—words that sound like actions: AHCHOO! CRINKLE! MUMBLE! SNAP!
Now read and compare both versions. Hear the difference?
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do it!
Revisionist Playlist:
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 1700 days ago! (without a miss!!!) We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you (This one is Cindy’s.) If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl): SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL