Poetry Challenge #113-One Must Ask Children and Birds
“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today . . . “
J. Wellington Whimpy, as any Popeye fan knows, would do just about anything for a hamburger. Parisians rioted over the lack of break, likewise so did Starbuck fans during a recent run on Pumpkin Latte (not really), but, I imagine they would. Cindy’s weakness is lobster. Mine (in case you’re gifting) is salted caramel. What’s your favorite food?
Poetry Challenge #113
One Must Ask Children and Birds
“One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste”— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Pick a food that begins with a consonant (not a, e, i, o, or u). Can you think of other foods that begin with the same letter? List 5-10 foods that begin with the same letter. Next, list 3-10 foods that end with that letter. Then, list 3-10 foods that have that letter in the middle. Finally, list 3 verbs and 3 adjectives that have to do with food and contain your letter.
The repetition of a consonant sound is called alliteration. Many times tongue twisters are made from these repeated sounds. Use words from all your lists to write an alliterative list poem. Read it aloud and see if it trips your tongue.
“I will not eat them here or there. I will not eat them anywhere.
I do not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.”
Set your mind to channel FOOD
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Start writing!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 1280++ 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 #112-Bend it like Adolphe . . . Sax that is!
When we were about twelve, my friend Theresa and I closed ourselves in a music room at CSULB and played over and over and over and …the opening phrases of the song Windy. We only stopped when the guy in the next room knocked. Turned out, he too played a sax. We only wished we did . . .
Said to emote a sound reminiscent of “the echo of an echo” . . . a resonance “situated at the edge of silence,” the saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s (patented in 1846.) Sax only received a 15-year patent for the sax (and immediately others began copying his design). Sax’s sax however was the first.
Poetry Challenge #112
Bend it like Adolphe . . . Sax that is!
In honor of Sax’s birthday, November 6, 1814, let’s write a saxophone poem.
Listen to a Saxophone play. This 2017 post highlights “The 20 Greatest Saxophonists of All Times” with clippings of each playing.
Let your mind wander as you listen. Where does the music take you? How does it make you feel? What does it make you feel?
Or, look at the saxophone itself, it’s shape. And ask yourself, if a saxophone were an animal, which animal would it be?
Draw on these saxophone images and feelings to write a Saxophonic poem.
Set your mind on “Cool”
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Start writing!
FYI: The child of Belgian instrument makers, Adolphe Sax is credited with having, by the age of 14, invented at least invented about 9 instruments. For more on Adolphe Sax, including why he was nicknamed “Little Sax, the ghost,” read on:
“Sometimes serious, sometimes calm, sometimes impassioned, dreamy or melancholic, or vague, like the weakened echo of an echo, like the indistinct plaintiff moans of the breeze in the woods and, even better, like the mysterious vibrations of a bell, long after it has been struck; there does not exist another musical instrument that I know of that possesses this strange resonance, which is situated at the edge of silence.”
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 1280++ 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.
**How to Write a Scary Story post on the Nocturim
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Poetry Challenge #111-One Dark and Stormy Night…Yikes!
Back in my sleep-over camp-out nights, with the campfire crackling and tossing spooky shadows, the wind howling and tree branches scraping on the tent, we used to make scary spookier still with a game called Yikes!
Things that go bump in the night. . . Scary, right? Scary how a simple bump sound—in the right setting at the right time—sends tingles, quivers, hair-raising heebie-jeebies shivers chasing up our spines.
Oooooohhhhh CREAK
SCRATCH EEK
EEK YOWL
HOWL
Mwahaha
SCREECH SCRITCH
WHAT’S THAT NOISE . . .
Thump THWACK
thwaaaaaaaaaa
It is said that everyone fears the same thing—the Unknown. Thus, the secret to writing scary is not what you write—but what you leave out. “Readers will imagine the rest, filling in the gaps with whatever scares them most,” noted Nocturium in a recent post**. Which takes me right back to those spine-tingling sounds. Let’s give it a Go—ghost!
Poetry Challenge #111
One Dark and Storm . . . YIKES!
iT’S Hallow’s eve, let’s get our Yikes! on. Whoever creates the spookiest poem, wins! First, write a Scary poem. And then . . . make it even scarier still by replacing specifics with sounds words.
See if you can scare yourself silly!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Don’t think about it too much;
Start writing!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 1280++ 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.
**How to Write a Scary Story post on the Nocturim
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Poetry Challenge #110-Boston Creme Pie...Oh My!
It is said that the Boston Cream Pie was invented in Boston—hence the name. More specifically, “In 1856, at Boston’s Parker House Hotel, French chef Monsieur Augustine Francois Anezin created this pudding and cake combination.” It was declared the official dessert of Massachusetts in 1996. (In case you need cause to celebrate, Oct 23rd is National Boston Creme Pie Day!
Poetry Challenge #110
Boston Creme Pie . . . Oh My!
i don’t live in Boston or in Massachusetts, but I love Boston Cream Pie. Those yellow cake layers, that creamy pudding filling, the smooth chocolate icing. Yum!
What might the official dessert of your town be if YOU got to name it? Write a poem describing your dessert. Make our mouths water just thinking about it!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Afterwards, celebrate with Boston Creme Pie! Here’s a recipe.
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 1260++ 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 #109-Dictionary Roulette
I love dictionaries! It’s an excellent way to procrastinate . . . and expand one’s vocab—always a good thing. Best, words lead to ideas…and actions! So grab a dictionary and let’s GO!
Here’s mine…show me yours!
If you don’t have a physical dictionary (Borrow a library copy or Go buy one!!! You should have one!!!), you can use a website such as m-w.com or dictionary.com and look for a list of words of the day.
Poetry Challenge #109
Dictionary Roulette
Yes! You can borrow my dictionary.
One of my favorite prompts when I get stuck with any writing is to take a dictionary, open to a random page, and write down the first word I see. Sometimes I roll three dice and open to that page. Sometimes I have someone pick a number between 1 and 948 (the number of pages in my favorite dictionary) and then another number between 1 and 68 (the average number of words on the two pages) and I find my word that way.
Using the Close-Your-Eyes-and-Point method, Roll-the-Dice method, Pick-A-Number method, find 5 words. Write a 5-line poem using all 5 words.
Pick 5 Words
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 1260++ 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 in the comments.
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