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.
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Poetry Challenge #171-Festivus for the Rest-of-Us
Festivus is a completely made up non-holiday created by screenwriter Dan O’Keefe and popularized when his son Daniel included it in the TV series Seinfeld. Traditionally, Festivus can be celebrated any time from December to May. But because the first Festivus on Seinfeld, which aired in 1997, was celebrated on December 23, now it’s officially a Thing! Festivus rituals include:
The Holiday Pole (an unadorned aluminum pole);
The Dinner (traditionally meatloaf and spaghetti);
Airing Of Grievances;
Feats Of Strength (wrestling) & Miracles.
Heck if they can do it, we can too!
Poetry Challenge #171
Festivus for the Rest-of-Us!
Imagine a Festivus of your own. What would you call it? How would you celebrate it? Would food be included? Decorations? Instead of Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength, what rituals would you include?
Write a Poem about your Festivus for the Rest-Of-Us. In the same way the U-S “us” ending of Festivus makes it easy to rhyme, give your Festivus a name with an easy-to-rhyme with ending, too. Once you’re finished set a date to celebrate (if only in your imagination.) Who knows, you might start a new tradition!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do it!
Festivus 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. 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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Ask Norman: Can You Tie A Shoe?
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
Hey Kids! Lots of kids wear slip-ons, sandals, boots, or go barefoot so they never have to tie their shoes. How about you? Norman T. Goldfish knows lots of tricks, including circles, bubbles & flips. But, can he tie a shoe?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #170-Backwards Day
Today, Dec. 16th is actually, officially Barbie and Barney Backlash Day, a day created by Thomas and Ruth Roy at Wellcat.com to “allows parents to take a vacation from all the repetitive sing-a-longs and storytelling.” Which, if you ask us is the most backasward idea ever. Repetition, songs, storytelling—yes, even cartoons—irritating as they may be, those sing-song verses help children become literate. So, in recognition of this incredibly backward idea, we’re retaliating by retaking the day:
Poetry Challenge #170
Backwards Day
It’s BACKWARDS day!!! (Or if you prefer !YAD SDRAWKCAB) Wear your shirt backwards, walk toe-heel, write notes and try to read them in the mirror.
And write a BACKWARDS poem!
Choose a poem you’ve already written and write it backwards. That means write the last line as your first line, the next to last as your second, and so on. Read through it and adjust it so it makes sense. You can add or take away a word if necessary. Does your BACKWARDS poem have the same meaning as the original?
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; IT DO JUST!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 0071 days ago! (That’s 1700 backwards—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
Ask Norman: Why Were You So Shy?
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
Hey Kids! In Norman’s new adventure: NORMAN ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH, his human enters him in Pet-O-Rama, but when it’s time for him to perform, our finny friend, Norman gets very quiet. Why do you think he acts shy? Can you remember a time when you were shy?
Look….at…all…those…humans…….gluuuu-me-otta-here!
Ready to read Norman’s answer to Keisha? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #169-Weary Willie Day
It’s not what you think…Weary Willie was a circus clown persona created by Emmett Kelly. He based the character on hobos of the Great Depression. Kelly’s Weary Willie was part of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and was at one time the country’s most recognizable clown. He’s the clown known for ceremonially spread his handkerchief on the ground beneath the trapeze just before the daring Flying Wallenda’s performed, so if one of them missed a catch, they’d land in his hankie.
Ralph Emerson snapped a photo of Willie, bucket in hand, racing to the fire, which appeared in the July 17, 1944 issue of Life Magazine
Known as he was for clowning around, Emmett Kelly/Weary Willie was also a hero. When the Big Top caught fire on July 6 1944, the bandleader cued up “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” circus code for TROUBLE!
The afternoon of what’s known as the “Hartford Circus Fire,” there were about 7,000 people in attendance.* In spite of his oversized floppy boots and flapping tails, Weary Willie came running.
Exactly how one is supposed to celebrate Weary Willie Day is unclear. Wear some big shoes? Act like a goof? Grab a bunch of friends and pile into a tiny car? Or better, clown around with words:
Poetry Challenge #169
White make-up and ruff collar were the norm until Weary Willie hit the Big Top
Weary Willie Day
In memory of Weary Willie create a Found Poem from this post. A Found Poem uses words or phrases from already existing work to create a poem.
For this prompt, jot words or phrases from the passage above that grab your attention. Then shape those words and phrases into a poem. Whether you rearrange them or use them in the order they appear is up to you. And, as Weary Willie tried to do for audiences, see if you can add some levity to this rather somber account.
Or, if create a poem by clowning around with the words: circus, trapeze, bucket, and “a duck maybe somebody’s mother.”
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do it!
*“The show was twenty minutes in when the flames started near the entrance to the big top. The Great Wallendas were beginning a high-wire performance. For waterproofing purposes, the tent’s canvas had been coated in paraffin and gasoline. The flames spread across the top quickly . . . panic followed: crowds surging toward small passageways, pieces of flaming canvas falling on people, horrific screams. Some broke ankles jumping from bleachers. There is a story of a woman who spent the rest of her life toting a pocketknife because a man pulled his out and cut a hole in the canvas to help people escape. The comedian Charles Nelson Reilly was thirteen and in attendance, and one story claims he avoided sitting in audiences for the rest of his life. The whole thing is said to have lasted fewer than ten minutes…. once he heard the screams of “Fire!” Kelly is known to have acted quickly.
More about Weary Willie: “Tears of a Clown”
And, always, a song: Tears of a Clown by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
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
Poetry Challenge #168-Mutt & Jeff
The comic strip Mutt and Jeff, created by American cartoonist Bud Fisher, began in the early 1900’s and was the first published comic that had more than one panel and told a small story. It is considered the first daily comic strip since it inspired the genre.
And, because December 2nd, is also National Mutt Day, and Mutt and Jeff are mongrels of a sort, inspiration stuck:
Poetry Challenge #168
Mutt & Jeff
Mutt was a character who liked horse racing and get rich quick schemes.
In honor of Mutt, write a poem featuring either a get-rich-quick scheme, a bet, or a comic strip.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do it!
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.
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Poetry Challenge #167-Attitude of Gratitude
I’m a sucker for old musicals. One of my favorites, because it features Bing, Fred & Irving is Holiday Inn* created as an unabashed way to recycle Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, etc. including I’ve Got Plenty to Be Thankful For…I do. If you’re reading this, I’m thinking you do, too.
Firstly, acknowledging the turkey in the room, this year has been an anomaly (we hope), many of us are celebrating Thanksgiving differently. We may throw up our hands and stomp around singing “Traditions!” ala Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at being forced to change traditions. Or, we will create new traditions—maybe even with a dancing chorus. Whatever… at the heart of it, as in Traci Sorell’s new picture book, Otsaliheliga! We are grateful!
Poetry Prompt #167
Attitude of Gratitude
Make a list of things, people, activities you have to be grateful for in this new pared down reality.
Once your list is complete, reorganize the items on your list to create a pleasing pattern.
Try changing some words to add internal repetition through vowel sounds and see what you think.
If your so included recite your poem before your Thanksgiving feast. Who knows, it may become part of your new traditions!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; just do it! (because we can)
Our new Thanksgiving Favorite!
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. 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