Poetry Challenge #267-The Brave Bold Catalogue of ___
Want to toss a wet blanket over a group of boisterous adults (“adults” meaning literate and over 30…or precocious teen) all one need do is mention Sylvia Plath. Immediately one of three things will happen:
Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, written under the pen name Victoria Lucas will spring to mind.
Conversation will switch to discussion of suicide and mental illness and the party scene will turn into round table ala The Voice.
A vision of coed Sylvia pedaling along in pink pops into your mind as you begin silently humming Gabriel Yared’s haunting theme from the stunning, moody 2003 movie Sylvia starring Gwyneth Paltrow—or make a beeline for your Sylvia Plath finger-puppet-refrigerator-magnet.
YES! You too could have one of your very own Sylvia Plath finger-puppet-refrigerator-magnet.
One of the rare snaps of Sylvia smiling—the way I imagined her when she was writing The Bed Book.
Why Sylvia Plath? Why today?
Because: on this day, Oct 27th, in 1932, Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
Because: by the time of her death at 30, Plath had accomplished more than many of us scribblers will in a lifetime.
Because: she was a remarkable, gifted novelist, poet, short story writer Joyce Carol Oates described in the NY Time Book Review as “one of the most celebrated and controversial of postwar poets writing in English.”
Yeah-yeah-yeah we all know this! We study Plath in high school literature and for many of us The Bell Jar was required reading thus Plath+death+sadness+poetry are linked in our minds.
But what we are not taught and so, what many of us never knew existed is the playful, imaginative rhyming poet Sylvia Plath, who in 1959, also wrote—gasp—a picture book!
The Bed Book by Sylvia Plath, is actually a rhyming catalogue of different kinds of beds, including a submarine bed, snack bed, and flying bed and many delightful others.
The original English version, published in 1976, is illustrated by Quintin Blake; the American version features art by Emily Arnold McCully. Treat yourself to either or both-delight filled!
Poetry Challenge #267
The Brave Bold Catalogue of __________
Let’s say “Happy Birthday Sylvia!” by creating a rhyming catalogue poem of our own. (Below are two of Plath’s rhymes from The Bed Book.)
Think of an ordinary everyday object. Something that is so common and common place one hardly notices it at all. Plath’s Bed for example, but not a bed, something different.
Now imagine all the various models or styles that object could come in. For example, might it, as Plath’s beds do, become a submarine or spaceship? Or???
Write a rhyming poem describing one or more versions of that object.
Let that object be brave! Be bold! Let it do what no such object has ever done before!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just Imagine IT!
And just because, here’s the opening scene from Sylvia:
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. 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):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me? Visual Verse
A picture is worth a thousand words…the adage goes…and, as Visual Verse proves oh so many ideas!
As you may or may not know, about 2500 days ago, along with Cindy Faughnan, I challenged myself to write a poem a day. (Note: I didn’t say “good poem” I just said “a” poem, for most often, the result of the poem is not the point of the exercise, the “point” is in the thinking, the writing, the act of creating.
Visual Verse’s dedicated team!
And, at least once a month, the poetry prompts are provided by Visual Verse.
Visual Verse is a celebration. Of the drama of seeing and the desire to express it. Of the things that inspire us, move us, and that we find hardest to articulate.”—Visual Verse
Visual Verse submissions—inspired by select images—like this one by Erin Quinn titled “ETTA/Girl in Red Hat”—can be poems, fiction or non-fiction; must be between 50 and 500 words in length; and the read challenge: can be created in no more than 1 hour.
This October, by way of a challenge, Visual Verse hosted it’s Autumn Writing Contest!
Last week the 4 winning pieces and 16 shortlisted pieces (from 141 entries) were selected. I’m delighted to report that both Cindy and my efforts made the shortlist.
Visual Verse on the web, instagram @visualverseanthology; and twitter @visual_verse—it’s inspiring!
Poetry Challenge #266-Kiss'd Me-Kiss'd Me
Leigh Hunt, who was born on October 19, 1784, is known for introducing many famous poets of the time to the public: Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, Robert Browning, and Alfred Tennyson.
Hunt was a critic, an essayist, and a poet. Below is a short poem he wrote that is quite well-known.
Poetry Challenge #266
Kiss’d Me-Kiss’d Me
Write a poem that is circular, in the style of Leigh Hunt’s poem “Jenny Kiss’d Me.”
As did Hunt, begin and end with 3 words: ___________, __________, me…
a name an action
Make your poem rhyme in the abab pattern.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do It!
For inspiration, click over to this video of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “Shut Up and Kiss Me!”
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. 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):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me? Being Alice
Ever wondered what it would be like to literally slide down that rabbit hole? Actually, be Alice? I have! And I’m thinking everyone who’s ever read Louis Carroll’s Adventures in Wonderland has too. Before now “Imaging” —or dressing up on Halloween—was as far as we went—let ourselves go—could go.
Alexa Meade paints human beings into art—literally—thus turning them into as Business Insider put it, “into living, breathing portraits.”
Artist Alexa Meade wasn’t content with “imaging.” Alice’s Wonderland from what she read in the book. Or to watching, reading about, imagining those other “Alices” and cast on the page or movie or Disney’s dizzying teacup ride. She wanted to be Alice!
And best, let us be Alice…and the Mad Hatter, too in Wonderland Dreams!
Wonderland Dreams is an interactive journey down the rabbit hole and into Alice’s Adventures created by artist Alexa Meade. 26,000 sq foot imagined, created, hand-painted from floor to ceiling, multi-dimensional world transporting visitors into Louis Carroll’s Wonderland.
Wonderland Dreams is artist Alexa Meade’s creation. You may not have heard of her, but if you recall Arianna Grande’s God is a Woman music video, in which she’s singing, while floating in a pool of paint, you’ve seen her work. The video, which is linked on Meade’s website, received more than 300 million views.
With Wonderland Dreams, Alexa Meade pushed herself to go beyond creating art—even human art—for us to view. She’s created a world for us to literally climb into. Now that’s inspiring!
Wonderland Dreams is live in NEW YORK! now through Spring of 2023. It’s located at 529 Fifth Avenue, near NYC’s iconic Bryant Park (a short walk from Penn Station.) You don’t need an apron or blue hair ribbon to climb through the rabbit hole. But you do need a ticket.
For more information and tickets visit the Wonderland Dreams website!
Poetry Challenge #265-Eugenio Montale's Eyes
It's Italian poet Eugenio Montale's birthday, born 10/12/1896. As well as being a poet, Montale worked as an accountant and loved to study literature, languages, and music. He was studying to be a baritone in operas when WWI began. After serving in the war, he became a journalist and wrote many articles about literature, music, and art for the largest paper in Italy, as well as writing his own poetry and essays and translating the works of others, including T.S. Eliot.
In 1928, Montale became the director of a library but was fired ten years later because he refused to support the fascist regime during WWII. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.
Below is Montale’s poem, “Bring Me the Sunflower” translated by Charles Wright. As in this example, his poems usually dealt with nature. He often addressed someone who wasn’t there. He was a fan of writing in café’s and of the objective correlative—an object that carries meaning.
Poetry Challenge #265
Through Montale’s Eyes
To honor Montale, write a poem to another person without saying who the person is. Explain something to that person. Include nature and an object that holds some special meaning or a memory or feeling.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just write It!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. 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):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me? Netflix Storytime!
Netflix! Ahhhhhhhhh I see you racing around waving your arms in hysterical frenzy at the thought of a—gasp!— “children’s book author” mentioning the word.
Horrors!
Be real. Parents! Teachers! Caregivers! Grands! Our kiddos—your kiddos—watch Netflix. We all know that and it is not terribly inspiring. But get this…
VOOKS . . . VOOKS (Video-Books?!) is Story Time Book Read-Alouds streaming on Netflix!
What’s so inspiring?
VOOKS Story Time Book: Read-Along features 40 favorite animated books compiled into 8 themed episodes.
“This first-of-its-kind show invites kids to read along as their favorite storybooks come to life in each specially curated episode, including “Science, Letters, and Numbers,” “Adventurous Tales,” “Fuzzy Friends,” “Bedtime,” and more.”
How do I know Vooks books are “worth reading” aka “quality” books?
Because Vooks now includes 18 animated Familius titles!
Familus, with a credo of “Family First” publishes wonderful books! Including soon…mine! (Yes, of course my not-so-secret dream is that my forthcoming picture book, The House That Ruth Built, will one day be Netflix streaming on VOOKS along too.) But that’s not what this is about.
This is about this:
So you’re in the car, a restaurant, the airport—or maybe just too flippin’ worn down to argue—and the kids want THE DEVICE!
(Been there?….felt those judging onlookers? Seen those judging looks?)
Now, with VOOKS you can “let them” watch animated books on Netflix.
Watch! Books! Read-Along!
Now that’s inspiring!
Poetry Challenge #264-Judith Kerman by Definition
October 5th is bling-ringed on my calendar—in metallic pens with sparkles—and always has been as it’s my big brother Joe’s birthday and my recently departed mother-in-law, Adele’s birthday. Add to that BIL Paul, SIL Ryan, on the 6th & 7th respectively, and Grandboy Jack on the 11th. Libras all—born under the “idealistic Air Sign.” It’s written, and is true of them all, that “you will hardly come across a Libra who is anything but nice.”
“For me, poetry is at least partly a visual and musical art form. Or at least, it comes out of those parts of my mind.”
Poet and Artist, Judith Kerman, born under a Libran sun, also on Oct 5th, is likewise probably very “nice.” (I’ve just “met” her through poems and Google-search). Judith was born in Bayside, NY and still lives in NY. Her favorite authors include Mary Oliver, Robert Haas, Umberto Eco, Herman Melville and Ursula LeGuin; she identifies as “Disabled, Feminist, Jewish;” and has published at least 10 Chap Books as well as translated several volumes of Spanish Caribbean poetry and fiction by women.
Poetry Challenge #264
As Defined By
Judith Kerman poems are totally “Libra” in that they explore fairness, social justice, meanings of things in a “nice” way.
What’s a “Nice” way? Instead of telling us what to feel, they offer definitions of a word and so let/invite/lead readers to draw our own conclusions as in her poem “air.”
Ala Judith Kerman, choose a word, any word and define that word in a poem. You might choose a more abstract word, as Judith did in “Air” or you might choose a concrete word as in her poem, “Elephant.” (Scroll down for the YouTube of Judith reading “Elephant.”)
Include as many possible definitions of the word as possible—feel free to use a dictionary. And bust out with your own definitions of the word.
Form-wise you might choose to simply list definitions ala Webster, as in “Air,” or shape them into Free Verse as in “Elephant,” or choose some other poetic form.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just Define It!
Find out more about Judith Kerman at her Facebook page.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. 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):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me? Pumpkin Time!
It’s Pumpkin Time!
Fall is in the air and pumpkins are everywhere. We took the grands to a pumpkin patch to kick off the season. There must have been 30 varieties of squash—every shape, size, texture…some super gnarly, warty, stripey…some jack-o-lantern ready.
What inspires me most about pumpkins? Pumpkins are waterproof!
Grands, Parents, Teachers! This is a great, fun, messy kid activity:
Spread the picnic table or driveway with newspapers. Cut off the top of the pumpkin. Give the kids spoons and let them scoop all the gunk out of the center of the pumpkin.
It doesn’t matter how good a job they do.
It doesn’t matter if they get all the gunk out of the insides.
The only part of scooping out a pumpkin that matters is if they dig through the shell. Then it won’t hold water. But….it will still be good for baking-stewing-steaming…freezing. So it’s a win-win!
Let them have at it. Yes! Digging it all out will definitely be a hands-on job.
What’s most inspiring! All the things you can do with pumpkin after its hollowed out—beside carving them into jack-o-lanterns.
Pumpkin Vases: Once you’ve scooped out the insides of a pumpkin fill it with water and cut flowers. Or, fill the pumpkin with dirt and plant it!
Succulents are delightful!
Fall pansies or a mum are adorable too.
No need to worry about leakage, because the pumpkin shell is waterproof. But do put a dish beneath your pumpkin for 2 reasons:
Because the moist pumpkin might leave a water mark on wood.
Because after a time the pumpkin will begin to rot and liquify—melt essentially.
The pumpkin vase will last at least 3 weeks.
Afterwards, toss the pumpkin vase, flowers and all, in the compost bin.
If you used a plant, replant it in the dirt or another container.
Pumpkin Curry or Stew Pot:
Use the hollowed out pumpkin as a pot to cook pumpkin curry or soup.
Put the hollowed out pumpkin on a baking sheet.
Fill it with the ingredients in your favorite recipe. Here’s my go-to Pumpkin Curry Recipe
Cover your pumpkin pot with its cute pumpkin stem top and cook as directed.
Serve right in the pumpkin pot!
The best part is that the pot is edible! Yes, digging out bites of the cooked pumpkin shell as you nibble is allowed. Look Ma! I ate the whole thing)
AAARGH! Help! The kiddos get so carried away carving out the inside of the pumpkin and bust through the shell?????
Plan B: cook the pumpkin and use it to make pumpkin pie, or mashed pumpkin with butter, or butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper, or microwave the pumpkin in a covered bowl. Or peel and chop the pumpkin into pieces, pop them into a freezable container and freeze to deal with later.
And don’t forget the Seeds!
Harvesting those seeds is gooey fun, too. Wash the seeds, soak them in salt water, season them and bake them.
Warning: pumpkin seeds are a healthy treat!
