Poetry Challenge #84: To Be or Not To Bee
I’m no Hamlet—never played one, don’t live in one—But . . . I do know the beginning of Prince Hamlet’s Act 3, Scene 1 Soliloquy in To Be or Not to Be. And now, if you didn’t, you do too. Thus primed, prompt on fair Prince/ess:
Poetry Challenge #84
To Be or Not to Bee
“The verb "to be" is one of the shortest and most important—yet oddest—verbs in the English language. It is an irregular verb; indeed, it is the only verb in English that completely changes form in every tense. The verb "to be" is probably the most important verb in English.”—from “Thoughtco.” By Richard Nordquist:
Below is a list of past and present forms of the verb “to be.” And, just for fun, a fuzzy black and yellow buzzy bee. Write a Bee poem using as many forms of the verb “to be” as you can. One way to begin is to write each form of the word be on a line and take it from there.
Past and Present forms of the verb “to be”:
I am I was
You are You were
He/She/It is He/She/It was
We are We were
They are They were
And if you want to try perfect tense: have/has/had been
Be bold! Be silly! Be—gin!
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 1100-ish 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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Poetry Challenge #83-Pick A Pet
Which animals make the best pets? Dogs? Cats? Lizards? . . . Rocks?
. . . If you ask me the answer is Goldfish! Definitely Goldfish! (But it’s not up to me . . . )
Poetry Challenge #83
Pick A Pet
List 5 or 10 or as many as you can in one minute.
Which animals make the worst pets? List for another minute.
What other animals can you think of? Time yourself one more minute.
Write a list poem using animals from your lists.
Write three lines with 7 syllables on each line and finish the poem with a fourth line that has 5 syllables. If you need an extra syllable, you can add an adjective—a word that describes the animal—or a sound.
Set the timer for 5 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 1100-ish 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.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
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Poetry Challenge #82-Diamond in the Rough
In the same way diamonds—the “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” gems/rocks/stones— come in many shapes, colors and sizes, diamante poems can be about anything.
Poetry Challenge #83
Diamond In the Rough
A Diamante is a diamond-shaped poem, simple as that. Diamante poems begin with a one word or syllable line. Each subsequent line grows longer by one than the previous line. The longest line is the mid-point of the poem. From there, the lines decrease by one until reaching the last one word line. The shortest Diamante has three lines of one syllable words.
Here’s a Diamante Frame if you prefer structure.
One
Two words
One
Write a diamond-shaped Diamante about something you value.
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 1100-ish 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.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #81 Don't Bother Checking Twice
Santa still snoozing at some sunny warm spa, recovering after the busy holiday season. So, while he’s otherwise occupied, no need to bother about checking twice—unless it’s to be sure you have ink/lead in your writing implement of choice—thus clearing the way for this prompt:
Poetry Challenge #81
Make a List
Although at first glance you might not notice, soooo many poems are list poems: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How do I Love Thee”, Billy Collins’ “Bread and Knife,” Shel Silverstein’s “Eighteen Flavors” to name a few.
In a list poem, you can list things you like (animals, colors, kinds of cars, playground games), signs of a season, tasks you have to do, items in a category, or what you’re going to do today.
Once you have your list, play with the order.
Choose better words that sound the same (maybe rhyme, or use alliteration).
Can you make the poem sound like it has an ending?
Try writing a list poem. What are your plans for the day today? Or use one of the ideas above.
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 1100-ish 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.