Poetry Challenge #80-Scribble Something
Really, would the tike in this pic do a naughty thing like that?
My love of writing can be traced back to when I was two-ish. As the story goes, I used my mom’s black mascara and lipstick to write on the neighbor's car! (And maybe blamed it on my brother… although he says I blamed it on him.) Nevertheless, a scribble is a scribble, and so we celebrate:
Poetry Challenge #80
Scribble Something
In honor of National Scribble Day* celebrated every March 27th, scratch around for something colorful to write with: crayons, markers, colored pencils . . . lipstick—whatever you can find—and a piece of paper. Hold the writing implement in your non-dominant hand, close your eyes, take a deep breath and focus on whatever comes to mind. Then open your eyes and scribble—preferably on the paper.
A Nothing Scribble--or not…
Try scribbling whatever came to mind. if it was nothing, then scribble nothing. Scribble with 2-year-old abandon for as long as you can—at least 30 seconds.
Now, hold your scribble arm’s length away. While squinting like an artist (a beret might come in handy here), look beyond your scribble to what you drew. Write a poem about it.
*Not to be confused with National Crayon Day (March 31st).
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Scribble Resources:
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1050 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 #79-Fibonacci Awakening
Hurrah! It’s spring! Take a close look at the way the leaves on a plant and petals on a flower grow. Notice how they often grow in a pattern: One in the center; next row 2; third row 3; fourth row 5; fifth row 8 and so on. This pattern, which allows each leaf/petal to have maximum exposure to light and moisture while maintaining a tidy spiral pattern, called is the Golden Ratio, is the Fibonacci Sequence in action! Pure poetry, right! Which leads naturally to today’s prompt:
Fibonacci Sequencing Succulent
Poetry Challenge #79
Fibonacci Awakening
Number sequences are fun ways to create a form for a poem in that they pose a puzzle without too many rules. You could write a poem with using your phone number, birthday or another important date to determine the number of words or syllables on each line. For instance, this year the first day of spring is March 20th or 3202019 which would be kind of weird or maybe fun as the zeros could be stanza breaks. Get mathematical and write a poem based on the first six digits of pi: 314159, or have some spring fun with Fibonacci.
A Fibonacci sequence begins with 0 and 1. Each number is the sum of the two previous numbers. The third number would be 0+1=1. The fourth number is 1+1=2. And so on.
Write a poem matching the number of syllables or words on each line with the first six numbers in the Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8.
In celebration of Spring Awakening, let the theme of your poem be Springish!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
When you finish step outside and find the Fibonacci Busting out all over!
If the Fibonacci has you fired up for More MATH! Here’s a fab Math Challenge game!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1050 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 #78-Little Bit of Bloomin' Luck
“With a little bit of Bloomin’ Luck!” Alfred P. Doolittle sings in My Fair Lady. I know exactly how he feels! Who doesn’t wish for a little bit more luck—bloomin’ or otherwise. That’s what makes Saint Patrick’s Day, one of my favorite holidays. Four leaf clovers, horseshoes, pots-of-gold, lepraucauns, jigs, lucky charms and wearing green, it’s all about conjuring up luck and having fun while you’re at it. St. Patrick’s Day is this Sunday, March 17th, let’s celebrate by writing some lucky poems to celebrate.
Poetry Challenge #78
Little Bit of Bloomin’ Luck
If you had a bit of “bloomin’ luck what would it be? What would you do with a lucky charm? Write a poem about it. Here’s a list of St. Patrick’s day related words. See how many you can use in your poem:
Bagpipe, banshee, blarney, blarney stone, bog, brogue, celebrate, Celtic, clover, coins, donnybrook, emerald green, Emerald Isle, fortune, four-leaf clover, gold, good luck, green, harp, Ireland, Irish, jig, legend, leprechaun, limerick, , luck of the Irish, lucky, magic, March, mischief, pot of gold, potato, rainbow, Saint Patrick, shamrock, shillelagh, snake, St. Paddy's Day, St. Patrick
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
When you’re finished, read your poem aloud—maybe a leprechaun with hear—if you’re lucky!
Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 1050 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 #77-Heave-Ho! Chant-She-Blows!
Sing-Alongs are always challenging—and sometimes embarrassing—even for me. (And those of you who know me, know I love to sing—badly.) The worst is when someone sticks a microphone in my face and I don’t know the words. That’s when I resort to the trusty mumble-mumble-murmer-murmer— la-di-dah-daaaaaaaa
My Best Friend’s Wedding Classic!
Songwriters who like audiences who sing-along— pirate ship captives & those wanting tips, for example—make singing along easier by writing song with repeated refrains—the more often repeated the better. Which brings me to today’s prompt.
Poetry Challenge #77
Heave-Ho! Chant-She-Blows!
“The chant poem is about as old as poetry itself,” writes Robert Lee Brewer in his Oct. 23, 2012 post. “Chant poems simply incorporate repetitive lines that form a sort of chant. Each line can repeat [as they do in Blues’ songs], or every other line [as in a Sea Shanty].” Sailors sang shanties as they rowed or heaved on ropes to keep everyone working at the same pace. It’s believed “Shanty” is a morphism of “chanty” meaning both the type of song and a name for the sailor who leads the singing. By way of an example, below is a Chant Poem Cindy created.
“Snow fell this morning, soft and white and cold,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.
I liked it more before I got so old,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.
I left the city a long time ago,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.
Now I hear sounds of birds—the caws of crows,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.”
Follow these three easy steps to create your own Chant Poem—Or “Shanty” if you will!
Find a headline in a newspaper or magazine that you like the sound of. That will be your chant.
Write a four line rhyming poem where the first 2 lines rhyme and the last 2. AABB
Insert the chant between each line of your rhyming poem and you have a chant poem.
“They know a song will help the job along…”
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 more than 1042 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.