Writing Poetry Prompt 22: Random Words + Your Pen, Pencil or Keyboard = Fascinating Poetry

No: I haven’t gone off the deep end AND I think today’s subject may elicit a wide variety of poems.

Lately I have been completely enjoying a strange,  random, or, well – unique, form of collecting. I love collecting letters, diaries, journals, all sorts of personal correspondence of ordinary people in the 1920’s through 1940’s.

It is not completely unlike my collection of women authors in the 19^th century.

It seems like there isn’t a rhyme or reason for this love, but it is strong. 

Very strong.

And it is, obviously, rather random.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "random" as "Having no definite aim or purpose; not sent or guided in a particular direction; made, done, occurring, etc., without method or conscious choice; haphazard." This concept of randomness suggests a non-order  or non-coherence  in a sequence of symbols or steps, such that there is no intelligible pattern or combination.

Perhaps it is my upbringing : I sometimes feel I have a duty to justify the random things I love, these quirky obsessions that fascinate me.

What better way to justify some of our random obsessions than to write poetry about them?

How about some random facts to get your mind and fingers churning?

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

The surface area of an average-sized brick is 79 cm squared.

For the American poets in our group: If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.

Now, are you ready for some random prompting?

Word Prompt: Random

Sentence starter:  "My love (fascination, obsession, intense need) for insert random passion confuses people and I don't know why..." 

"Why my _____ needs to know insert random fact  I have no idea!"

Some random fact links to investigate (and I have no idea why blogger isn't being consistent with font size but I find this perfectly random so I shall not change it:

Factropolis - Apparently closed in 2010, but still houses many, MANY quirky random facts.

Random Facts: (Except my daughter disproved the "It is impossible to lick your elbow so be prepared for random inaccuracies. :-)

And for you video lovers out there....

And a final random fact, I don't usually watch videos so I would miss all these random facts presented here as I only listen to them while I do other stuff online UNLESS, of course, the video happens to feature a movie like Dead Poets Society, which you may have noticed from other videos I have shared here.... 

Poetry Prompt Day 21 - Weaving and Flowing

Sometimes things just don't work out the way you think they are going to. Often life seems to go a lot smoother when you can give up expectations and go with the flow. It is a difficult lesson for me to learn but one I truly need to learn in this life. I have control issues. What, you say... Yes I do.


Poetry Prompt: What in your life would be smoother if you let go of control and went with the flow? Write for five to ten minutes exploring what you need to let go of.

Word Prompt: Flow

Sentence Starters:

When Life Throws You a Wrench...

Weaving and flowing...

May you have a wonderful Sunday exploring your words and flowing with grace and ease.

Please visit the other poets and leave your word love in their comments.

Peace to you,
Morgan



Thank you for sharing and recommending before you leave.

Writing Poetry Day 20 - Playing With Words

As most of you probably know I've been a bit stuck with my words the last week. Well, actually, I've been a bit stuck in the in-between that I can do on occasion. Today I was determined to become unstuck and decided to hop on over to the Shadow Poetry page of different types of poetry. I love this page but I still don't visit it often.

I played with a piece of art I created last year and
came up with something new and different.
I call it Streams of Love.

Today I read about Shape Poetry, Tanka, Haiku, Diatelle and Essence.  I also discovered the Rhyme Zone; a fascinating place to go if you are having trouble finding a rhyming word. So let's play with words today, let's form them, shape them, count them, rhyme them and turn them this way and that; until you discover something new and different and have a a lot of fun doing it!

Poetry Prompt: Choose an older poem, or two, of your own. Go to the Shadow Poetry page and randomly select several, oh let's say from 3 to 5 at minimum, of different types of poetry. Then pick one or maybe even two, making sure it is something that intrigues you and doesn't feel loaded with rules or overly hard; this is suppose to be fun. And then play to your heart's content creating something new with your old poem. You can also do this with a new poem of course. The thing about rules here at OctPoWriMo is that they are meant to be bent or even broken. We are here to stir your imagination not box it in. So let your imagination FLY!

Word Prompt: Play

Sentence Starters: 

Playing with words I see...

The words dance on the page...

You can share your poetry here in the linky, with the Writing Poetry Group on Facebook, and/or with the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on Twitter. Always remember, I.Believe.In.You!

Thank you for sharing and recommending before you leave.

Poetry Writing Prompt: Seize the Day! Carpe Diem! Si, Se Puede!

Made Available by Doug due to Creative Commons Licensing & Flickr

“Carpe Diem!” is the call in Latin. “Seize the day!” is the translation into English. As a Californian I like adding “Si, se puede!” 

Let’s take a moment to think, together, of moments when we did exactly that – we seized the day. We lived that moment so intensely our present time and our sense of connectedness with everyone  and everything was paramount.

There was only that which was in front of us, like this post and the possibility of writing a poem on this theme is the only thing that exists for you. Right Now. 

I think about when I am teaching or facilitating and the whole world disappears as the students and I collectively bungee jump into creativity.

I consider moments on stage where I completely disappear into the void, like allowing myself to be taken over by another spirit – exhilarating, scary… life changing.

I hold my hand open and think about poetry performance. Next to flood my mind is the poetry fire we created at one event I hosted.

I smile remembering times laughing with my children or sitting under the stars or making love or crying harder than I ever knew I could.

Poetry Writing Prompt: What is it for you?

What was that moment or moments you remember?

Two decades ago? Yesterday? Last week? Is it a dream for tomorrow? Any way – it is your perfectly right way.

Today we will write of “Seizing the Day” – saying “Carpe Diem”  or “Si, Se Puede.”

Word Prompt: YES! (and the above words).

Sentence Starters: In that moment, I….

I finally understood, personally, what Carpe Diem meant….

And for your final inspiration, one of my favorite movies and a scene where the students were first challenged to Seize the Day… and there is even some Whitman and a Byron joke thrown in for good measure. If you ever want me to laugh, put Lord Byron into a sentence and I will howl. Seriously!

Writing Poetry Prompt Day 18 - Time

Time, you never seem to have enough unless you are doing something you don't want to do and then it seems to stretch on forever. You are now into the downhill side of writing poetry daily for the month of October. Have you found the time to write poetry everyday this month?


I unfortunately let other things get in the way. I'm not going to be hard on myself and I hope you won't either if you haven't written a poem a day. I have written more poetry than ever before in a short period of time and we still have twelve days left of October.

Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror.  It's passing, yet I'm the one who's doing all the moving.  ~Martin Amis

Prompt: Time, do you have too much, too little or just the right amount? Write about your relationship with time. Tell us the joys and pains of time in your life.

Word Prompt: Time

Sentence Starters:

If I had enough time I would...

Time is...

Have fun exploring time with words. Come back and link up, visit your neighbors, but most of all enjoy writing your poetry.

Peace,
Morgan

Thank you for sharing and recommending before you leave.

Poetry Writing Prompt #17 - Bringing a Place to Life Via Your Poem

In Rainer Rilke’s “Diaries of a Young Poet” (not his more often sited “Letters”) he was making careful notes to his lady love, describing his travels as he ventured into Italy.

Please note Rilke's technique:

1.        He considered his audience: he is writing especially for an audience of one. A woman he is in love with who highly values the words he is writing. She is hungry for rich, ripe narrative.

2. Consider his writing voice.  Can you hear his voice and his heartbeat as he writes for his
  “audience of one? Keep your voice authentic no matter how large – or intimate – your “audience.”

3. Consider the overall metaphor.  What does it speak to of these two cities?  How does Rilke make these places feel like people?

The Words of Rilke:

“Florence, unlike Venice, does not disclose herself to the casual passer-by.  In Venice the bright, cheerful palaces are so trusting and talkative, and they linger like beautiful women forever by the mirror of the canal, wondering whether people ever see the aging in them. They are happy in their brilliance and have probably never desired anything other than to be beautiful and to display and enjoy all the advantages of this possession. Therefore, even the most fleeting person goes away from them enriched, richer at least by the festive fronts and their incomparable golden smile, which at every hour of the day remains awake in one nuance or another, and at night gives way to that almost over sweet, surrendering melancholy that has found a place in the Venetian memories of even the hastiest traveler through Italy.  

"Not so in Florence: the palaces raise their mute foreheads toward the stranger in almost hostile
fashion, and a wary defiance lingers around the niches and gates, and even the brightest sun does
not succeed in dispelling its last traces.  It is a strange sensation, especially amid the open life
of the modern streets where the people celebrate their festivals and shout their business, this dense fortified suspiciousness of the old bourgeois palaces, of the broad gigantic bourgeous arches with their eternal somberness embedded fossil-like in the folds of the mighty ashlars." 

Do you see how he makes these places into characters?

Poetry Writing Prompt: Consider a place you feel strong feelings about, whether you can’t stand the place or love the place deeply. Jot some notes about those distinctive characteristics you love or dislike and make them come alive as characters or as intriguing backdrops for your poem.

Your task is simply this: bring this place to life via your poem.

Word Prompt: Name of the Place of Your Poem

Sentence Prompt: “Name of place does” or “Name of place doesn’t”

As always, use these as possible leaping off points. If your writing moves in a completely different direction, be grateful! I am pleased when I see any of your poems posted, even if I don’t comment right away.

Also, please don’t feel there are any “hafta’s” or “gotta’s” attached with OctPoWriMo. We would rather you write sometimes than no times. We understand busy lives: there are no rights, no wrongs, no “only this way or that.”

Feel the freedom of poetry and love your words into life.

Oodles of Word-Love,

Julie

Links:

Background on the circumstances of the creation of Letters to a Young Poet along with excerpts from the website, Silence Speaks.

Rainer Rilke "Letters to a Young Poet". This link takes you to a 21 page PDF that you may print for free. I believe this is a must read for all creative people. You may like to seek other translations as well. In fact, after you read this you may want to go to your local bookstore and compare the different translations you find there.

Poetry Prompt Day 16 - Which Side Are You On

I am having a rough couple of days and I came across this video that I immediately wanted to use for this poetry prompt. The video itself is a song by Natalie Merchant, Which Side Are You On which I believe is about coal miners.  I hope it stirs your imagination the way that it did mine and has you writing pages of poetry.

Poetry Prompt: Think of a time that you were stuck in the middle, between issues. Actually there is a lot of that going on now with politics heating up as we move toward the November elections. Most people feel strongly and of course they think their side is the right side and the other side is the wrong side. In such a tug of war no one wins. This video made me think of that but it also made me think of so much more. Make a list of things you have felt caught in the middle of and pick one. Write for ten minutes then see if there is anything within it that you want to share.

Word Prompt: Hands

Sentence Starters:

My Grandfather’s hands…

Torn between two sides…

Hands old before their time…

I hope your days are filled with love and wonder. Please visit the other poets as they open veins and bleed onto the page. Or at least it feels that way sometimes.

Much Love and Peace to You,
Morgan

Thanks for sharing before you leave.