OctPoWriMo Day 14: Inspiration from the Poets Who Went Before...

One of the ways I improve as a poet is to collect and read lots of poetry books so that I may come to

This photo was taken at City Lights Bookstore

know a lot of poets with a lot of styles. Not all of them suit my taste but this is completely fine. I learn as much if not more from those poets whose style is different than my own.


Today I am going to offer ten quotes from ten different poems for you to use as prompts for your writing. This is different from the norm and that is good, my loves, that is good. 

How uninteresting life would be if we always spent it on the exact same things in the same old ways! Now is your chance to try on a little bit different thought processes.

I have been studying poetry on my own as an independent scholar for years now. I do it because I love poetry. Imagine my delight when happening upon the poetry at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. It is like a Poetry Sanctuary. Learning from these poets may be the start of a grand thing for you!

Read the quotes and choose one you find especially inspiring. Allow those words to seep into you. Use them to begin your poem and then... continue until you are satisfied.

If you hit a spot where you feel blocked, choose a different quote to write from and "marry" the stanzas together.

Now, for the quotes and poets.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
― Mary Oliver

"Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese."
GK Chesterton



“Live not for Battles Won.
Live not for The-End-of-the-Song.
Live in the along.”
― Gwendolyn Brooks


“Resist much, obey little.”
― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

“Two girls discover the secret of life
in a sudden line of poetry.”
― Denise Levertov

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

“You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it.”
― Adrienne Rich

“Don't use the phone. People are never ready to answer it. Use poetry.”
― Jack Kerouac

If you are stumped to write from the quotes, feel free to use the image prompts or write something completely different. Both photos were both taken by me, Julie Jordan Scott. As long as you give me the credit, I am thrilled you use them on your blogs.

-- Julie Jordan Scott

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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist  whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Fall and Winter, 2014 and beyond. 

Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    
 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)
Follow on Instagram
And naturally, on Pinterest, too!
© 2014


Ready? Let's write and then let's check out the other poet's words. If you are one of the first poets of the day, go to yesterday's list and comment the poets from the end of yesterday. They tend to have fewer comments.

Have fun!

Day 13 - Color Your World

Image Credit: Ken Kistler via publicdomainpictures.net

For the last several days, we've given you some really heavy, emotionally charged prompts and those of you who have linked up with us are putting out some incredible poetry! I wanted to provide a prompt on this Monday that can (perhaps) be a bit lighter. Of course, it could be a deeply emotional prompt, if you choose to take it in that direction. Just make sure you're enjoying the journey!

As someone new to calling herself an "artist", I react very strongly to colors. That will be the focus of our writing today.

The Prompt: Free write about color. How do you react to different colors? What color do you love? Are there colors you don't like? Perhaps you want to write about the colors of autumn, the color of your lover's eyes, a box of crayons, or the colors of flowers in springtime. Explore the colors of your world and see where the words want to take you.

Word Prompts:

     color

     colorful

     rainbow

     red

     orange

     yellow

     green

     blue

     violet

     *any other specific color that you love

Image Prompts:

Image Credit: Vera Kratochvil via publicdomainpictures.net

Image Credit: Barb Ver Sluis via publicdomainpictures.net

Image Credit: Anna Langova via publicdomainpictures.net

As always, the prompts are completely optional! Feel free to use/modify/enhance/ignore them at your pleasure!

~ Amy McGrath

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The Art of Obsessions - OctPoWriMo Day 12

Desires can be tricky to navigate. They're a bit murky, depending on intentions and what the object of desire is. Sometimes the desire for something can be a great motivator, keeping you focused and on track. Other times, the desire can overrule every bit of good sense and propriety bordering running into the dark territory of obsession. It has started wars whether out in a foreign country or between neighboring households. 

Have you ever truly lusted for something? Have you coveted a thing, a person a way of life? 

Poetry Prompt:

Here's your challenge (if you chose to accept it): Write about desire in whatever form you chose. It can be a simple desire like wanting a better life for your children, or something with a bit more scandal. Chose any words from the list below.

The words:
                              desire
                              lust
                              wanting
                              obsession
                              fascination
                              possess
                              love
                              enraptured

It's Day 12, getting closer to that halfway point. How are you doing so far?

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Poetry Prompts - Courageously Speaking for Children

“Take the blinders from your vision

take the padding from your ears

and confess you've heard me crying 

and admit you've seen my tears.” 

― Maya Angelou

They announced the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize today, Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi.  Both recipients represent those that are trying to create a better world for all children. Malala Yousafzai survived being shot for speaking out for education for female children not just male children and continuing to advocate for education for all. The second recipient, Kailash Satyarthi, for campaigning for the rights of children and the end of human trafficking.

Poetry Prompt: 

Photo by Morgan Dragonwillow

Free write for ten minutes about creating a better world for children. What injustices have you stood up for? What can we do as a community to make the world safer for children?

Word Prompts:

Children
Education
Equality
Bravery

Feeling Words:

Tenacious
Determined
Vulnerable
Courageous

Congratulations Bee Love for winning this weeks autographed copy of Wild Woman Waking! Congratulate @bee_writerbee on Twitter!

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Morgan Dragonwillow: Writing rebel, stress relief explorer, recovering perfectionist, cooking as therapy, poet & author that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of #OctPoWriMo. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.
You can find her on Google+

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Day 10: World Mental Health Day

Do you know anyone living with mental illness? Chances are you do.

Today is World Mental Health Day first established in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health. It's a day to raise awareness about mental health issues through education and advocacy. One in four adults and one in five children will experience mental illness this year. (Resource: NAMI)


I live with the diagnoses of bipolar disorder, PTSD, ADHD, and anxiety with major depressive episodes. It impacts everything about my daily life. Today I encourage you to learn more about mental illness and help us eradicate the stigma associated with the diagnosis.



The Prompt: How are you taking care of your own mental health? How does mental illness affect your life?

Word Prompts: 

• mental health
• mental illness

Suggested Shadow Poetry Form: Ode or Acrostic

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Photo by Loud Images

~ Amy McGrath is a poet, fiction writer, artist, and student of life. She is working toward a new career as a Creative Arts Therapist where she hopes to share with others the healing power of the creative process. You can read her poetry and see some of her art on her blog - Poetry, Prose, Art, and Creativity. When she's not writing or making art, you can find her reading, listening to a wide range of music (even singing karaoke sometimes), or spending time with her husband Patrick and her two sons.

OctPoWriMo Day 9 - Do I Have to Do This?

“Do I have to do this?”

I can hear myself asking this of a person in authority.

“Because I don’t want to do this.”

I can hear myself saying this in my mind and not to a person in authority.

We are waltzing toward the center of October and OctPoWriMo and you’ve been writing poetry for a while and you may be visiting and commenting and tweeting and wondering why you continue to bother anyway because no one seems to notice, or no one “gets” poetry anyway or you aren’t going to get rich quick writing poetry so why do you insist on continuing with this challenge?

Today’s prompt is all about why you are choosing to continue to write poetry now.

Scoop up any aspects of the prompting above and below and tell me, tell us, tell your next door neighbor - yes, you may even shout it from the rooftops why you are continuing to write poetry daily.

Phrase prompts:

Stay the course

Keep on keeping on

Because… just because

(or add your own similar phrase in the comments, please...)

Word Prompt

Continue

Tenacious

Stubborn

Willpower

(or add your own similar word prompt in the comments, please...)

Image Prompt (or use the image above)

Bonus Prompt:

Imagine you are writing a poem to someone who is about to stop writing poetry. Write to them and give them your best wisdom on continuing with the challenge.

Now: Write Your Poem for Day 9:

Poetry Prompts - Moon Madness

The Full moon's energies are stirring things up today, pulling the ocean's tides, pulling on emotions. Some people say when the moon is full it brings out the crazy in people, that there are more incidences of disagreements and angry outbursts.

I say that it is a creative time, a water time. The moon is connected to water and emotions so I say let's use it for our creativity. Let's tap into the Full moon energies and pour it into our poetry.

Poetry Prompts:

Free write for ten minutes about the Full moon and what it means or doesn't mean to you. Do you feel any different during the full moon, do you even notice when the moon is full?

Word Prompts:

Photo by Morgan Dragonwillow

Full Moon
Moon Madness
Creativity
Water

Feeling Words:

Nostalgic
Impulsive
Dynamic
Bold


Shadow Poetry Type: Acrostic

Let's get creative, I chose the acrostic form because I love it and because you can use it in a simple one word form, two word form, and you can get as expansive with it as you choose. You can create a story if you choose like I did with my poem Lipstick or show more emotion as I did in my poem Penetrate. It is one of my favorite forms because you can do just about anything with it.

Most of all I hope you have fun diving into your poetry!

When linking up your post, please put in the URL to the actual post and not just to your main site, it makes it more difficult for those that would like to read your poetry for that day. It also makes it easier for your visitors to leave comments if you turn your captcha off. Thank you for your cooperation!


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Morgan Dragonwillow: Writing rebel, stress relief explorer, recovering perfectionist, cooking as therapy, poet & author that (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. She is team leader at @StoryDam, creatrix of #OctPoWriMo. She lives in Marietta, Ga. with her loving and patient partner, their dog that thinks she's a princess, and the cat that reminds her that she isn't.
You can find her on Google+

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