I write the way I write because I have no choice in the matter other than to get out of the way of the words that wish to come dance this very day in this space. This very moment. Tomorrow will be different and yesterday may inform today but it will never dictate what should come. If it tried it would be ignored like some old newspaper stained with grease from the chips it once held. It’s moment has been and gone. Until that is the wind of change blows it once more to be visible in my eye line where a glimpse of the headline prompts my muse to engage in the ritual writes and the door flies open allowing these very words to land here. Now.
Mama Zen tells us over in the garden that ‘For a creative writing class, my offspring had to create a book of favorite words. Knowing a good thing when I see it, I stole a few of them for this poetry prompt. The Words: mimicry testament rapture cool dachshund cherubim heretic infinitesimal convenient serendipity Your Assignment: Chose three words from the above list and compose a little bit of brilliance of sixty words or less. Bonus points if you title your poem “Book of Words.” Have fun!’
I’m posting a Haiku for this prompt and OLN at dVerse
Welcome to the dVerse Poets bar hosted for today by Kim of Writing in North Norfolk. The challenge is to write a poem, of any length or form, about footwear: stilettos, Wellington boots, hobnail boots, sandals, slippers, ballet shoes – it’s up to you, just as long as the poem is new.
summer football match
title is slipping away
right boot changes lives
Notes: I have written before about this moment. Football to some is just a game. To others much more. On this day a title was snatched from an old rival and people will forever ask ‘where were you when Aguero scored?’.
This is the perfect day for me to touch upon our theme for 2017: Being Human. Today is Mandela Day which is commemorated annually on the date of the late Nelson Mandela’s birth. It is also coincidentally the anniversary of the Imaginary Garden With Real Toads. Yes! Unbelievably, this site opened for business on July 18, 2011, which means we are officially 6 years old. Our origins were humble but we remained true to our concept of membership and became a support base for emerging poets as a place not only to showcase our writing but also to share ideas, encourage divergent thinking and make valuable connections within the online poetry community. These have stood the test of time. In celebration of our anniversary, we have relaunched our Toads in Tandem, in which members pair up and produce collaborative poetry. Please remember to stop by tomorrow to read the combine efforts of Fireblossom and Skylover.
And now, I open the floor to all who are here to participate in the open link. I suppose it would be too much for me to expect 67 poems, but feel free to dig into your archives, as far back as 2011, and share more than one post today.
the act of acknowledging that someone has an occasion for celebration. Japanese call it Kotobuki.
I have been working on a few series of Haiku for a little while now. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite form but there is something in the classic approach I find soothing and meditative. I am a complete beginner when it comes to the form but writing is learning and so in conjunction with that anniversary feeling and some thoughts on being human, here is the first view of the first series.
Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers … Kim is prompting at Carpe Diem and you will also find a fabulous essay there by her on Haiku and Tanka.
“I would like the theme to be ‘the poet’s craft’, in which Carpe Diem’s poets express what they think it is, reflecting on their own experiences as haiku and tanka poets.”
So your responses on this beautiful essay by Kim is themed “The Poet’s Craft” reflect on your own experiences as haiku and tanka poets.
Have you ever heard someone wonder what future archaeologists, whether human or from alien civilization, will make of us? Today, I’d like to challenge you to answer that question in poetic form, exploring a particular object or place from the point of view of some far-off, future scientist? The object or site of study could be anything from a “World’s Best Grandpa” coffee mug to a Pizza Hut, from a Pokemon poster to a cellphone.
I’m not exactly sure how old I was the first time I read “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”, by Harlan Ellison. But I will never forget the way in which my hand reached for my mouth, how aware I became of the gift that is my free tongue, how the title made me cringe and shudder.
Can you imagine yourself being full of ideas and words and feelings and wants and urges and needs… and not being able to communicate them? Have you ever pictured yourself living in a world where you are not allowed to speak? For the purpose of this prompt, “not being allowed to speak” refers to being kept from speaking our minds without fear of punishment.
For today’s prompt, my dear Toads, I invite you to create a new poem inspired by the title of Ellison’s short story(the title of this post). Let your poetry explore the feelings that might lurk in a mind that must scream, but has no mouth. What would such mind poetize?
This is a blog about my life. It's about much more than living with cancer. It's about reading books, cold water swimming, mothering, eating. All that stuff that people who don't have cancer do. If you're looking for my poems you need to go to fmmewritespoems.wordpress.com
