Thursday, January 25, 2018

Crazy About Poetry

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink for Roundup.

Here in Alabama I subscribe to an email newsletter that shares about poetic happenings in the Birmingham area. Yesterday there was a prompt taken from the book POEMCRAZY: Freeing Your Life with Words by Susan G. Wooldridge.

Here are a few words from the introductory pages:

"It's impossible to teach anyone to write a poem. But we can set up circumstances in which poems are likely to happen. We can create a field in and around us that's fertile territory for poems. Playing with words, we can get to the place where poems come from. We can write and make discoveries about who we are and who we might become whether or not we truly commit ourselves to becoming poets."

And here is the prompt from chapter 31:

"Go outside alone and wander until you notice an object that might have a quality you need or with something to tell you. 
  • Name it (Give it a real or made-up name.)
  • Describe it by comparing it to something else (analogy)
  • Then ask it, "Bring me a quality that you have that I need."  "
Here a couple of the examples shared:  
"Striped worn river rock . . .
bring me your heavy wisdom
at the still point in the river
where I can lie back, like you,
in shallow waters . . . .        

- Jeri, an adult

Honey mushroom
floating in grass like a plump cloud
bring me your love
of dark places                      

- Susan Wooldridge "

So I decided to give this a try... I hope you will, too! 

cracked plastic bucket
still red as a ripe tomato
bring me the ability
to rejoice in the weight of water
even as it dribbles away

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January maple
bare as a fresh-plowed field
bring me your willingness
to kiss wind
and cradle snow

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mama cardinal
drab as an old boot
bring me your way
of flying without
need for applause

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origami swan
graceful as ship's sail
bring me your
gentle acceptance
of folds and creases

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Thank you for reading!

33 comments:

  1. oooooooooooooooooooh, I love this prompt! What lovely, LOVELY responses to it....kiss wind, cradle snow...the gentle acceptance of origami. Great post. And, I have this book. I just haven't settled myself down with it yet. I need to!

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  2. This sounds like SO much fun. My toddler is all about walking around outside. Little steps up and down the sidewalk can get tedious at times. This will give me something to ponder.

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  3. I'm pulling this book off the shelf tonight. It's always looked intriguing (and survived numerous book purging), but I've never dived in. You've inspired me to check it out.

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  4. Oooh! I LOVE Poemcrazy (learned about it from Catherine Flynn who recommends the BEST books!) and was just thinking I needed to revisit it. I'm definitely going to try this prompt. Your poems are all wonderful but I think my favorite is the cracked red bucket--or maybe the maple---oh! I love them all!

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  5. Irene, I think I just found a poetry prompt for writing with my students today. I think I'll grab the popcorn and have a popcorn poetry day to set up the conditions for finding poems.
    Your poems are delightful. Mama cardinal hit a nerve this morning. I think we all need this wisdom.

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  6. Wow! These are just lovely. I love that introduction...play around with words and create the conditions where poetry might be found and created. I always felt that way when I taught middle-schoolers to write poetry. I offered opportunities and then a little bit of magic happened as they took off and wrote.

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  7. Irene, great prompt, but your responses, I can't pick a favorite. All wonderful.

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  8. What fun. I am putting this where I can access again and write.

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  9. I agree with all the ooohs and accolades. Such beautiful responses, it really was tough to come to a favourite - but I think that mama cardinal may have just quietly (without notice or applause) taken that honour. But all... exquisite.

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  10. What a great prompt!! Love your responses. :)

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  11. You were right, Irene. I did find a beautiful poem here for my gallery-the one on the Japanese Maple. I am sending it via Twitter and you tell me if you like the design. The activity is definitely one that I will use in my workshops. Thanks so much.

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  12. The cardinal, Irene! I adore that. My cardinal-obsessed Kindergarten poets will love this. We had a great discussion one day about, although knowing why the male cardinal was so bright, how sad it was that momma cardinal had to look so plain. Brava! -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/

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  13. Beautiful responses to your prompt, Irene...I especially love your reflections on mama cardinal!

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  14. Fun! I'll give this challenge a try. Especially nice to get outside and wander until something stops me and asks for a poem.

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  15. Oh! I was captivated by the passage you quoted, Irene, but then this prompt! What an enriching exercise not only in finding poetry, but in finding ourselves. Thanks also for your beautiful responses. I will gladly sail away with that mindful origami swan. xo

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  16. Hmmm, I could use some of that origami acceptance of life's crinkles and folds. :-)

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  17. "bring me your
    gentle acceptance
    of folds and creases"
    - so much complexity in these lines - how acceptance isn't always smooth and simple. Beautiful!

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  18. THIS...is amazing. UH-mazing. Form, but not. Starting at the surface and digging deep. Here's one for this moment (unpolished):

    space heater
    small but mighty silver dragon
    breathing heat with no fire on my winter-cold feet
    bring me your confidence
    that I might believe my small actions
    can make a big difference



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    1. Just came back to read this one again... how much do I love that silver dragon and what it can teach us?? xo

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  19. I have that book somewhere...I'm not sure I actually read it. It think it's time!

    It's too cold to wander out right now, but here's what I found in front of me:

    pink coffee mug
    round as a pot-bellied pig
    bring me your
    ability to absorb the warm
    and share it with those cold

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    1. Diane, I am smiling and smiling over that pot-bellied pig. :) Thank you! xo

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  20. This post was just the dose of inspiration I needed, Irene. My good friend Margaret Simon told me about it and how it inspired her teaching yesterday. WOW! Such incredible work from her students. I want to try this out myself. I am also excited to get a copy of the book you referenced. As a newbie to poetry I am no longer tip-toeing around in it. New to teaching kindergarten this year, I am reading poetry with my students every day, and already have a few budding poets trying out their own pieces! This summer I have been asked to teach a class for our community college teacher academy and have decided to focus on poetry for K-3 teachers. I think this book will be great resource. Do you have other ideas?

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    1. Hi Dani - yay for no more tiptoes! :) How wonderful! Would love to talk with you further about this. Please email me irene (at) irenelatham (dot) com. Love to those Kinders!

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  21. I absolutely love this book! Thank you for the invitations, Irene! It's time to take this book off the shelf again and try!

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  22. This is an amazing prompt, and your responses to it are equally amazing. My favorite is the red plastic bucket with its water dribbling away. <3

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  23. Love your responses, Irene, esp. the cardinal and origami.
    Here's mine:

    sturdy scarf
    creamy as a marshmallow in cocoa
    bring me your joy
    at bending to fit any neck,
    eternally ready to stave off the wind.

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    1. Oh that creamy scarf! Thank you Tabatha! I love it! xo

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  24. Rich and delicious, my friend - and how nice to read a positive association for "folds and creases" (says the woman on the cusp of another birthday - ha!).

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  25. These are lovely Irene–I like the process here too– of naming the object, describing it, and adopting an attribute of it. Loved these lines,
    "bring me your willingness
    to kiss wind
    and cradle snow"

    Here's one for a dear friend:

    proud pencil
    useful as the air we breathe
    bring me your tenacity
    to write deeply
    and perceptively

    Thanks!

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    1. Michelle, a dear friend indeed! I love your pencil poem. Love it! xo

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  26. These are so delightful! This is my favorite:

    mama cardinal
    drab as an old boot
    bring me your way
    of flying without
    need for applause

    Applause! Applause!

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  27. Poemcrazy is one of my favorite books! Time to pull it off the shelf again:>) Love your poems, especially that bucket, and thanks for the inspiration!

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  28. Poemcrazy is such an inspiring book! I love your responses to this prompt, Irene. Your origami swan is so wise. I always need to be reminded of "gentle acceptance/of folds and creases".

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Your thoughts?