Sometimes prompt ideas evolve in the most unexpected ways. I was reading Diane Lockward’s new book, The Crafty Poet A Portable Workshop, and
Craft Tip #3—“Scratching”—immediately sparked this idea, which is completely
unrelated to the craft tip in the book. (By the way, if you don’t have a copy
of The Crafty Poet, I strongly
recommend it. Look to your right on this page, and you can order by scrolling
down to “News” in the right sidebar. Just click on the book cover picture, and go
directly to Amazon.com).
I like to think that a lot of
“poetry inspiration” happens unintentionally—that words, people, and things we
encounter continually charge us with creative ideas. The title of the prompt
“Scratching” made me think those metaphorical itchings that we need to metaphorically
scratch: itchings to do something exciting, itchings to meet someone, itchings
to quit a job and try something else, itchings to travel, itchings to create and, yes, even itchings
to find the right “scratch” for an itch. This week, try to write a poem about a
metaphorical itch, a restlessness or a persistent craving, that you’ve
experienced (no, not a skin irritation or a mosquito bite, so you won’t need
any calamine lotion).
Don’t just “scratch the surface”
in this poem, even if writing it takes you out of your comfort zone—remember
that when it comes to “write or flight,” your choice should be to write.
Some Ideas:
1. Make a lit of metaphorical
itches that you’ve had. (“Itches” you’ve “scratched” and perhaps some that you
just couldn’t get rid of.)
2. Look at your list and pick one
itch to write about.
3. Spend some time free writing.
4. Look at your free write
material and pull out lines, phrases, and images that you think you can work
into your poem.
5. Begin writing your poem.
6. Think about your poem’s energy
(negative, positive) and where you’d like the poem to go.
7. Think about the music in your
poem and consciously work on creating a strong sense of sound through alliteration,
assonance, dissonance, anaphora, and scattered rhyme. Focus on assonance this
week: assonance occurs when vowel sounds are repeated in words that are close
to each other; assonance can enhance the mood or tone of a poem.
8. Weed out everything
superfluous—words, phrases, lines—anything that doesn’t add to your poem’s
meaning. Remember that an element of understatement, and even mystery, will
boost your poem’s interest level.
9. Did you find a metaphorical
“scratch” for your itch? You might want to include how it happened.
10. Remember that narrative
poetry tells a story, but be careful to avoid a prose impulse in your poem. Bring
the poem to closure with a “scratchy” punch.
11. Let the poem sit for a day or
two and then go back to it. Tweak and refine. Make decisions about the poem’s
form (line breaks and stanzas)—try different arrangements and see what works
best.
12. Alternatively, if a serious
poem doesn’t work for you, consider a humorous approach (perhaps a limerick
about itches).
Examples: Sorry, I couldn’t find any this week. If you think of
one, please let me know!
