This week
let’s take a look at blame. We all feel guilty at one point or another, and we
all accept or assign blame to others. Blame is a form of judgment and censure,
which, of course, can have a serious effect on relationships.
Communicating
with openness and understanding isn’t always easy, and blame’s pointing finger
can be a total deal breaker when it comes to a close bond (partner, spouse, child,
grandchild, relative, friend, co-worker). Self-blame, too, can lead to the trap
of self-victimization, guilt, shame, remorse, and depression. However we look
at it, blame can be damaging and hurtful. Maybe we can use this week’s prompt
to “unload” some blame. As you’re working toward that, be sure to make craft
choices that will empower your poem.
1. Your
reader should be left with a sense that something happened and something
changed, but you don’t want to simply tell a story. A flat narrative isn’t a
poem.
2. Think
about how readers will “hear” your poem and what you can do to increase the
poem’s sound value. In addition, how have you used form, meter, scattered or
external rhyme, repetition, assonance, and alliteration to create, contribute
to, or enhance meaning?
3. How do your
choices of details and diction evoke a particular mood or attitude? How does
the poem generate tension?
4. What are
the poem’s surprises?
5. Decide
what you’re really saying (not what
you’re trying to say).
Things To Think About:
1. Blaming others is easier than
acknowledging our own shortcomings and accepting responsibility for them.
2. Blaming others is easier than
admitting we’ve fallen short or failed, than facing our own realities.
3. Blame is easier than trying to
improve.
4. Blame really is a waste of time; blaming others won’t
make us feel better about ourselves.
5. Being wrongly blamed hurts.
6. It takes courage to accept
blame for our actions.
7. Is there something for which you
blame yourself?
8. Is there something that makes
you unhappy for which you blame someone or something else?
Have you ever:
1. Blamed
someone else for your bad behavior,
2. Blamed
yourself for something for which you had no responsibility,
3. Been blamed
unfairly by someone for something you did
(thought or felt),
4. Blamed
someone for something they didn’t do,
5. Willingly
accepted blame for something you didn’t do,
6. Experienced a failed relationship because of blame,
6. Experienced a failed relationship because of blame,
7. Acknowledged
a blame-error, your own or another person’s, and really worked to repair it?
Ideas for Writing:
1. You might consider writing a
sonnet this week. (Click the link for explanations of sonnet forms http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm.)
2. Obviously, the subject of
this prompt is serious, but that doesn’t mean you have to write a serious poem.
A funny poem about blame will work as well as a solemn poem.
3. Write about blaming something
other than another person (animal, inanimate object). For example, write a poem
about blaming the sidewalk or staircase that “tripped” you, or write a poem in
which you blame the rain for ruining your favorite shoes.
4. Write a poem about blaming a
situation, environment, or person for falling in love.
5. Write about a time when you
were blamed unfairly or when you wrongly blamed someone else.
6. Write a poem in which you
assign blame for the state of the world or some part of it.
7. Try to come up with an compositional
idea that’s “outside the box;” that is, work with subject and language in a
unique way. Your readers should be “winded” at least once while reading your
poem. Remember that the way something
is written is arguably more important than what
is written.
8. Be wary of a prose-impulse
when you write your poem and work on sound and unique figures of speech.
Examples:
