Prompt #177 – The Loss of Things

In life, some things stay with us and some things are lost. People, of course, enter and leave our lives in the same way that beloved pets do. Loss through death is an experience that none of us can avoid. It’s been rightly said that loss is a part of life, but while many losses leave us in sadness, there are losses that are just part of life’s natural process, not all that difficult to accept and often for the best.

There are two major psychological responses by individuals when adjusting to loss: (1) the use of coping mechanisms, and (2) emotional reactions. There is, however, a third component in the “psychology” of loss that deals with “cutting” and “coming to terms with” our losses (however large or small those losses may be).

Poetry often speaks a language of loss and, while losses come in all magnitudes, let’s not think in terms of major losses this week. Instead of agonizing over a serious loss, let’s consider a leaving or a letting go that was not devastating and perhaps even for the best.  For example, we all lose things that are special to us (a family keepsake, an article of clothing that makes us recall a special time or event, a stuffed animal that remembers childhood, a piece of jewelry with special reasons for attachment, a good luck charm, a book). We all lose such things along the way. Remember: this week, we’re not writing about people or pets but, rather, about things.

Guidelines:

1. Write a poem titled or based on, “I Had It Once, But I Don’t Need It Now.”

2. Write a poem titled, “Thanksgrieving” about a loss for which you were ultimately thankful.

3. Related to the above, take an inventory of your blessings and things for which you’re grateful and include some of them in a poem about a loss.

4. Write a poem about a loss that ended in good.

5. Write a poem about letting something go—a letting go that was for the best.

6. Write a poem about an object that you once treasured but no longer have. Why was it important? What happened to it?

7. Write a poem in which you re-find something that you lost.

8. Write a poem in which a loss unexpectedly lent itself to the good and meaningful in your life.

9. Write a poem from the perspective of a treasured object that you’ve lost.

10. Write a poem addressed to a treasured object that you’ve lost.

Tips:

1. Start by making a list of words that deal with the subject of loss.

2. Choose some of the words from your list to include in your poem.

3. Think of a loss to write about—one over which you had no control or one that you chose., and remember that the loss can’t be a person or pet.

4. Think about what your poem says at the sub-meaning level through syllables, sonic impression (sound), images, and word choice.

5. Remember that a good poem should have at least two subjects: the obvious subject and the not-so-obvious. Think about your content and what you really want to say about your subject. Dig deeply. Don’t settle for what you meant to write.

6. Let the loss you choose to write about lead you into another “place.” Evoke a feeling of loss (or some sense of it) within a larger context.

7. Spend time during revision on your line and stanza lengths.

A. Is there a reason for your line lengths? For example, is your poem skinny and, if so, why? If you’ve used longer lines, how does the line length serve the poem’s meaning?

B. Try some enjambments. (Enjambment occurs when a phrase carries over a line-break without a major pause. In French, the word “enjambing” means “straddling” and, in poetry, enjambment means that one line “straddles the next.”) When you read an enjambed line, the sense of it encourages you to keep right on reading the next line, without stopping for a breather.

B. Have you used irregular (aleostrophic) stanzas and why?

C. If your poem appears as a single stanza (stichic), can you work it into a line scheme such as couplets, tercets, etc.?

D. If you typically write with a certain line or stanza length, try to get out of your comfort zone (or rut) and try something different. Be sure that line and stanza lengths fit the meaning of the poem and how you wish to express it.

Examples:

“Loss” by Carl Adamshick 

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23627

“Token Loss” by Kay Ryan

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23830

“Reluctance” by Robert Frost

http://www.poemtree.com/poems/Reluctance.htm

Prompt #176 – All You Need Is Love

This Friday, we celebrate Valentine’s Day, and that makes me think about love poems. Mind you, love poems are among the hardest to write because the pitfalls of clichés, triteness, and sentimentality are ever present, not to mention the fact that pouring intense emotion into written language can present some interesting challenges.

These days, it seems that love poems occupy a place somewhere between hot fudge sundaes and oatmeal. Poets of the past often wrote love poems and there are hundreds for us to read, but there’s not much contemporary interest in moonbeams through willows and the “archaic” romantic meanderings of yesterdays poetic styles.

So, what does make a love poem special by today’s standards? What makes a love poem unique? What gives a love poem the power to touch readers? What makes a love poem more than personal? What makes a love poem universally meaningful? How do modern love poems affirm without sentimentality? One of the best ways to consider these questions is to read numerous examples of contemporary love poems. 

Guidelines:

1. Write a poem to someone you love.

2. Write a poem to someone who loves you.

3. Write a poem to a beloved pet.

4. Write a love poem to an inanimate object. (You might try for humor with this one, maybe a limerick.)

5. Write a poem about unrequited love.

6. Write a poem to or about your first love.

7.  Write a poem about an unhappy romance.

8. Write a poem about platonic love.

9. Write a love poem to nature or a particular aspect of the natural world (perhaps an ode).

10. Write a poem based on this quotation from Pablo Neruda: “Let us forget with generosity those who cannot love us.”

11. Write a poem in which you examine how falling in love creates a new and surprising sense of mortality and fear of death.

13. Write a parody of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous “How Do I Love Thee?” (Sonnet 43).

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

Tips:

1. The sonnet form is often associated with love poems. Try writing your poem in sonnet form. Work on the form in your early drafts and don’t worry if you decide to scrap it.

2. Write a ghazal (originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love). To learn about ghazal form, try the following links:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5781

http://poetry.about.com/od/poeticforms/g/ghazal.htm

3. Work your thoughts through imagery and be sure that you show and not tell about the love in your poem. Images should be crisp and original.

4. Watch out for clichés and “saccharine” expressions, and steer clear of sentimentality. It’s easy to fall into such things when writing love poems. Dare to be different, mysterious, distinctive …

5. If your subject matter is romantic love, try to create an intensity of feeling without using words like beautiful and love. Work toward a subtle sensuality without saying anything overt.

6. Try beginning your love poem with a subordinating conjunction as a way of attracting reader interest and a way of drawing readers into your poem. “Because I loved from a distance …” “Because he/she would never know …” “Because my reason for leaving was never told …”

(Remember Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death/he kindly stopped for me.”)

7. Although the feelings you write about will be personal, work on making your poem universally meaningful.

Examples:

Click here for a list of contemporary love poems from Poets.org. 

To All of You from Chaucey and Me

P.S.  Click here to hear the Beatles song from which this prompt's title comes ("All You Need I Love").

Prompt #175 – What the Monkey Said to the Branch: Personification

This week, I thought it might be interesting to work with personification (the attribution of human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form). Many us of us grew up learning children’s poems or rhymes that were enjoyably filled with personification. For example,

Hey diddle, Diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Emotion, thoughts, gestures, and actions that human beings might experience can be applied to any non-human object when using personification. Poets use personification to help readers better understand human relationships to non-human “things” and to help underscore the ways in which non-human things may reflect human qualities.   

Personification isn’t just a device through which you “decorate” your poems. Most importantly, personification can help you convey deeper meaning and add vividness to your work by allowing the work to look at human life or the natural world through something other than human eyes. It may also be used to reveal human qualities—the good and the not-so-good—and it gives both writer and reader an opportunity to consider insights from perspectives other than the human.

Guidelines/Suggestions:

1. Before writing, read the example poems carefully to get a good sense of how personification can be used.

2. Read the first example poem (“Fog” by Carl Sandburg) especially carefully. Using this poem as the “format” for your poem, try using the following to get started (remember this is based on Sandburg’s “Fog”).

Line 1   Incorporate your title and how your subject arrives or begins.

Line 2   Tell what your subject does.

Line 3   Tell how your subject does the action in line 2.

Line 4   Tell where your subject is.

Line 5   Tell how your subject leaves or ends.

After completing this, begin to work on the poem—add, change, tweak, refine. Your finished poem may not resemble Sandburg’s at all, and that’s absolutely fine!

3. Look through your files and see if you might insert a bit of personification into an already-written poem to heighten its “punch.”

4. Make a list of inanimate or non-human things and the begin writing about one of them. Use personification as the foundation for your poem.

5. Pick any animal and write about it from the perspective of the animal, giving it human abilities to think, reason, analyze, and express emotion. (If you don’t feel inspired, use the image above for inspiration. What’s the little monkey thinking? Why? Where is he or she? Where would he or she rather be?)

6. Imagine that two animals, two stones, two fire hydrants, two trees, two hyacinths (or anything you wish meet). Write a poem that details their conversation. If you like, feel free to give the title of this prompt a try ("What the Monkey Said to the Branch").

Tips:

1.  Be careful not to overdo the personification in your poem.

2. Create unusual and vivid images.

3. Use of strong word associations to add variation and embellishment.

4.  Avoid the pitfall of clichés—keep your personification fresh and original.

5.  You poem may, at first blush, appear to be a simple poem in which personification is used, but be sure to take your meaning beyond the obvious. Go for the “hidden” subject as well as the apparent.

6. Revise. Revise. Revise. With each revision, refine your poem to make it the best it can possibly be. It’s always a good idea to let a poem “sit” (note the personification there) for a day or two after you’ve completed what seems to be a final draft. Coming back to the poem with a fresh eye can make a huge difference in how you “see” your work.

Examples:

"Fog" by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

___________________

"Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room" by Nancy Willard

"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"

said the sunflowers, shining with dew.

"Our traveling habits have tired us.

Can you give us a room with a view?"

They arranged themselves at the window

and counted the steps of the sun,

and they both took root in the carpet

where the topaz tortoises run.

Note: this poem has often been mistakenly credited to William Blake. For additional information on the error, please visit
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10133176/William-Blake-poem-revealed-as-being-written-in-20th-century.html
___________________

"The Train" by Emily Dickinson

I like to see it lap the miles,

And lick the valleys up,

And stop to feed itself at tanks;

And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,

And, supercilious, peer

In shanties by the sides of roads;

And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between, Complaining all the while

In horrid, hooting stanza;

Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;

Then, punctual as a start its own,

Stop-docile and omnipotent-

A stable door.

___________________

From “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.

Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike

I am not cruel, only truthful –

___________________

From “Paradise Lost” by John Milton

Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat,

Sighing, through all her works, gave signs of woe.

___________________

From Act I, Scene II of “ Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare

When well-appareled April on the heel

Of limping winter treads.

___________________

From “Loveliest of Trees the Cherry Now” by A. E. Houseman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Prompt #174 – Dinner Party

We all love to eat yummy foods, and there are many wonderful food poems for us to “consume.” But straightforward food poems aren’t on the menu this week. Instead, let’s write about a whole dinner party. Imagine that you’re the host or hostess. Who would you invite? What would you serve? What would the diner table conversation include? Have fun with this. Be a little outré or surreal if you wish, or work toward a more serious “message.” Remember that any food poem, like a love poem, can be rich, satisfying, and representative of human experience.

Guidelines:

1. Consider writing a poem about a dinner party for famous poets. Imagine dining with T. S. Eliot, Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

2. Write your “feast” poem in the form of a menu. Below are some ideas for a literary feast.

Appetizers:

Prawns Quixote

Entrees:

Mac(Beth) and Cheese

Chicken Sandwiches on Catcher in the Rye Bread

Tale of Two Zities

Of Rice and Men Casserole

Salem’s (Lot) Pot Roast

Leaves of Grass(fed) Beef

Lord of the Fries Potatoes

Edgar Alan Poe-tato Salad

Romeo and Julienned Veggies

Desserts:

The Sundae Also Rises

Bananas Karenina

Drinks:

Huckleberry Gin and Tonic

Tequila Mockingbird

The Old Man and the Seagram’s

A Pitcher of Dorian Grey Goose

3. Write your poem from the perspective of a guest at your dinner party.

4. Write a two-part or two-stanza poem from the viewpoints of two guests at your dinner party (famous poets, contemporary celebrities, historical people, sportspeople, military personnel).

5. Write your poem from the point of view of a food item on your table.

6. Write a poem about a dinner party at which no food is served. What extended metaphor can you develop?

7. Write a poem about a dinner party at which something other than food is served.

8. Don't forget to choose a specific meal for your dinner party: breakfast, lunch, high tea, dinner.

 Tips:

1. Don’t be afraid to be humorous, but keep in mind that a serious tone will work well for this prompt.

2. Use images that appeal especially to the senses of sight, smell, and taste.

3. Invite your readers into your poem (and into the dinner party) with imagery and figures of speech that capture their interest and imaginations. You need a great first line or “hook.”

4. Think in terms of making your poem representative of human experience. The dinner party may be your subject, but there should be a deeper meaning between the “courses.”

Examples:

"At A Dinner Party" by Amy Levy

"Breakfast" by Mary Lamb

"The Dinner Party" by Amy Lowell

Prompt #173 – A Flip of the Coin

The pseudophilosophical term “Flipism” refers to making all decisions by simply flipping a coin (an idea expressed in a circa 1953 Disney comic called “Flip Decision.”) Although Flippism may be viewed as a normative decision theory, delegation to an external device (the coin) and leaving decision-making to something so random may work best in situations where a decision deadlock occurs, when one deliberately avoids making a decision, or when the decision-alternatives appear equivalent. I’m sure we’ve all experienced the kind of backing and forthing that can accompany decision-making, but I don’t suppose many of us leave major decisions to the flip of a coin. The idea, however, has definite creative possibilities.

This week, I’d like you to be entirely creative; that is, don’t write from memory or experience but, rather, make up a situation in which you can’t come to a decision and flip a coin to determine an outcome.

Guidelines:

Some flip decision ideas …

1. Casting a vote

2. Accept or not accept a job offer

3. To date or not to date

4. Choosing a spouse

5. Picking a kitten or puppy

6. Naming a child

7. Heads you love me, tails you don’t

8. Flipping a coin and finding that it has the same face on both sides

  

Tips:

1. Write in the first person.

2. Don’t be afraid to experiment—step outside of the box.

3. Consider a humorous approach.

4. Avoid clichés and unnecessary words and phrases (make every word count).

5. Subvert the ordinary—“see” things in extraordinary ways; take the ordinary and turn it upside down. Dislodge the obvious.

6. Think in terms of what you experience through your senses (concrete words); avoid abstract words that relate to concepts or feelings.

7. Of course, if none of these ideas strikes your poetic fancy, you might like to write about decision-making, a challenging decision you’ve had to make, or anything about flipping a coin.

Example:

A Psychological Tip

By Piet Hein

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind.

And you're hampered by not having any.

The simplest way to solve the dilemma you'll find,

Is simply by flipping a penny.

No, not so that chance shall decide the affair;

As you're passively standing there moping.

But as soon as the penny is up in the air,

You'll suddenly know what you're hoping.

Prompt #172 - Two Sides to Every Story

Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both,

before we commit ourselves to either.

– Aesop

I’m sure you’ve heard the old expression, “There are two sides to every story.” In other words, there are almost always different perspectives or ways of looking at something. Not everyone sees, experiences, or recalls things in exactly the same way, and there are usually valid reasons for opposing opinions. As we come back to poetry prompts this New Year, let’s consider differing perspectives or points of view, different memories of the same experience, and other situations in which “things” may be seen from two sides. Think in terms of a poem that has two stanzas or two parts (one stanza or part for each side, each perspective, each point of view, each memory, each description).

Guidelines:

1. Think about a particular incident in which you and someone (friend, family member, spouse, partner) had an argument or “falling out.” Write a two-stanza or two-part poem in which you tell about the incident from your point of view (stanza 1or part 1) and the other person’s (stanza 2 or part 2).

2. Select a painting and write two short poems or a two-stanza poem about it from two distinctly different points of view.

3. Select a well-known work of art and write a two-stanza or two-part poem in which the first stanza is your view of the artwork and the second stanza is the artwork’s view of you.

4. Think about a belief or belief system (your own or another) and write a poem (2 stanzas or 2 parts) from two perspectives: one that argues for the belief system and one that argues against it.

5. Think of one of the great loves of your life and write a poem in which you describe/discuss that love from your own perspective and the perspective of the object of your love. (Again, two stanzas or two parts.)

6. Think of a geographical place (city, state, country) or a topographical feature (lake, meadow, mountain, seascape, etc.) and write a two-part poem about it, describing from two different views.

7. Select a poem that you love and write a two-stanza or two-part poem in which you discuss the poem from two completely different points of view (love the poem, dislike the poem).

8. Write a poem in which you feature two voices to create a dialogue or argument. This may be based on imaginary people and ideas or may be based on an actual experience you’ve had.

Tips:

1. Be sure to avoid the pitfall of simply telling a story (two ways in this case).

2. A poem needs to do more than tell—it has to move beyond its subject through heightened awareness of the subject’s deeper meanings. Identify the real subject of your poem.

3. Raise a question or two and, perhaps, leave them unanswered.

4. Don’t be afraid to experiment with sentence fragments.

5. Bring the poem to closure in an unexpected way (maybe even with a third point of view).

Examples:

"Two Views" by Wyatt Prunty

"Two Views of Buson" by Robert Haas

"Two Views on Two Ghost Towns" by Charles Tomlinson

"Two Views of Withens" by Sylvia Plath

"Two Views of a Cadaver room" by Sylvia Plath

"The Nuns of Childhood: Two Views" by Maxine Kumin

Poetry Contest, Free Entry, Cash Prize & Publication

Regular prompt posting resumes next Saturday. 

In the meantime, here’s a contest announcement that might be of interest to you.

The Carriage House Poetry Series

& The Fanwood Shade Tree Commission

Announce The Carriage House Poetry Prize

 in Observance of Arbor Day 2014

  

First Prize – $250.00

and

Publication in the Autumn 2014 Print Issue of TIFERET

Selected Finalists Will Receive Certificates

Guidelines

• Entries should consist of no more than two poems—no more than 40 lines each.

• Each poem must be single-spaced on a separate sheet of paper.

• Submit 2 copies of each poem, one copy with the poet’s name, address, phone number,

and email address in the upper right corner.

• Poems must be previously unpublished and must contain reference to a tree or trees (not necessarily poems about trees). Any style or form. (Not re-writes or take-offs on Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem “Trees.” Judges will look for poems characterized by technical proficiency, striking imagery and strong sound quality.)

• Entry is free. (Poems will not be returned, so please keep a copy for your files.)

• Deadline: In-hand by March 1, 2014. Winners will be notified via email by April 7, 2014.

Send entries by snail mail only to:

Carriage House Poetry Prize

c/o Adele Kenny & Tom Plante

Fanwood Borough Hall

75 North Martine Avenue

Fanwood, NJ 07023

_______________________________________________ 

Judges

Tom Plante (Publisher/Editor Exit 13 Magazine)

Linda Radice (Award Winning Poet & Fanwood Arts Council Member)

Final Judges

Donna Baier Stein—Founder/publisher of Tiferet; Pen/New England Discovery Award & NJ State Arts Council Fellowship recipient; awards from the Poetry Societies of Virginia and New England; founding poetry editor of Bellevue Literary Review; Breadloaf Writers Conference scholarship; Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars fellowship; author of Sometimes You Sense the Difference; Iowa fiction awards finalist for Sympathetic People (published by Serving House Press, 2013).

Adele Kenny—Author of 23 books (poetry & nonfiction); Carriage House Poetry Series founder/director; Fanwood’s Poet Laureate (appointed March 2012), Tiferet Poetry Editor; two NJ State Arts Council poetry fellowships; Writers Digest Poetry Award; Thomas Merton Poetry Award; first place Merit Book Award; 2012 International Book Award; former creative writing professor (College of New Rochelle); twice featured at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival; has read in the US, England, Ireland, & France.