Prompt #348 – All About Animals

 

All About Animals

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

—Anatole France, French Poet

“Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own

and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.” 

—John Muir, Scottish-American Naturalist

 

Introduction:

Animals are our companions, our workers, our eyes and ears, and our food.  We have domesticated some of them, while others remain wild and are sometimes endangered by our activities. Animals play an important role in many people’s lives. In addition to such “occupations” as seeing-eye dogs and dogs that can be trained to detect seizures, animals can also be used in occupational therapy, speech therapy, or physical rehabilitation to help patients recover. Aside from these designated therapeutic roles, animals are also valued as companions, which can affect the quality of our lives in so many positive ways. 

For me, it's always been about dogs and cats (since the 1970s, Yorkshire Terriers), but I once had a horse named Shamrock, a stray pup named Missy that followed me home one day, and many cats. Have animals figured in your life in any special ways? Even if you've never had a pet, you can still write about the feelings you have for animals.

Things to Think & Write about:

1. Have you ever had a special pet or pets? Write a poem about a beloved pet.

2. Are you concerned about the preservation of endangered species and animal rights? Do you believe that animals are not ours to experiment on, use for entertainment, or otherwise abuse? Write a related poem.

3. Is there a particular kind of animal (wild or domestic) that you consider a favorite? Write about your favorite species or breed.

4. Have you ever tried to see things as an animal might? Animals offer us unique opportunities to see beyond the boundaries of human perspectives. Write a persona poem from the perspective of an animal.

5. Have you ever heard that people sometimes resemble their pets? Write a poem in which you compare yourself (or someone you know) to an animal. Think about common characteristics. 

6. Do animal antics make you smile? Write a humorous or whimsical animal poem. 

7. Have you ever mourned the loss of a beloved pet? Think about this quote for a few moments and then write a poem about a pet you have lost: “We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.” (Irving Townsend) 

8. Has loving a pet taught you anything about what it means to be human? Write a poem about what you’ve learned from a beloved pet.

9. If you've never had a pet, think about what kind of pet you might like to have and write a poem about that animal. Or, alternatively, write a poem about why you've never had a pet. 

10. Is there an endangered wild animal that touches your heart? Write a poem about that animal's endangerment and how you feel about it.

                        

Tips:

1. Avoid the passive voice.

2. Eliminate “ing” endings wherever you can.

3. Limit use of adjectives.

4. Avoid prepositional phrases when you can.

5. Get rid of articles (a, an, the) as much as possible.

6. Create images that are unique and memorable.

7. Avoid overstatement and too many details—show, don’t tell.

8. Stay away from clichés, abstractions, and sentimentality.

9. Create layers of meaning—point toward something bigger than the body of the poem.

10. Work on form and format (syntax, line breaks, and stanzas).

11. Leave your reader something to reflect upon.

12.  Create a new resonance for your readers, a lit spark that doesn’t go out when the poem is “over.” Don’t close the door on your poem with a “tidy” ending—leave the door slightly ajar.

 

By way of sharing, here’s a poem I wrote in memory of Yeats, my second Yorkshire Terrier.

Watching 

(In Memory of Yeatsy, January 5, 1993 - July 6, 2008)

The way his head slips from 

my hand as I lay him down, 

his eyes still open (though I

try to close them), the same 

warmth still in his small body. 

It is this: death, a skill learned 

by those who observe it; grief 

what we keep – and memory 

always, at least in part, about

forgetting. I cross his paws the 

way he crossed them in sleep. 

Like all deaths that summer 

remembers, I walk his home.

A patch of sun climbs the stairs 

without him; white moths, 

like snowflakes, span the sky.  

From The American Voice in Poetry: The Legacy of Whitman, Williams, and Ginsberg (Copyright © 2010 by The Poetry Center, Passaic County Community College. All rights reserved). Also published in  from What Matters, Welcome Rain Publishers (Copyright © 2011 by Adele Kenny. All rights reserved).

A Few Animal Poems You Might Enjoy

“St. Francis and the Sow” by Galway Kinnell

“The Animals” by Edwin Muir

“The Heaven of Animals” by James Dickey

“The Donkey” by G.K. Chesterton

“Bears at Raspberry Time” by Hayden Carruth

“The New Dog” by Linda Pastan

Prompt #347 – The Number Five

 

This prompt takes you to a quiet place and focuses on the number five. I did a bit of research on the number five and learned (among other things) that:

In numerology, five is a number of harmony and balance.

In the Bible, number five is a symbol of divine grace.  It is a number that symbolizes God's kindness and favor to humankind. (In Hebrew, the number five symbolizes the idea of saving, to be saved, or to be rescued.)

The Chinese believe five elements make up everything under the heavens: metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

The human body reflects the number five: we have five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot. We also have the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing and thus five sensory organs: eyes, nose, tongue, skin, and ears.

The five plagues of Egypt were: floods, grasshoppers, lice, frogs, and blood.

The five moral precepts of Buddha are: to refrain from taking life, to refrain from taking what is not freely given, to refrain from misuse of the senses or sexual misconduct, to refrain from wrong speech as in lying or gossiping.

The five fundamental virtues are: wisdom, love, truth, goodness and justice.

The five pillars of Islam are: Profession of Faith (shahada), Prayer (salat), Alms (zakat), Fasting (sawm), and Pilgrimage (hajj).

Guidelines:

1. Take yourself to place in which you can relax (your den, your bedroom, your front porch, your backyard, near a lake or stream, the woods, a park).

2. Once you’re settled and comfortable, look around carefully. Notice things (objects, trees, plants, water, stones, etc.) around you and write down five things that capture your attention (and, hopefully, your imagination). You might select five things that are similar or the same (five flowers, five pens or pencils, five windows, five pieces of paper, five books, five people walking by).

3. Now notice the details of those “things.” Jot down some notes.

4. Then write a poem that’s based on, about, or that includes the five things you selected. Look for connections among the five "things" you've chosen and yourself. How do they "speak" to you? What story might they tell?

5. Let your environment become the “landscape” of the poem. Write in the present tense – here and now. Let the objects direct the content of your poem. Describe them, define them, contextualize them, analyze them, repurpose them, recreate them. Play on the number “five.” Let your poem take you where it wants to go, but don’t let your five “things” get lost.

6. Once you’ve completed a draft, take a break.  Five minutes, five hours, five days. Then go back to your poem and begin the process of editing and revising.

Five Tips:

1. Try to write in the active, not the passive, voice. To do that, it can be helpful to remove “ing” endings and to write in the present tense (this will also create a greater sense of immediacy).

2. Be on the lookout for prepositional phrases that you might remove (articles & conjunctions too).

3. The great author Mark Twain once wrote, “When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.” This is especially true in poetry. So ... as you work on a poem, think about adjectives and which ones your poem can live without. (Often the concept is already in the noun, and you don’t need a lot of adjectives to convey your meaning.)

4. Avoid clichés (and, while you’re at it, stay away from abstractions and sentimentality).

5. Show, don’t tell—through striking imagery, a strong emotional center, and an integrated whole of language, form and meaning.

A Poem Based on the Number Five:

The Great Figure

          By William Carlos Williams

Among the rain

and lights

I saw the figure 5

in gold

on a red

firetruck

moving

tense

unheeded

to gong clangs

siren howls

and wheels rumbling

through the dark city.

 

Thoughts on a Poet's True Success by Guest Blogger Michael T. Young

Michael T. Young and His Family           L-R: Malia, Chandra, Ariel, Mike

 

Have you ever thought about what makes you feel successful as a poet? For many, getting poems and books published is the ultimate litmus test for success. But is it really? 

I recently had the pleasure of reading a “poetry meditation” by my dear friend and fellow poet, Michael T. Young. His thoughts on the true measure of a poet’s success really resonated for me, and I thought they would be a great way to begin a new year on the blog—a great way to gain perspective on what is, and what should be, important to us as writers. Many thanks to Michael for his generous sharing.

 

Thoughts on a Poet's True Success

By Michael T. Young

Some thoughts for my fellow poets as we strive to publish our work: It can sometimes be discouraging when we get many rejections. So it’s important to keep a good perspective on where the actual success lies. Everything that comes after successfully writing the poem is not an achievement but a form of recognition of the achievement. That is the case with everything from acceptance for publication to winning a prize. Those forms of recognition are good, I might even say important, because they encourage us and allow us to be part of a larger conversation and community. In that recognition of the achievement, our judgment and achievement feel confirmed. But it is important to locate the actual success correctly, so we don’t mistake the trappings of recognition for the goal. When that happens, poets put more energy into marketing strategies and promoting their name and treat their work as a commodity, rather than focusing on the never-ending struggle to refine the work and achieve their vision and voice as a poet. Those poets might be more published but that doesn’t make them more successful. This is, in fact, why there is poor writing widely published. We live in a consumer culture and those market forces distort nearly every aspect of our society. Emily Dickinson was successful because she wrote visionary poetry and that took all her energy and focus. She didn’t spend time networking or building a platform. I’m not saying don’t publish and I’m not saying avoid wanting to publish, I’m saying: just remember where the actual achievement lies as you strive to publish.

About Michael T. Young

Michael T. Young's third full-length poetry collection, The Infinite Doctrine of Water, was longlisted for the Julie Suk Award. His other two collections are The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost and Transcriptions of Daylight. His chapbook, Living in the Counterpoint, received the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award from the New England Poetry Club. Michael has also received a poetry fellowship from the New Jersey State Arts Council, a William Stafford Award, and the Chaffin Poetry Award. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous print and online journals.

Visit Michael's Website

Visit Michael's Blog

Visit Michael's Amazon Author Page

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, dear blog readers! 

May the coming year will bring you good health, 

much happiness, 

and all the things you cherish and love!

Prompt 346 – Happy Holidays

For many years, I've revisited the story of Virginia O'Hanlon and her letter to the editor of the Sun at some point during this time of year, and I'm happy to revisit it with you again here on the blog. It's one of those magical Christmas stories that never fails to warm my heart. There are several prompts for poems that follow, as well as a letter written by Mark Twain to his daughter.

Over a hundred years ago, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial on Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps. I've read Virginia's letter and Francis Church's reply every year during December for many years. I hope it will touch your heart as much as it always touches mine.

The Editorial

    DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

    Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

    Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’

    Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

    VIRGINIA O’HANLON.

    115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

    VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

    Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

    Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

    You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

    No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

SOURCE: http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/

_______________________________________________

The first poem I ever had published was a letter to Santa that I wrote in December of 1956 (I had just turned 8 years old and still believed in Santa Claus). My poem was published in the Grover Cleveland Elementary School newspaper. Happily, my mom saved all those early writings, and I have an original copy of the newspaper.

Your prompt for this week is to write a letter to Santa in which you list the things that you wish for. These needn’t be material things! You may also consider writing about what you believe or need to believe.

Suggestions:

1. Think in terms of non-material gifts you’d like to receive. (For example: spiritual well-being, healing from (and cures for) illnesses, an end to homelessness and hunger, peace in the world.)

2. Think about your family members and friends. What would you most like for them?

3. Is there a relationship in your life that needs healing? What would you ask for in terms of that relationship?

4. What about our world? What would you ask for?

5. Is there something you want or need to believe? How would you ask for that belief?

Tips:

1. Observe the usual caveats: avoid the passive voice, eliminate “ing” endings wherever you can, don’t use too many adjectives.

2. Use more one-syllable words than multi-syllable words in your last couple of lines (think in terms of strong verbs and no superfluous language).

3. Try (minimal) repetition from another part of the poem—sometimes this can work very well.

4. Try to link the end of your poem to the beginning but not overtly—and don’t over-write.

5.  Write beyond the last line, then go back and find the last line hidden in what you’ve written.

6. Leave your reader something to reflect upon.

7. Point toward something broader than the obvious content of your poem.

8. You may want to try a prose poem  or to use letter format. Here's a letter from Santa Claus that Mark Twain wrote for his daughter Susie:

 

Mark Twain's Letter from Santa Claus

Written for His Daughter Susie

Palace of St. Nicholas

In the Moon

Christmas Morning

MY DEAR SUSIE CLEMENS:

I have received and read all the letters which you and your little sister have written me by the hand of your mother and your nurses; I have also read those which you little people have written me with your own hands--for although you did not use any characters that are in grown peoples' alphabet, you used the characters that all children in all lands on earth and in the twinkling stars use; and as all my subjects in the moon are children and use no character but that, you will easily understand that I can read your and your baby sister's jagged and fantastic marks without any trouble at all. But I had trouble with those letters which you dictated through your mother and the nurses, for I am a foreigner and cannot read English writing well. You will find that I made no mistakes about the things which you and the baby ordered in your own letters—I went down your chimney at midnight when you were asleep and delivered them all myself—and kissed both of you, too, because you are good children, well trained, nice mannered, and about the most obedient little people I ever saw. But in the letter which you dictated there were some words which I could not make out for certain, and one or two small orders which I could not fill because we ran out of stock. Our last lot of kitchen furniture for dolls has just gone to a very poor little child in the North Star away up, in the cold country above the Big Dipper. Your mama can show you that star and you will say: "Little Snow Flake," (for that is the child's name) "I'm glad you got that furniture, for you need it more than I." That is, you must write that, with your own hand, and Snow Flake will write you an answer. If you only spoke it she wouldn't hear you. Make your letter light and thin, for the distance is great and the postage very heavy.

There was a word or two in your mama's letter which I couldn't be certain of. I took it to be "a trunk full of doll's clothes." Is that it? I will call at your kitchen door about nine o'clock this morning to inquire. But I must not see anybody and I must not speak to anybody but you. When the kitchen doorbell rings, George must be blindfolded and sent to open the door. Then he must go back to the dining room or the china closet and take the cook with him. You must tell George he must walk on tiptoe and not speak—otherwise he will die someday. Then you must go up to the nursery and stand on a chair or the nurse's bed and put your car to the speaking tube that leads down to the kitchen and when I whistle through it you must speak in the tube and say, "Welcome, Santa Claus!" Then I will ask whether it was a trunk you ordered or not. If you say it was, I shall ask you what color you want the trunk to be. Your mama will help you to name a nice color and then you must tell me every single thing in detail which you want the trunk to contain. Then when I say "Good-by and a merry Christmas to my little Susie Clemens," you must say "Good-by, good old Santa Claus, I thank you very much and please tell that little Snow Flake I will look at her star tonight and she must look down here—I will be right in the west bay window; and every fine night I will look at her star and say, 'I know somebody up there and like her, too.' " Then you must go down into the library and make George close all the doors that open into the main hall, and everybody must keep still for a little while. I will go to the moon and get those things and in a few minutes I will come down the chimney that belongs to the fireplace that is in the hall—if it is a trunk you want—because I couldn't get such a thing as a trunk down the nursery chimney, you know.

People may talk if they want, until they hear my footsteps in the hall. Then you tell them to keep quiet a little while till I go back up the chimney. Maybe you will not hear my footsteps at all—so you may go now and then and peep through the dining-room doors, and by and by you will see that thing which you want, right under the piano in the drawing room-for I shall put it there. If I should leave any snow in the hall, you must tell George to sweep it into the fireplace, for I haven't time to do such things. George must not use a broom, but a rag—else he will die someday. You must watch George and not let him run into danger. If my boot should leave a stain on the marble, George must not holystone it away. Leave it there always in memory of my visit; and whenever you look at it or show it to anybody you must let it remind you to be a good little girl. Whenever you are naughty and somebody points to that mark which your good old Santa Claus's boot made on the marble, what will you say, little sweetheart?

Good-by for a few minutes, till I come down to the world and ring the kitchen doorbell.

Your loving SANTA CLAUS
Whom people sometimes call "The Man in the Moon"

Source:http://www.twainquotes.com/santaclaus.html

Chaucey and I wish all of you happy, healthy holidays 

and the best blessings of this festive season. 

May the coming year bring you good health, 

much happiness, and all the things that you love! 

I’ll resume posting in January 2020! 

In the meantime, celebrate the season!

My New Book!

Dear Blog Readers,

Forgive me for shamelessly prompting my new book, but I'm so happy to share the news that it's been published! Wind Over Stones is a collection of prose poems based on various artists' paintings, and my publisher (John Weber, owner of Welcome Rain Publishing) has included QR codes so that readers can look at the paintings online while they're reading. I hope you'll consider buying a copy for yourself or for holiday giving. 

To order via Amazon, click on the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Over-Stones-Poems-Adele/dp/1566494052/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=9781566494052&qid=1576149591&sr=8-1

To order through Barnes & Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wind-over-stones-adele-kenny/1135483010?ean=9781566494052

I wish you every blessing of this special season—good health, peace, and joy,

Adele

 ______________________________________________________

Wind Over Stones

Welcome Rain Publishers, LLC

New York, NY

ISBN-10: 1-56649-405-2

$10.00

Paperback, 90 Pages

Publication Date: December 5, 2019

About the Book:

The ekphrastic prose poems in this collection were inspired by various artists’ paintings. A unique feature of the book is the inclusion QR codes for each of the paintings. Using their smart phones or mobile devices and a free QR code scanning application, readers can view the paintings while they are reading the poems.

From the Back Cover:

These prose poems continue Adele Kenny's reflections on the spiritual condition of being. Despite loss and change, she looks into the dark without flinching and finds light among the shadows. Using ekphrasis as a rhetorical device and combined with Kenny's signature elements of technical proficiency, hauntingly lucid imagery, and compelling immediacy, these poems filter and record experience in startling ways as they journey across aging's inevitable arc. Hardwired by Kenny's understanding of the human spirit, these poems offer us insights into the healing power of attention and awareness.

_____________________________________________________

 

"Compressed and brilliant in their philosophical and imagistic scintillations, the prose poems in Adele Kenny’s Wind Over Stones are of one piece in both voice and intensity of gaze. Through each artwork she has chosen as her lens, she seems to be saying, If we look hard enough and long enough, and with just the right slant of light, we can see through these paintings into ourselves. Her vision embodies, without presumption, the knowledge that, as John Muir told us, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Kenny tells us, “This kind of purity comes to us without intention—in ordinary things that are anything but ordinary….” She paints it for us herself: “A flurry of bats becomes the Milky Way, and we make no pretense of understanding the infinite (deep inside us), our need to become nothing before we unname ourselves and disappear.” Everything is connected, and through the language of fairytale, examination, and prayer—the same language, after all—each of Kenny’s poems is a gem in a garland of gems."

—Renée Ashley