Poetry Prompts and Social Media Nudges

I've mentioned Robert Lee Brewer's April Platform Challenge and the online community that has grown out of it in my last two posts. Well, last week I had a great lesson in social media from my fellow MNINBer, Lynn Daue. Lynn is a novelist and blogger at Rhymes with Tao. One morning, she tweeted that she had gotten off to a great start writing so I tweeted back a "way to go." She replied with what I thought was her goal for doing some additional writing later in the day and I sent back a "go for it." Then she replied "Not just me. You, too." Hmmm. Obviously, I like a good challenge or I wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place so I replied "I'm in."

So, I go to the list of ideas I mentioned in my post "Poetry by Prompt-That's the Challenge",  look at the first one and begin working. I did indeed complete a first draft that evening. After a few more rewrites, I wound up with the following:

Postcards

Pieces of art
that came in the mail.
Photos and drawings
from friends and relatives
showing vacation spots
and wondrous sites.
I still have one
that was sent from Ireland.
But that happened
more than 20 years ago.
Now, postcards carry
messages from marketers
and reminders from doctors.
They are no longer collectibles.
Just another recyclable.

I'd like to thank Lynn for giving me a taste of the best thing about social media, which is making a connection and having a conversation. By the way, that's the best thing about poetry, too.

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Want to learn more about the April Platform Challenge? Go to "How to Build (or Improve) your Writer Platform in 30 Days

Learn more about  the MNINBers at the following links:

The MNINB Annotated Blogroll: Poetry in Motion, Part 1

The MNINB Annotated Blogroll: Home Front

The MNINB Annotated Blogroll: Not Only Survivors but True Thrivers

The MNINB Annotated Blogroll: Kids Play

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The Liebster Award-Given Blogger to Blogger

In my last post, I mentioned the April Platform Challenge that Robert Lee Brewer facilitated on his My Name is Not Bob blog. This challenge was about learning to use social media. One benefit from participating in the challenge has been becoming part of an amazing online community. Participants in the challenge have been very generous with their knowledge and very encouraging.

So, in checking the comments on the blog and my Twitter account, I found that Sopphey Vance, Kim Bussey and Khara House nominated me for a Liebster Award.

In Sopphey's words "It's just a recognition from one blogger to another for how awesome they are. Kind of like a really big Internet hug!" Thank you, Sopphey, Kim and Khara for the internet hugs. I'm sending one back to each of you.

On her blog, Sopphey Says, Sopphey uses words and images to create wonderful posts, including both poetry and prose, that touch the heart and soul.

 On Purrfect Tale, Kim shares her own experiences with various aspects of being a writer. She is working on a novel.

Khara's blog is Our Lost Jungle. She shares her poetry and what I think is her beautiful use of language.

 The Liebster rules are:
1. Thank the one who nominated you by linking back.
2.  Nominate five blogs with less than 200 followers.

3.  Let the nominees know by leaving a comment at their sites.

4.  Add the award image to your site.

My nominees are:
1. Finding Bliss - Great information about writing, the business of writing and social media by Laura Conant Howard.
2. "Strong Women Grow Here" - Alvarado Frazier says "I write about strong women, difficult circumstances and characters on both sides of the law." She tells amazing stories.
3. Diary of a Word Nerd - Julia Tomiak writes a blog for word lovers. 

4. Present Letters - Lynn Obermoeller tells her stories in the form of letters to her late mother.

5. YA Sleuth - F.T. Bradley writes about the world of YA  and MG (middle-grade) mysteries.
I want my nomination to say to you: I stopped by your blog, read your words and know I will come back again and again.

Poetry by Prompt-That's the Challenge

We often talk about being inspired to write poetry. Sometimes, we only need to be prompted.

Monday, I completed the Poem-A-Day Challenge that began April 1 on Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides blog. The prompts were words or phrases, fill in the blank and one great device that I plan to use again (take a line or image from one poem and create another poem).

The challenge was to write 30 poems in 30 days on the topics given.  I would say I ended up with some poems, some poemettes that may be nurtured into poems and some words on paper that are never destined to reach full poemhood. Following is one example:

Something Borrowed

A violin handed down from you.
Not my first choice.
(I didn't know about Blue Grass then.)
I never played as well as you did.
Who wanted to practice with a bow
instead of playing with a ball?

What I really took away from this exercise is a new willingness to write. As you might expect, I had different reactions to the various prompts: that's easy,   that's interesting, I can't write about that and I think the stress of putting together two challenges (See My Name is Not Bob April Platform Challenge) is getting to him. But, if I let myself start to write, interesting things happened. Sometimes the journey was straight forward, sometimes it had detours and sometimes it had U turns. I made the most progress when I stopped thinking my way through the process and started writing my way through.

Did you do a poetry challenge during National Poetry Month?  What was your favorite prompt? Did you learn anything about your poetry or how you write it?

I have a list of ideas that have remained a list of ideas because all I have done is re-read them or think about them. I have never let myself simply start writing about them.  They are my new challenge. I can't wait to see where they take me.

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National Poem In Your Pocket Day

Today is National Poem in Your Pocket Day. This day was created in 2002 in New York City as part of the city's celebration of National Poetry Month. In 2009, the Academy of American Poets promoted the idea nationally.

The idea is simply to share poetry. Print out or write out your favorite poem, make copies and hand them out throughout the day. The Johnson County (Kansas) Library, which partners with The Writers Place to post a Poem-A-Day in April, prints bookmarks with those same poems for Poem In Your Pocket Day. Or, if you prefer to take advantage of today's technology, text, tweet, email or post your favorites. And, don't forget the art of spoken word.

See if there are any special celebrations in your area. Most importantly, share some words you love today.
Here is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken", read by the poet himself.

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Ekphrastic Poetry

I enjoy writing ekphrastic poetry; poetry that is inspired by visual art. On one of my morning walks, I took the photograph below and then wrote the poem that follows.

Color My Day

Color my day
as expansive as
a clear blue sky
as alive as
the green trees
as gentle as
a pink rose
as rich as
the golden sun
Color my day
brilliantly.

Try writing an ekphrastic poem. Find a painting, photograph, sculpture or other piece of visual art that intrigues you and see what you are inspired to write. The piece may be in a museum, a park or even in your own home. You may be drawn to describe the work, focus on a few elements of it or even have a conversation with the artist. 

I hope you find that writing ekphrastic poetry enhances both your writing and your enjoyment of the art.

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Poetry and Jazz

In addition to being National Poetry Month, April also is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). JAM is an initiative of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. It is intended to draw attention to both jazz history and jazz today and encourage jazz programming throughout the month.

Jazz and poetry have a special relationship. I was fortunate to have been introduced to jazz poetry through a workshop offered by The Writers Place. Glenn North of the American Jazz Museum was the facilitator.

Music Bath

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Notes flow from speakers
dripping or gushing on demand.
Beats band into bars
and 12 bars become the blues.
Riffs repeat. Riffs repeat.
Tones tantalize and turn into
the simultaneous sounds
that are harmony.
Song stylists sing soulfully.
Total immersion is achieved.


Learn more about Jazz Appreciation Month by going to Smithsonian Jazz

You also might be interested in "A Brief Guide to Jazz Poetry".

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. Click here to learn more about National Poetry Month and the role of the Academy of American Poets in this initiative.

Locally, the Johnson County (KS)  Library partners with The Writers Place to post a Poem-a-Day in April in honor of National Poetry Month. One poem is featured each day then archived on the site. Go to www.jocolibrary.org and click on the National Poetry Month link to see the featured poem. Click "more" on that page to go to the archive to see the poems that already have been featured this month and those from previous years.

I hope you will return to the site often.