Some Actions That Could Inspire Poetry

**Some Actions That COULD inspire the writing of Poetry

Everyday actions can provide rich potential for creating poetry. Here is a list of actions that might prove helpful in finding those special words. Remember, poetry is writing our best words in tight spaces to create some sparks!

Putting gel or wax in your hair

Blowing bubbles

Trying on an older persons shoes

Baking with a Grandparent

Reading a whole book in day

Snuggling into bed on a winter’s evening

Playing kick to kick in the park

Riding your bike through puddles

Eating a crisp juicy apple

Observing leaves falling

Watching the effect of the wind

Practicing something over and over until you master it

Trying to put on clothing that is a bit small for you

Falling asleep with your pet nearby

Walking on the beach in winter

Helping someone without being asked

Noticing cold air on your face

Finding a long lost treasure from your younger days

Discovering a piece of ephemera (ticket, note, etc.) inside a book

Reading a book you find yourself lost in

Shopping with your family

Walking across wet soggy ground in winter

Playing a card game with your family

Riding your bike down a hill

Standing on something squishy while bare-foot

Eating something really sweet

Noticing the sounds of winter

Dressing up for walking on a cold winter’s day

Doing something for the first time

Learning something important from a mistake you make

Observing a crowd of people

Observing birds fly

Eating an ice-cream slowly

Listening to bird song in the morning before you get out of bed

Watching someone eat in a cafe**

Comments

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York. I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,' Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. N...

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant. A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden...

Search This Blog