Friday, March 22, 2019

Velcro Stories Want to Become Poems


One Adored Dog
Photo by a Loved One




Students - This poem is based on a true story.  I only know a little bit of the story, but I filled in the rest, inventing details that felt real and possible to me. Sometimes we see or hear or learn a story and it never ever leaves us. When I heard about this story, I could not let it go.  Or maybe...it could not let me go.

Stories that stick to us like velcro in our hearts are ones that want to be written.  A writer can write any story as a poem, and even if you've written a story out in long form before, you can try rewriting it as a poem.  Story poems are called narrative poems, and as is true with all poems, they need not rhyme at all.

I enjoyed playing with this new meter and as usual tap, tap, tapped as I wrote. Tapping syllables on a table or on my cheek helps me feel the rhythm of a poem in my body.

Visit my notebooks blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, to find out who won the Decomposition Notebook. And stay tuned, as there will be a new notebooks post coming this weekend.

Thank you to Rebecca who is hosting today's Poetry Friday over at Sloth Reads, a post celebrating a day I never knew existed with a poem I never knew existed - double fun! Please know that the Poetry Friday community shares poems and poemlove each week, and everyone is invited to visit, comment, and post.  And if you have a blog, we welcome you to link right in with us.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

11 comments:

  1. Thinking of you tapping and writing... thank you for the velcro, dear Amy. xo

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  2. As someone who has had to give up a pet, this poem carries so much emotion. Thank you for sharing!

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  3. Amy, so much love poured into this poem. And it's good to acknowledge that some stories are sad. Glad you were able to write about this story that stuck to your heart. We feel the loss just reading it.

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  4. That idea of velcro is very real, Amy. Perhaps others won't see it, but my favorite, maybe best, poems are those stuck close to my heart. This is a sad one. I just spoke this week with a new candidate for our city council, speaking of the extreme need for more to be done for our children who are homeless.

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  5. Such a poem....its lovely and sad and hopeful.

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  6. Woot! So excited for a new notebook! THANKS!!

    What a contrast coming from the violent wind in Alan J. Wright's Seamus Heaney poem (just before yours in the linkup) to this gentle wind.

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  7. Oh my. After reading this, I need the wind to dry my tears.

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  8. I have some velcro stories on my Ideas list that need to be written down. Thanks for the push.

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  9. A heart-wrenching narrative poem, thanks for sharing it with us Amy.

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  10. I had to come back to the beginning to know more about your plans for National Poetry Month. Yes, you have me thinking about stories that Velcro to our hearts. I can't wait to follow Betsy and John.

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  11. I'm backtracking because I wasn't sure if I added my when I read this poem, Amy. Velcro stories - what a great term for what you are creating.

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