Experiment with a Short Form

Family Button Box

Photo by Amy LV

Students - Today's poem blossomed from an old family cigar box full of buttons and a chance opening to a page in Kyle Vaughn's inspiring book LIGHTNING PATHS: 75 POETRY EXERCISES.

The short form is inspired by the landay, a thousands-of-years-old, two-line poem form with nine syllables in the first line and thirteen syllables in the second line. (Go ahead...count.) Vaughn explains that such poems are "simple and deal with common, earthly concerns: love, suffering, war, nature, beauty, death." Landays often criticize elements of life, are anonymous, and are shared by and among Afghan women, shared orally as a way to express anger and grief, frustration and love. 

I am not living in Afghanistan long ago or today, composing and speaking these words with my neighbors and in-person community, but I too wish to learn to express a feeling with a certain number of syllables - twenty-two. My small lines speak to the grandmother who died before I was born, who died before my parents were even married. I believe that the button box belonged to her, Geraldine Pappier Ludwig. I wish I could bring Grandma Ludwig back to life for a day with this box of buttons on the table and a kettle of water brewing for tea we could share.

You might wish to try writing a poem inspired by the landay form. If so, draft two lines about one of these big ideas or another big idea of your choosing:

love

suffering

war

nature

beauty

death

Consider choosing a feeling or a memory or an object or a small moment of time related to the big idea to get started. And try counting syllables. Work toward nine syllables in your first line and thirteen in your second line. Writing only two lines allows us to focus on the count more easily than when we are writing four or eight or sixteen or thirty-two lines.

Thank you to Tabatha for hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup over at The Opposite of Indifference with a perfect monologue from Shakespeare's HENRY V and her ever-generous thoughts. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

Hmmmm. Perhaps each of those buttons yearns to have a poem written about it. Back to the box I go!

xo,

Amy

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A Two-Liner & a Comic

Winnie and Claude (Tail is Monet)

Photo by Amy LV

Students - I believe this to be the shortest verse I have ever shared here at The Poem Farm! I did indeed work to write it longer, but each time I added more lines, the poem simply rejected them. So here it is...a small giggle that grew from a photo I took earlier this week.

Did you notice that the title of today's two-liner makes it a metaphor? See, a bookshelf is not really an apartment...now, just for this poem, it has become one. Sometimes a title can add a lot, even to a teeny, two line verse.

This summer you might wish to make a point to take photographs as you are moved by the world. These pictures - whether you look at them again or not - can inspire your future (serious or silly) thinking and writing.

Speaking of inspiration, it is a joy to welcome an artistic guest today! 

On the first Poetry Friday of this month, I shared a poem titled "Possibility" along with some poems written by Fourth Grade Teacher Cheryl Donnelly's students from Tioughnioga Riverside Academy. Not long after, I received the most generous and specific thank you notes from this class. Poet and Comic Izzy included a comic that she drew from my words in "Possibility." 

Possibility Comic

Click to Enlarge

by Izzy

I asked Izzy if she would be willing to share how to make such a poem comic as hers made me smile completely and also made me curious about how to create such a thing. Here are her words:

I got this idea because ever since I was a kid I fell in love with drawing and making comics. Just about a year ago, last Christmas, my grandparents got me a comic making set which included a short comic for an example. As I was reading it, I fell in love with the simple designs and pictures (Not all comics are like that) so I tried making my own.  I enjoyed every minute of it. The simpleness of it, and how fun it was to draw. Almost a year later I decided to take that memory and make a comic inspired by a poem.

That was the first time that I ever made a comic inspired by a poem, but I will definitely have to do that with more of her (Amy’s) amazing poems.

Some tips I have are: 

Make sure you are interested in the poem you choose, if you don’t like it then you will find no interest in making a comic inspired by it.

Use your imagination. If you make something boring or not exciting then you and other people will not bother to read your comic.

Don’t be hard on yourself. It’s good to push yourself a little, but not a lot. If it’s not perfect, then don’t stress, it’s ok if it’s not, nothing is perfect.

And most important…HAVE FUN!!!! 

Thank you,

Izzy 

Tons of gratitude to Izzy for her willingness to share not only her comic, but also her process. I am going to take her advice this summer and will be sharing here. Learning from others makes life magical.

Linda is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup today with such a fun idea - a "clunker exchange" - over at A Word Edgewise. This would be such a neat thing to try in a classroom, and I recommend checking it out. Each Friday, all are invited to share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship in this open and welcoming poetry community.

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Know that your comment will only appear after I approve it.

If you are under 13 years old, please only comment 

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Look First. Wonder Next.

Shaggy Parasols in Our Yard

Photo by Amy LV

Students - This is a very small poem. Perhaps it is a haiku. Maybe it is just a little nature poem. Whatever it is, it is a bit of writing about one thought I had this week. 

My husband Mark and I were walking through our yard looking at the mushrooms of the day. These shaggy parasols (Isn't the name great? Mark always teaches me the names.) were hanging out underneath some spruces in our yard. Sometimes they grow in rings, and people call these "fairy rings." It is thought that fairies or elves or pixies dance in such places. The ones in our yard were all lined up. My first thought was that they looked like they were waiting together, like children at school, or adults at the grocery store.

I kept thinking and wondering about those mushrooms all week.

My friend, poet, artist, and blogger Robyn Hood Black is a haiku expert, and she generously shares a lot about haiku here at her website and blog. I wanted to write a small haiku-ish poem about these mushrooms, and so I turned to Robyn. One resource she shares that I read and found very helpful and inspiring is The Bare Bones School of Haiku by the late Jane Reichhold.

At times, it feels good to write with just a few words. At these times, the tricky part is choosing just the right ones. Considering the mushrooms, what I have learned about poetry, and what I have learned from Robyn and Jane, here are a few things took into my brain as I wrote these few lines:

• A poem can be short.
• A poem does not need to rhyme.
• A poem does not need capital letters.
• A poem does not need punctuation.
• A poem can include an observation.
• A poem can include a thought or question.
• A poem/haiku can have two parts. (This poem includes a statement and a question.)
• A poem's title can give extra information. (If a reader doesn't know what shaggy parasols are, the title will help.)]
• A poem can play with sound in small ways. (The short 'u' sound in the title repeats.)

I welome you to play with any of these ideas this week. For starters, you might do these three things:

Go outside.

Look at something.

Think and wonder about it.

Write a poem with those two parts - your observation and your thinking/wondering.

Be free in your writing!

And remember: do not eat mushrooms that you find. Only mycologists (mushroom experts) can do this without getting sick...or even dying.

Close Up of Shaggy Parasols

Photo by Amy LV

Catherine is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core with an abecedarian about writing poetry. Please know that all are welcome each Friday as folks share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.

xo,

Amy

Please share a comment below if you wish. 

If you are under 13 years old, please comment only with a parent 

or as part of a group with your teacher and class.