Poetry Exercise Week 1

[Angeline]

A few months ago Unapologetic posted a few poetry exercises to give us all an opportunity to practice wordplay, I'll post a new challenge every week, and we can practice together. This isn't a competition and there's no prize; just a chance for you to build your poetry muscles.

If any of you have an exercise you think would be useful for this purpose, pm me and I'll put it in the thread (but you'll get the credit for suggesting it).

Each exercise will be active for one week. At the end of the week, I'll close the thread and start a newone with a different exercise. I hope you'll all consider participating: it'll be fun!

 

[Angeline]

Exercise: Playing With Words

Poets, by nature, play with language all the time. It is one of the primary habits of the poet. We constantly play with sounds and words to discover something new about language and our world. By playing with syntax (the order and arrangement of words), repetition, juxtaposition, and word choice, we begin to learn how language works. We can create tension, rhythm, and surprise when we are willing to take risks with words. By playing with words we often discover new ways of saying old things-we see with new eyes and create a new world that we had not recognized before.

Nouns and verbs are the building blocks of poems, of all good writing, for that matter. Using the following lists, put these words together in any combinations you like. You may choose to write sentences or simply to create phrases. You may repeat words often, add new ones to the lists, or change the tense of any verbs. These are guidelines only. Have some fun with these words and see what new worlds you can create.

~Andrew Green, Potato Hill poetry

Verbs
cut, slice, tear, slip, work, catch, open, snarl, shake, curl, run, scoop, sip, sniff,
rake, cough, dance, zip, close, lean, clip, snag, pour, whip, stand, bend, boil,
whistle, turn, break

Nouns
morning, star, wind, rain, sky, sun, moon, afternoon, grass, dawn, apple, shirt,
mouth, dog, snow, night, blueberry, desk, turtle, shoe, sea, tree, arm, jacket,
dirt, bell, bird, torch, elbow, peach

And now, an example of how you might put these together:

I tore the morning open,
snarled at the snow,
caught a whip of wind,
sniffed the sky hoping
for the dawn of another Spring.

Note that I changed verb tenses and added a few words of my own.

Have at and have fun.

 

[Tathagata]

Cut peach
the morning star
on a plate
lean close
and catch
a slice
the boiling sun
in your mouth

 

[CeriseNoire]

She dances in the rain,
blueberry skin
greeting the stars,
and hips,
shaking,
bending the night.

 

[champagne1982]

Whistle the dog
from his sniff at the tree
where the bird whips
the morning rain
and tears it
into blueberry sky.

This is fun! I see a dozen more hiding in those words. What was that site where you could drag and paste different words into the window Ange? I bookmarked it but it's on my laptop, I think.

 

[Picodiribibi]

I couldn't decide what words to use so I let a random number generator decide for me. Here's what I got:

work snow
whistle shoe
work moon

rake grass
whip tree
dance arm

I think the RNG was kind (rake-grass was nice to see)

First poem

Work the snow in Winter;
Whistle in wet shoes.
Work away the frozen day
Beneath the icy moon.

Second poem

Raking leaves in Autumn grass
as wind whips trees,
a dance of arms.

P.S.: thanks to Angeline for this thread.

 

[Angeline]

Whistle the dog
from his sniff at the tree
where the bird whips
the morning rain
and tears it
into blueberry sky.

This is fun! I see a dozen more hiding in those words. What was that site where you could drag and paste different words into the window Ange? I bookmarked it but it's on my laptop, I think.

It is fun, isn't it? Here are a few different magnetic poetry sites. Magneeto! Magnifique! eh?



Shocked Poetry

isnoop.net

magnetic poetry

 

[Angeline]

I couldn't decide what words to use so I let a random number generator decide for me. Here's what I got:

work snow
whistle shoe
work moon

rake grass
whip tree
dance arm

I think the RNG was kind (rake-grass was nice to see)

First poem

Work the snow in Winter;
Whistle in wet shoes.
Work away the frozen day
Beneath the icy moon.

Second poem

Raking leaves in Autumn grass
as wind whips trees,
a dance of arms.

P.S.: thanks to Angeline for this thread.

My pleasure, friend. I love tracking down these sorts of games.

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

The celestial torch pours its vibrant dawn
upon the sea, which curls to embrace new rays.
Waves clipped and raked by relentless wind.
Arms of clouds mask the afternoon sky.
Rain dances on the whistle of the wind.
Afternoon scarred by thunder's snarls.
Stars slice through the blueberry night
whispering promises of the coming sun.

 

[Angeline]

Great poems so far, folks. Keep em coming if you're so inclined. If you need more inspiration than the words I provided, try one of those magnetic poetry links I posted for Champ.

 

[Sapphire_O]

Breakfast Nook

you are an open mouth
tearing through peach flesh
you call me “bird”
pecking blueberries like seeds

the bird is caught
wings clipped
no more sky
no more moon
no more sun

only snow and dirt
and your mouth
tearing

 

[Du Lac]

Morning journey

High in the tower the dirt covered bell
coughs out lonely notes
that snags the souls of morning travelers

The train whistle pours forth
hidden songs locked within the
addendum circle.

Dew covered grass chants
as birds peek beneath
the camouflage of the trees

Peach juice drips from a childs elbow

Miracles dance behind the shadows
lost within the infinity of
apple dawns and blueberry dusks.

Minds boil from the drudgery of office afternoons
as whipped employees shake with desire
craving the bliss of the morning star.

The turtle's tears fill the sea.

Wind baby whispers ancient secrets
encased within the magic
of the sun and moon.

Followers hear the clipped call
sung from the dog's mouth
then turn from their desks with glee.

Life's elixir sliced from a morning moment.

 

[CeriseNoire]

purple dotted shoes
lie curled
abandoned after the rain
I wonder
is their owner the type
to slip out of work
to snag the scent
of damp grass

(I think I may revisit this one for punctuation at some point)

 

[Tathagata]

sea boils
at the break wall
wind tearing bitter spray
over periwinkle crusted stone
no sun this afternoon
a dull tin sky
endless
I think of New Bedford
and whalers
of bleached bones
among blind bottom fish

3 miles out
a turtle feeds on sea grass
unaware
of both the storm
and my shaking

 

[Sapphire_O]

purple dotted shoes
lie curled
abandoned after the rain
I wonder
is their owner the type
to slip out of work
to snag the scent
of damp grass

(I think I may revisit this one for punctuation at some point)

I really like this image poem. It's sweet yet poignant. One thing I wonder about is "slip out of work" because I think "slip away from work" might sound better (this may just be a regional dialect thing).