Tag: Original

Slice of Life: Surprises

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

I surprised myself yesterday. There was no way I could write to the prompt of “slumber party games” by going through memory’s front door. The “slumber party memories” door is kept shut with a chair lodged under the knob.

So I had to find another way in. I looked for the farthest thing from my own reality, and came up with a mouse living in a (mostly) fictional woodpile.

Or at least I thought my character was far from my own reality. Instead, I found an very familiar introverted mouse living in my imagination. One who wishes for the things it seems like everyone else has, but who, in the end, is very happy with her own little life.

Poetry Friday: Love

The Poetry Sisters’ challenge for February was to write a Valentine or love poem. A plethora of people, places, things, and ideas are objects of my affection. Why, then, was it so hard to pick one and write a poem?!? Thank you, Irish Breakfast Tea, for helping me crank out an eleventh hour haiku.

Here’s how the other Poetry Sisters met this month’s challenge:

Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Kelly @ Kelly Ramsdell

Tabatha has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference.

Image came via Unsplash.

The Poetry Friday Roundup Is Here!

Shh…the Inklings are getting ready to whisper secrets to you. Our challenge this month came from Catherine, who borrowed a prompt from a list Molly shared with us. Unlike the Go-Gos, our lips are NOT sealed — we’ve written poems about secrets.

To help us write about secrets, we had this poem, “Family Secret” by Nancy Kuhl to use as a mentor text.

“When in Doubt” by Sandra Cisneros showed up mid-month in the Poetry Unbound podcast, and it seemed to be in conversation with my poem, which was written to answer the stem which became the title.

Here’s how the rest of the Inklings met Catherine’s challenge:

Catherine @Reading to the Core
Heidi @my juicy little universe
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche

Mr. Linky is ready for you to share your secrets/poems!

Poetry Friday: Ekphrastic

The photo above is a black swallowtail that was born in the fennel in our garden last summer, raised in the safety of our house, and released back into the garden when she (yes, that’s a female) emerged from her cocoon. Compare a real black swallowtail to the piñata version by Roberto Benavidez. Remarkable, isn’t it? Using “paper as the equivalent of paint” in a “fringe that flows,” Benavidez is able to capture the reality of a butterfly, the fantasy of mythical creatures, and nearly photographic landscapes.

If you want to know more about piñatas as well as about Roberto Benavidez and his art, you can watch this Craft In America episode on play. Piñatas are found at 12:16, and Roberto Benavidez is at 18:27.

Here’s how the other Poetry Sisters met this month’s challenge:

Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Kelly @ Kelly Ramsdell

Susan has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at Chicken Spaghetti.

Poetry Friday: Ironing

image via Unsplash

Just a little something about me that you never knew! This is one of those poems that wrote itself while I was in the midst of the task. Besides the sensory joys of ironing pillowcases, I also love the feeling that in some small way I can bring order to chaos, which is why I also love raking leaves and shoveling snow.

Robyn has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Life on the Deckle Edge.

Poetry Friday: Yuletide

Heidi’s December challenge for the Inklings came to us in the form of this mobile (which is hanging beside our mail table and yes that’s the Christmas tree reflecting in the lace swan’s glass). The card from which hang the “12 Days of Yuletide Poetry Prompts” details the precepts for the season and each of its days.

I wrote to all twelve of the prompts. Here are a couple that I especially liked. First, the introduction to Yuletide:

“On these dark nights we celebrate light and the power of the human spirit to brighten and warm the season of cold and dark. As the wheel of the year begins another turn, we think on the old and prepare for the new, lighting a candle for each of these human gifts:

25 generosity: the urge to share what we have with others (prompt: ask what generosity really means)

27 laughter: the singular human ability to convert the unexpected into joy (prompt: capture the sound of laughter)

Thank you, Heidi, for generously (and creatively!) sharing your family’s Yuletide traditions with us, and for twelve days of thoughtful writing prompts. I can’t wait to see what the other Inklings did with your challenge, because for once, we haven’t had the chance to share any early drafts. We haven’t an INKLING what the others have written!

Heidi @my juicy little universe
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Linda @A Word Edgewise

Marcie has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at Marcie Flinchum Adkins.

Poetry Friday: Elfchen

clouds
stereotypically blanketing
December’s morning sky
no warmth, and yet
comfort

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2023

The Poetry Sisters’ December challenge was to write Elfchen, a type of cinquain that uses word count instead of syllable count, and links together the lines with these prompts:

Line one=A thought, an object, a color, a smell or the like
Line two=What does the word from the first row do?
Line three=Where or how is the word of row 1?
Line four=What do you mean?
Line five=Conclusion: What results from all this? What is the outcome?
(This information via Wikipedia.)

Elfchen are German in origin, so for bonus points, I wrote one in German, using my limited vocabulary.

brot
warm, frisch
mit Schinken und Käse
und natürlich viele Butter:
lecker

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2023

Here’s how the other Poetry Sisters met this month’s challenge:

Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Tricia @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Sara @ Read Write Believe
Kelly @ Kelly Ramsdell

Michelle has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at MoreArt4All.

Poetry Friday: Avoirdupois

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I usually know the Merriam-Webster word of the day that’s delivered to my inbox. But when Monday’s word came, not only did I not know the meaning of avoirdupois, I didn’t know how to pronounce it. Merriam-Webster gave me the American pronunciation ˈa-vər-də-ˌpȯiz (rhymes with boys and you sound like a hick saying it — a-ver-duh-poise), but clearly the word has French roots, so I found the British pronunciation ævwɑːdjuːˈpwɑː (rhymes with straw) and it’s not only more fun to say, but you sound so suave saying it — avwah-dyu-pwah. It’s a “pinkie out” kind of word. Next time you have to lift a heavy box, you can comment on its avoirdupois.

You’re welcome.

Patricia has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Reverie.

Hat tip to Heidi Mordhorst, inventor of the Definito form. (I broke the rules slightly by rhyming, instead of making it free verse. I felt the rhyme was necessary to help with the pronunciation.)

On another note, watch for the call for roundup hosts (Jan-June 2024) next week.