SOLSC Day 26 - Oddquain Poems

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 26  #SOL17
Oddquain Poems


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I was looking at the Shadow Poetry website (shadowpoetry.com) again a couple of days ago, and I came across another type of invented poetry called the "Oddquain." The description on the website says:

Oddquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of seventeen syllables distributed 1, 3, 5, 7, 1 in five lines, developed by Glenda L. Hand.

The form of the oddquain sounded appealing to me. It reminded me of a haiku, and I like haiku. The site goes on to explain many oddquain variations, but I wasn't really interested in experimenting with those...at least not yet. So, I decided to try my hand at the basic oddquain.

Here are a few that I came up with:

Clouds

Clouds
wispy white,
light and feathery,
meander slowly through fair
skies


Daisies

Bright

daisies pop

through fresh brown earth and

stretch their jubilant faces

up

Ivy

Green

ivy creeps

along stony walls,

grasping tightly, clinging for

life

I've noticed that I tend to go for nature themes in my poems. The haiku poem works beautifully with nature themes, and this oddquain seems to, as well. Maybe I'll try this oddquain form some other time, with something other than nature as a theme. This form could be rather versatile, I think, so it's worth another try with other subjects.

So, my final verdict is: I really like this particular form of invented poetry!

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JudyK   March 26, 2017



                             

SOLSC Day 25 - Revelations

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 25 #SOL17
Revelations 

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I began a writing class last Fall, and one of the questions I was asked recently is....How have I changed as a writer?

Hmmmmm, how have I changed as a writer? HAVE I changed?

You bet, I've changed! There are three ways in which I've changed that come immediately to mind.

First of all, and maybe most importantly, I am writing just because I want to! Not because a teacher gave me an assignment, not because I'm filling out an information sheet....but because I want to. Let me stress that:  Because. I. Want. To. I'm hoping to maybe leave little nuggets of my life behind for my grandchildren to read about some day, so that they can get somewhat of an idea of how the world was, as seen through my eyes, when I was living in it. Is that important? I don't know. But what I DO know is that I wish someone had made a written record of the stories that my mom and dad used to tell us kids about their childhoods, their families, and their memories. I don't remember most of the stories now, so they are lost. My thinking now is: If I write down some of my thoughts and stories, maybe someday a grandchild will find them to be interesting.

I guess time will tell on that one, heh heh.

The second way I've changed as a writer is that I'm writing more than I used to... a LOT more. And as I'm writing more, I'm struggling less with the actual writing. My thoughts are coming out onto the paper (or the computer screen) more easily. Practice makes perfect? I don't know about the "perfect" part, but the practicing is definitely helping.

The third way that I've changed as a writer is that I've gone public. In preparation for the Slice of Life writing challenge hosted by the Two Writing Teachers website -- which I decided to participate in -- I started a blog. A PUBLIC blog. The whole world can see whatever I'm writing in my blog. I never would have dreamed that I'd be writing a blog and sharing it with people...not in a million years. But I do have a blog, and I'm writing in it, and I'm sharing my blog posts in the Slice of Life challenge. I'm doing it. Wow.

Those are some pretty big changes in just a few short months. I've really surprised myself with the changes! I've grown a lot as a writer. And I hope to continue growing as a writer, and to continue surprising myself.

For a very long time.
🙂

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JudyK  March 25, 2017

             

SOLSC Day 24 - 24 Things I Like About Words

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 24  #SOL17
24 Things I Like About Words




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Because it's the 24th day of the Slice of Life challenge, here are 24 things that I like about words:

1. They can sound fun....didgeridoo, dabble, banana
2. They can sound soft....fluffy, hush, ginger
3. They can be silly....dippy-doodle
4. They can be quiet....whisper, feather
5. They can be happy....chirpy
6. They can sound calm....peace, sleepy
7. They can be spelled in so many ways, with many different, fascinating patterns.
8. They can be sad....mournful
9. They can be energetic....spirited, dynamic
10. They can sound tired....droopy, drained
11. They can be satisfied....contented
12. They can sound strong....robust, destroy, incontrovertibly
13. They can be taken apart and analyzed.
14. They can express a million thoughts.
15. They can sound hungry....ravenous
16. They can be angry....enraged
17. They can be dark....murky
18. They can be beautiful....exquisite, delicate
19. They can be bright....shimmering, luminous
20. They fall off the tongue in interesting ways.
21. They can sound funny....jolly, knee-slapping, doodling
22. They can be joyful....jubilant, merry
23. They have many thought-provoking meanings.
24. They just flow naturally. There is no stopping them.

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JudyK  March 24, 2017

SOLSC Day 23 - The Blitz Poem

Slice of Life Story Challenge -- 

Day 23  #SOL17
The Blitz Poem

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I was poking around on the internet today, looking up information about various forms of poetry. I found a website called Shadow Poetry (shadowpoetry.com) which featured many different forms of invented poetry. I investigated some, and came upon one called "The Blitz Poem", created by Robert Keim. It is described like this:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  The Blitz Poem

The Blitz Poem, a poetry form created by Robert Keim.

This form of poetry is a stream of short phrases and images with repetition and rapid flow.

Begin with one short phrase, it can be a cliché. Begin the next line with another phrase that begins with the same first word as line 1. The first 48 lines should be short, but at least two words.

The third and fourth lines are phrases that begin with the last word of the 2nd phrase, the 5th and 6th lines begin with the last word of the 4th line, and so on, continuing, with each subsequent pair beginning with the last word of the line above them, which establishes a pattern of repetition.

Continue for 48 total lines with this pattern, And then the last two lines repeat the last word of line 48, then the last word of line 47.

The title must be only three words, with some sort of preposition or conjunction joining the first word from the third line to the first word from the 47th line, in that order.

There should be no punctuation. When reading a BLITZ, it is read very quickly, pausing only to breathe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Wow!

When I read all those intricate (and rigid!) details of how the poetry is supposed to be written, I was flabbergasted. And, I'll admit, a little intrigued. The inventor of the poem included three examples of his own poems. I thought his poems were interesting, and I liked the way they ended. But still.....I had my doubts.

So I decided to try writing one. What better way to find out if it would be more trouble than it's worth, or if it would be the best form of poetry ever? Haha yeah, not likely to be the best form of poetry ever, but you never know until you try, right? And so I tried. And it was more difficult than I thought it would be, actually.

When I wrote my first draft, I hated the ending, so I rewrote the last eight or so lines. I liked the ending of the second draft much better! But then I decided that I didn't like lines 36 through 43. Rewriting those lines changed the course of the rest of the poem, so in draft #3, the rest was rewritten as well. And I wasn't extremely happy with the last several lines of that draft, so I changed the ending a few more times.

Whew! I finally ended up with something that I like. At least I think I like it. It's definitely a strange poem, so I'm still a little on the fence about it. But it was fun experimenting! 

Here, for whatever it's worth, is my attempt at writing a Blitz Poem:


World of Life 

Look out below
Look out world
World wide web
World record
Record album
Record player
Player comparison
Player of the week
Week by week
Week of the Young Child
Child support
Child actors
Actors of the golden age
Actors of the silver screen
Screen printing
Screen door
Door knob
Door in the Wall
Wall to wall carpet
Wall Street Journal
Journal entry
Journal inspiration
Inspiration and motivation
Inspiration of the day
Day of reckoning
Day by day
Day in and day out
Day of rest
Rest stop
Rest in peace
Peace on Earth
Peace sign
Sign of the times
Sign of life
Life cereal
Life with Father
Father Time
Father daughter dance
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Dance with me
Me and Bobby McGee
Me and My Shadow
Shadow box
Shadow and light
Light My Fire
Light of my life
Life full of laughter
Life worth living
Living....
Laughter....

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JudyK  March 23, 2017


                       

SOLSC Day 22 - There Is Sadness This Week

Slice of Life Story Challenge -- Day 22 #SOL17
There is Sadness This Week








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Sigh. I have a lot of thoughts going through my head right now. I'm still on my Spring Break, but I'm not as joyful about it as I was during the first two days. There is a large dark cloud over this week now. 

"Why?" you might wonder. Maybe I've become jealous of colleagues who are vacationing in places warmer than Ohio? Maybe I'm not accomplishing all the things I had hoped, and I'm starting to get depressed about it?

No, those aren't the reasons. I'm not envious of those who are currently enjoying warm sandy beaches; I was perfectly content to spend my free time here in Ohio. I actually haven't accomplished very many of the things which I had planned, but that's not what has put a damper on my celebration. The event that ended my beginning-of-Break giddy glee was the death of a wonderful woman... a friend, an almost family member.

On Sunday night, my daughter-in-law's mom died.

Her family knew that it was coming. Barbara had been diagnosed last summer with Multiple Myeloma, a type of incurable cancer, and she knew that her time on Earth was limited. She tried treatment for a while in an effort to prolong her life a little, but had recently given up on that. She spent her last few weeks living in the home of her oldest daughter, and that is where she passed away on Sunday, peacefully, in her sleep. She was just 67 years old.

The past two days have been a flurry of activities for Barbara's family: Finalizing funeral arrangements, purchasing funeral outfits, and dozens of either details. I spent much of the past two days babysitting my grandchildren, and occasionally one of their cousins, so that my daughter-in-law could take care of family matters, while my son was still out of state working. My son is home now, and my help isn't needed at the moment, so I am at my own house today.

And I am now alone with my thoughts and feelings.

I feel so sad for Barbara's children. They are all adults -- the youngest will be 30 soon -- but their mother has been their rock for so many years. Even though most of Barbara's six children are married and have children of their own, Barbara was still a big part of their lives. And now their mother is gone, and that is hard.

I admired Barbara. She was a strong woman who was a single mother for many years. She brought up  the youngest four children single-handedly, no father in their lives at all. Times were tough for her, but she raised her children herself, and she raised them well.

And now she is gone. Gone at such a young age, from that horrible, unfair disease we call cancer. Her children, grandchildren, and one great-grandchild already miss her terribly. And I miss my friend.

Today, my writing is in memory of Barbara. She will live on in our memories, she will live on in our hearts.

Rest In Peace, Barbara.

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JudyK  March 22, 2017

SOLSC Day 21 - My Six Word Story For Today

Slice of Life Story Challenge -- Day 21  #SOL17
My Six Word Story For Today





I've seen some of the Slice of Life challenge writers doing "six word stories" or "six word memoirs." I don't know much about these six word stories and don't know what all the rules are for them, but I'm quite tired right now, so I thought that I would write a six word story tonight instead of writing a lengthier piece. My story has six words, and it tells a story, so I'm hoping that I did it correctly.

My six word story is this:

Babysat grandchildren for eight hours. Exhausted!

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JudyK   March 21, 2107

                        

SOLSC Day 20 - Co-authoring poems with a granddaughter

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
 Day 20  #SOL17
Co-authoring poems...with a granddaughter!






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My 11-year-old granddaughter and I had some quiet time together this afternoon, and after we had played a few games of Hangman, we were looking for something else to do. I suggested that we write some poetry together. (Note: The scenario of writing poetry with a grandchild, just for fun, is not something that would have ever occurred to me before this Slice of Life challenge came along into my life. Ever ever ever. Haha!)  I thought writing something together with L might be fun...and to my surprise, she agreed! 

So, we started out by reviewing what she knew about poetry. (I just can't quite ever turn off the teacher in me....) As it turned out, L knew a little something about haiku, so we decided to go with that form. We decided on our theme of nature, and picked Oak Trees for our first poem. We discussed possible words and phrases that pertained to oak trees, started counting syllables, and created a poem which we were both proud of. 

We decided then to write a second haiku called The Creek. That one was inspired by an outing to a nearby metro park last month during a period of some abnormally warm weather. Again, we brainstormed some words and phrases to help us write the poem.

Our planning ^

After that, at L's suggestion, we each drew an illustration to go with one of the poems. I think that she was enjoying the entire activity as much as I was! Who would have thought that co-authoring a couple of poems with a grandchild could be such an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon?


And now, without further ado....
       
            our creations:

Oak Trees

Green leaves, strong rough bark...

The soft wind makes the leaves shake.

Old acorns fall down.

The Creek

Rushing cool water

Small splashes; smells like warm earth

Soft wet muddy bank

                                                      ( ^ The small splashes, by the way, are the 

sticks and rocks being tossed into the creek

 by the grandkids, their cousins, and friends)

         
      

(These pics are from our outing to "the creek" 2-20-17)  :-)

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JudyK   March 20, 2017

SOLSC Day 19 - Diamante Poem - School/Break

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 19  #SOL17 --
Diamante Poem: School/Break


















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Various forms of poetry have been getting my attention lately, and I've been having fun exploring them. Some of them are familiar friends to me -- the classic Haiku, for instance, with its reliable formula of counting syllables. Some of the poems which I've encountered lately are more recently invented forms that I had never heard of until a few days ago: Found Poems and Phone Number Poems, for example.

Yesterday, I read a Diamante poem posted by a slicer on the Two Writing teachers Slice of Life challenge. The Diamante is an old classic which also follows a formula, but it had been a while since I had encountered that type of poem, so I decided to refresh my memory about it. I read about the format it is supposed to have, and I looked at quite a few examples, and then I decided that I would try it.

So, here I go, continuing my new fascination with poetry, by trying out a diamante poem:

School

jam-packed, noisy

working, exploring, reading

books, clock-watching, relaxation, books

reading, playing, sleeping

quiet, glorious

Break

Obviously, I have Spring Break on my mind. And why shouldn't I? I am on my wonderful, relaxing, lovely, peaceful, highly anticipated, long-awaited Spring Break right now.

Ahhhhhhh......



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JudyK   March 19, 2017

This is the format for a diamante poem:

SOLC Day 18 - Phone Number Poem: Spring Break Staycation

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 18 #SOL17 --
A Phone Number Poem:
Spring Break Staycation






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In a Slice of Life post on Two Writing Teachers this morning, Rose Cappelli explained how to do Phone Number Poetry. I thought it sounded like fun, so I decided to give it a try. (The phone number which I've used for the poem was my childhood phone number. I have no idea if anyone has that phone number now.)

Here is my attempt at a Phone Number Poem --


Spring Break Staycation

6 --    Nine glorious days stretch before me!

1 --    I'll:

4 --    Walk at metro parks,

2 --    Relax lots,

6 --    Catch up with never-ending school work,

8 --    Read from my large stack of unread books,

3 --    Sleep in late,

4 --    Clean my messy house,

9 --    Play games and have fun with my beautiful grandchildren,

0 --    And enjoy having time to just b-r-e-a-t-h-e.


:-)

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JudyK  March 18, 2017

SOLSC Day 17 - many bits of our wonderful world

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 17 #SOL17

Many Bits of Our Wonderful World, All in One Day


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I had the privilege of experiencing little bits of different parts of the world today.

It started this morning, at the elementary school where I teach for the first half of the day. The entire student body assembled in the gym, where a troupe of Irish dancers from a local dance school put on a show. The dancers -- all school aged children -- were quite talented, and their costumes were festive and colorful. While lively Irish music played, dancers of different experience levels performed various jigs and reels. Graceful figures kicked and stepped, tapped and leapt. It was a charming program, and a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

The "bits of the world" continued this afternoon, where a talent show was put on at my second-half-of-the-day school. The full student body of that school assembled to watch various students -- their own peers -- display assorted talents. I watched in amazement at their bravery as many students sang or danced, some solo, some with a partner, in front of an audience of hundreds. One boy put on a comedy routine, another boy recited from memory the Gettysburg Address. Two different students demonstrated different forms of martial arts. One young boy sang what I presumed to be an Indian chant....I'm not quite sure, but it was impressive.

It was at about that point -- when the boy was singing the chant -- that I became amazed for a different reason: I was witnessing many bits of the world coming together, all in that one room. The student body itself is fairly diverse, but they were sharing different aspects of cultures that aren't normally seen at school. And it was remarkable to me. I had never had such an education when I was a child; here in that room were several hundred students who were all enjoying a diverse, multi-cultural experience, all from their own student body....What a privilege!

The realization that the children of this generation are living in a worldwide global community...well, it really hit home for me right then. I was watching it play out before my very own eyes; I was seeing and hearing marvelous things that I never could have even dreamed of as a child. It reminded me of some lines from Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World":

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow.
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know.

That's a little how I felt at that moment. Do today's children realize how much they are able to experience and learn, compared to past generations? Of course not, because to them, it's just normal. But I am in awe. In awe of the experiences and opportunities that today's children have, in awe of the vast amount of things that they already know about our wonderful world and the beautiful people in it. Much more than I ever knew as a child. 

So much more.

                                                             "What A Wonderful World"                                                           

                                                                     Louis Armstrong                                                                    

I see trees of green, 
red roses too. 
I see them bloom, 
for me and you. 
And I think to myself,
what a wonderful world. 

I see skies of blue, 
And clouds of white. 
The bright blessed day, 
The dark sacred night. 
And I think to myself, 
What a wonderful world. 

The colors of the rainbow, 
So pretty in the sky. 
Are also on the faces, 
Of people going by, 
I see friends shaking hands. 
Saying, "How do you do?" 
They're really saying, 
"I love you". 

I hear babies cry, 
I watch them grow, 
They'll learn much more, 
Than I'll ever know. 
And I think to myself, 
What a wonderful world. 

Yes, I think to myself, 
What a wonderful world. 

Oh yeah.

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JudyK  March 17, 2017

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

    

SOLSC Day 16 - A Found Poem Nature's Resiliency

Slice of Life Story Challenge --
Day 16  #SOL17 -
A Found Poem: Nature's Resiliency


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On Day 16 of the Slice of Life Story Challenge, the Two Writing Teachers website posted this:

• Catherine Flynn shared this found poem in January. Using words found in the news, she created a poem. This might be a fun thing to try today.

I decided to try it. Going to the news website of a local TV station, I looked at their section called "Latest Local Headlines" where 10 headlines were featured. I took the 3rd word from each headline, and ended up with these 10 words: after, suspects, drill, to, driver, claims, suspect, in, discount, dozen. With those words in mind, I used them in one form or another to write a poem.

Here is my first attempt at a "found poem". 

Nature's Resiliency

Dozens of tiny crocuses are poised,
waiting for warm sunshine to fully open their blooms
in harsh March weather.

First,
heavy rains drill them,
driving some to the ground.

Then,
gusty winds and frigid temperatures
claim a few more.

I begin to suspect
that no blooms will survive this week;
the world won't enjoy their full beauty.

But,
never discount
the power of Mother Nature.

After
the sun shines strongly today,
there are many still standing --
straight and proud and open --
displaying their purple grandeur to the world.

They are telling us:
Spring will come.



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JudyK  March 16, 2017