Okay, I know it's Tuesday (and late on Tuesday), but classes started yesterday and I got a bit behind. Please forgive me!
I have been reading and rereading Bob Raczka's book LEMONADE: AND OTHER POEMS SQUEEZED FROM A SINGLE WORD. I'm really impressed by the way he used each word to provide the constraints for the lipogram he wrote. The letters from each word are the only letters allowed in the poem ABOUT that word. It's elegant and probably very difficult to pull off, but we're going to try! For a bit of inspiration, here's one of my favorite poems from the book.
bleachers
ballreacheshere
basesclear
cheers
So, there's your challenge for the week. Pick a word, any word, and use the letters in it to write a poem about that word. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll share the results later this week.
**Updated**
I was thinking a bit about Jane's comment that this exercise if more like Boggle than poetry. It's not a bad comparison given the constraints. If you need a little more wiggle room, try the form of lipogram favored by JonArno Lawson in A VOWELLER'S BESTIARY. This alphabet book is based on vowel combiations rather than initial letters. The lipograms in this book exclude certain vowels from each set and include each of the vowels in the word. Here's an example.
**Updated**
I was thinking a bit about Jane's comment that this exercise if more like Boggle than poetry. It's not a bad comparison given the constraints. If you need a little more wiggle room, try the form of lipogram favored by JonArno Lawson in A VOWELLER'S BESTIARY. This alphabet book is based on vowel combiations rather than initial letters. The lipograms in this book exclude certain vowels from each set and include each of the vowels in the word. Here's an example.
Excerpt from "Moose"
(p. 30)
Yellow-toothed wolvesIn this case, the poet is limited only to vowels and vowel combinations, not limited to using only the letters found in the word. Feel free to try this approach if it works for you. Either way, i guess we're writing lipograms!
lope somewhere close, rove homeless over broken slopes,
overwhelm moose's forest home.
Moose seldom welcome wolves.
That's very clever!
ReplyDeleteMadeleine Begun Kane
Fun but more like boggle for me than poetry. I came up with an old-fashioned teacher, ruler (or switch)in hand.
ReplyDeleteTeachers
Chase cheats,
chart acts,
search seats,
tease, teaches,
tars,
reaches.
--Jane Yolen
baseball
ReplyDeletebases
loaded,
bat
aloft.
ball is
lobed,
batter
swings…
sends a
line-drive
straight to
bleachers—
batter slides
back home.
(c) juliekrantz 2012
Julie--either you or I didn't understand the instruction. I think one is supposed to ONLY use the letters of the title word for the words in the rest of the poem. Which is why it seemed to me to be a super game of boggle and not really poetry.
ReplyDeleteAm I mistaken?
Jane
Hi Jane,
ReplyDeleteI added a bit more information to the post and a variation based on the work of JonArno Lawson. The challenge is still to write a lipogram, but the second form may feel more poetic and less like wordplay.
In any case, the teacher in me enjoyed your poem!
Tricia
Boy, did I get that wrong—but that’s what happens when you gloss over instructions! So I’ve read a little more and decided my ‘poem’ is a lipogram on the letter ‘u.’ Not such a great feat, but, hey, at least I know what a lipogram is now… or do I?
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! Here's a short one I put together that I think follows the rules.
ReplyDeleteTHEATERS
Here are seats.
Teaser starts.
Taste the treats.
Ah, the arts!
-- Kenn Nesbitt
Oh Kenn--I am impressed.
ReplyDeleteJane
Thanks, Jane! That means a lot, coming from you.
DeleteYep. Definitely fun. Here's another:
ReplyDeleteSKATEBOARDING
Rising.
Soaring.
Grabbing air.
Banking.
Grinding
on a dare.
Eating granite.
Risking skin.
Rats!
Abrasion!
Going in.
-- Kenn Nesbitt
Oh Kenn, you've put us all to shame! I do believe you have a rhyming dictionary in your head! I tried the word skateboard, but couldn't make it work. i didn't think to add -ing. I'll need to ponder this some more!
ReplyDeleteFor those of you struggling, I'll admit that I'm using a Scrabble word generator to help me. The one I use is at:
http://www.wineverygame.com/
Sorry 'bout that. I'll sit out and let everyone else play now.
DeleteFor what it's worth, it seems that the longer your title word is, the easier it gets, as you have more letters to choose from. Shorter words make it very tough. Choosing a word with common letters like T, E, R, and S helps too.
Anagram generators like wineverygame.com and anagrammer.com are helpful, but you can also use words that contain multiple copies of the same letter. So, for example, in the poem above, "rising," "grinding," and "risking" would not appear because they have two i's, and "grabbing" wouldn't show up because of the two b's.
No! Don't sit out, Kenn! I'm so inspired when people rise to these challenges. Keep them coming!
DeleteAs to your keen observation about the Scrabble helper, I've been cheating and putting in doubles of letters so I get extra words. While I do love to play word games, coming up with all the possibilities is a bit overwhelming, so I'm enjoying a bit of help.
If you insist. I know this one is gross, but I couldn't resist.
ReplyDeleteNOSTRIL
I snort lint, soot,
into slots.
It sits in snoot
till it rots.
I stir, I roil,
I root in slot.
Is it soil?
No, it's snot.
Following the lipogram master is tough, but I'll do it anyway. And since its that time of year:
ReplyDeleteBASKETBALL
Allea
tells
Stella
steal
ball
talks
balks
stalls
alas
takes
task
sets
blasts
beats
last
bell
basks.
© Carol Weis, 2012
I was thinking Wow when I read your post, and I'm not sure I even understand how the second version works - I need to restudy it in the light of day (it's 1.00 here in the UK - WHAT am I doing?!?) - but having read all the amazing compositions in the comments I am truly blown away. Thank you, everyone!
DeleteVery nice, Carol! Bravo!
DeleteI love poetry, and that sounds like such a cool book. I'm going to have to check it out. Thanks for posting about this.
ReplyDeleteWell, I gave it a whirl...and I may try this again. Very tricky!
ReplyDeleteGARDENING
Idea!
Read.
Dig.
Rain.
Drag gear.
Grin.
Gain.
Darn deer.
Dinner near.
Inner gardener here.
-Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Oh, these are impressive. And I love the Lemonade book, Tricia - thanks for highlighting.
ReplyDeleteOK - a quick, fledgeling attempt:
BIRD FEEDERS
I
desire
dried seeds,
fiber;
I see
bird brides
beside
birds.
Ribs fed,
I rise –
fire red,
free!