Monday, December 07, 2015

Monday Poetry Stretch - Flashcard Inspired Poetry

Late Saturday I got to poke around in one of my favorite shops, Parcel in Montclair, NJ. It is a quirky little shop where you can open cupboards and drawers and find all kinds of interesting bits. I found a pile of old flash cards and thought they might make an interesting poetry prompt.

Here are the cards.
Choose any form that works for you. The only rule is that you must use these three words or some form of the words. I hope you'll join me this week in writing a flashcard inspired piece. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.

13 comments:

  1. Trees Sung Dark

    There is a flash,
    a moment
    when all the cards fall
    into place.
    Stars align themselves.
    Train tracks into infinity
    meet.
    Birds dance to their own tunes,
    and trees sing
    into the coming dark.

    Are you surprised?
    The world is more full
    of contradictions
    than shadows.
    It is sogged
    with memories
    and moment.
    And trees—
    tall and imposing
    as Marian Anderson,
    sing
    in and into
    the rising dark.

    ©2015 Jane Yolen all rights reserved

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    Replies
    1. Wow! I especially like the Marian Anderson lines.

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    2. I love those trees singing both In AND into the dark, Jane.

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  2. Lullabies

    Hushhh, shushhh, the trees sang
    in swaying bough voices.
    They sang lullabies to themselves
    but they could not go to sleep.

    Then the wolves howled
    their lullabies in the dark:
    Oh-oooooo and Oh-oooooo.
    Gently the trees fell asleep
    to the wind-song of the wolves.

    —Kate Coombs, 2015
    all rights reserved

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  3. Love this game. I went with a zeno:

    In December, the forest wore
    no finery--
    only
    bark.
    Trees sang of spring,
    hid their
    dark
    thoughts behind sun’s
    morning
    spark.

    --Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I like this! The bark/dark/spark rhyme works in such a cool way. (And that hint of strangeness, the tree's dark thoughts.)

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  4. I think the trees were thinking of shade, Laura.

    And Kate "wind song of wolves." YES.

    Jane

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  5. CHRISTMAS TREES
    Shafts of moonlight keep unsold
    Christmas trees entertained
    after a mockingbird quartet
    sang their last song, then flew
    to another performance.
    As clouds drift over to block
    the moon’s crescent-shaped smile,
    these proud evergreens stands in the dark …
    alone with their thoughts.

    (c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.

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    Replies
    1. Love the pull through of the music metaphor.

      Jane

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  6. When I say it's dark
    I mean even the trees
    stop singing, their roots
    won't sing, bark won't, limbs won't,
    not even the idea of a tree sings,
    not even the dream, not if it's dark,
    and it is dark.
    And when I say singing,
    I mean just that: the song we hear
    leaves sing, though not in the dark,
    and it is dark.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This one reminds me of of some of Cummings (except with punctuation!!!) Thanks.

      Jane

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