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Monday, January 18, 2016

Monday Poetry Stretch - Prefix Poem

Long ago I read a post at the blog How A Poem Happens. In it, poet Idra Novey shared her poem Trans and described its creation. In the poem she used the prefix trans- as the title of her poem and created sections that begin -late, -gress, -mogrify, -form, and -scend.

I love the idea of taking a prefix and using it to form a series of words, each their own piece of a whole. If you need help generating a possible word list, try More Words. Enter your prefix or word of choice and click search for words. Scroll down the page (past the definitions) until you find the link for list all words starting with __. You'll find this a helpful tool. 

So, there's your challenge for the week. I hope you'll join me in writing a prefix poem. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.


6 comments:

  1. I didn't know this was a real kind of poem. I have one that frames a picture book collection of poems that will be out either this year (2016) or next (2017) called THUNDER UNDERGROUND (Boyds Mills.) The first part of the poem is:


    UNDER


    --ground

    Beneath our feet,
    a world apart,
    is found our Earth’s
    fast-beating heart.
    It keeps us living,
    soil and root,
    while up above
    we eat the fruit.



    --stand

    Knowledge grounds
    a power base,
    so seek out knowledge
    touched by grace.
    Start below,
    reach for the sky,
    and like the caterpillar
    fly.


    There's a final verse at the end of the book.



    ©2016 Jane Yolen all rights reserved

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    Replies
    1. We did this stretch in 2009 when I first read that post. You wrote a poem then too! Here's the link if you'd like to read it.

      http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2009/09/poetry-stretch-results-prefix-poems.html

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  2. I had a vague notion I might have seen it here Probably what eventual led to the poem for THUNDER UNDERGROUND. Once again thanks for the stretch, I had totally forgotten that poem.

    Jane

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  3. I tried to make it so you could read this either with or without the prefix. :)

    in

    –spired castle
    touches darkness
    like candlelight

    –laid floors
    sleep like beauty
    amidst the roses

    –born music
    curls down high-arched
    passageways

    –side garden
    waits for princes
    and moon to dance

    Kate Coombs, 2016
    all rights reserved

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