Monday, October 24, 2016

Monday Poetry Stretch - List Poem for Fall

A list poem is a carefully crafted list, catalog, or inventory of things. Robert Lee Brewer of Poetic Asides writes this in his article List Poem: A Surprisingly American Poem:
The list poem was used by the Greeks and in many books of the Bible. But two of the most popular American poems, Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” are list poems. So what is a list poem? 
Basically, a list poem (also known as a catalog poem) is a poem that lists things, whether names, places, actions, thoughts, images, etc. It’s a very flexible and fun form to work with.
What is it about list poems that makes them so accessible? Perhaps it's because the list is so ubiquitous in our lives. Everyone makes lists, so finding them in poetry is not unexpected and makes them seem familiar.

In the book Conversations With a Poet: Inviting Poetry into K-12 Classrooms (2005), written by Betsy Franco, the chapter devoted to the list poem includes this background and helpful information.
The list poem or catalog poem consists of a list or inventory of things. Poets started writing list poems thousands of years ago. They appear in lists of family lineage in the Bible and in the lists of heroes in the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad.  
Characteristics Of A List Poem
  • A list poem can be a list or inventory of items, people, places, or ideas.
  • It often involves repetition.
  • It can include rhyme or not.
  • The list poem is usually not a random list. It is well thought out.
  • The last entry in the list is usually a strong, funny, or important item or event.
Your challenge for this week is to write a list poem about fall, or Halloween, or something October-y. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.

5 comments:

  1. Halloween 1955

    candy corn
    corn shuck dolls
    shuck and jive

    tin foil crown
    lace table cloth
    brown paper bag

    carved pumpkin
    jack-o-lantern
    roasted seeds

    trick or treat
    shirtless man
    gun in belt

    tattle tale
    ran to tell
    daddy was a cop

    B00!

    2016 all rights reserved Judith Robinson

    I'd been given charge over my 5 year old sister that night. My only concern was how to get her home after I was shot. Adults didn't worry so much about kids in the 1950's.

    ReplyDelete
  2. THAT TIME OF YEAR
    Pumpkin carvings,
    Apple cider,
    Trick or treaters,
    Wagon rider,
    Rainbow foliage,
    Friday night ball,
    No time of year
    Is finer than
    Fall.

    (c) Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.

    ReplyDelete
  3. THAT TIME OF YEAR
    Pumpkin carvings,
    Apple cider,
    Trick or treaters,
    Wagon rider,
    Rainbow foliage,
    Friday night ball,
    No time of year
    Is finer than
    Fall.

    (c) Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.

    ReplyDelete
  4. EnListing A Squirrel

    Gray back,
    Feather tail,
    Acrobatic feet,
    Chittery wail,
    Walnut find,
    Deck rail,
    Pounds nut,
    Big fail.


    © 2016 Jane Yolen all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  5. October

    one green leaf not quite ready
    two gold leaves fluttering
    three red leaves turning, falling
    four brown leaves crunching underfoot
    five breezes rustling leaf piles
    six children raking
    seven trees standing tall and bare
    eight lawn bags filled to bursting
    nine daffodil bulbs buried
    ten crows on black branches

    —Kate Coombs, 2016
    all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete