Monday, April 17, 2017

Progressive Poem - Line 17!

I've been watching this poem develop and I'm happy to be right in the thick of it.
This amazing project is organized by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem. During National Poetry Month,  30 poets each add one line to a poem, making it progressively longer. This year, the only instruction was that this poem should be written for children. Below you'll find the previous 16 lines and my contribution, as well as links to all the participants in the progressive poem party. Here we go!

I’m fidget, friction, ragged edges—
I sprout stories that frazzle-dazzle,
stories of castles, of fires that crackle,
with dragonwords that smoke and sizzle.

But edges sometimes need sandpaper,
like swords need stone and clouds need vapour.
So I shimmy out of my spurs and armour
facing the day as my fickle, freckled self.

I thread the crowd, wear freedom in my smile,
and warm to the coals of conversation.
Enticed to the stage by strands of story,
I skip up the stairs in anticipation.

Flip around, face the crowd, and freeze!
Shiver me. Look who’s here. Must I disappear?
By hook or by crook, I deserve a second look!
I cheer. Please, have no fear. Find the book.

But wait! I'll share the lines I know by heart.


Progressive Poem Links
1 Heidi at my juicy little universe
2 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
3 Doraine at Dori Reads
4 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty
5 Diane at Random Noodling
6 Kat at Kat's Whiskers
7 Irene at Live Your Poem
8 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
9 Linda at TeacherDance
10 Penny at a penny and her jots
11 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
12 Janet F. at Live Your Poem
13 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
14 Jan at Bookseedstudio
15 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales
16 Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy
17 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
18 Buffy at Buffy's Blog
19 Pat at Writer on a Horse
20 BJ at Blue Window
21 Donna at Mainely Write
22 Jone at Jone Ruch MacCulloch
23 Ruth at There is no such thing as a godforsaken town
24 Amy at The Poem Farm
25 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
28 Michelle at Michelle Kogan
29 Charles at Poetry Time
30 Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids

Buffy, you're up! Can't wait to see where you take this.

15 comments:

  1. This is a great setup! What lines does our hero know by heart? And I am still wondering about the "who" that made him/her all shivery.... hmmmm... thank you, Tricia! xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful, Tricia, what lines, who will connect with them? It's a wonderful turn for the next part.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "By heart" is always best. Thank you!! xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love how our hero/heroine took courage in lines known by heart. Definitely kooking forward to the continuing adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your line! But now I'm getting nervous. This is one of those things you can't prepare for! Who knows where it will be in just a couple more lines! Arrgh!
    But I do love "lines I know by heart"... what could they be?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love where you took this. I thought the MC's nemesis was fear itself, that's why I wrote line 15 that way. Your line plays in with that beautifully.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your line, Tricia. But it fills me with trepidation. What lines does our narrator know by heart? I have no idea. Hmmmm...how to get out of this jam without putting that line in his/her mouth?!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes, yes, yes! Brilliant, Tricia. The poem is going exactly where it wants to go. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't that the truth! I never expected it to go where it has. It does seem to have a mind of it's own.

      Delete
  9. What does this child know by heart? I wonder. Thanks for keeping us in wonder.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tricia, your line has the advantage of being a GREAT prompt. I can see a list poem starting--
    Lines I know by heart.

    Just the layered meanings of "by heart" are wonderful.
    Thank you for this oil gusher.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Catching up and I love it! "by heart" could be revealing :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. My apologies for being pretty much absent for the last ten days, Tricia, and just catching up now...I like it that you rescued us from a possible hunt for a book and stuck to the words our characters owns to the core.

    I also really love what you're doing with your poem collection and memories of Pam...I look forward to coming back and clicking through to the whole poems. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete