The challenge this month was to write a wordplay poem. Laura set this challenge based on one offered up by Nikki Grimes in May 2015 at Today's Little Ditty. Here's an excerpt:
When I first began to write poetry at age six, it was the result of wordplay. So try this wordplay exercise and create your own free verse poem.
When I talk about wordplay, I'm talking about studying a word from top to bottom, and inside out, considering every aspect of the word: What it looks like, sounds like, feels like. What it does, how it's used, etc. The idea is to bring all of your senses into the act. The poem you create may end up being complex and sophisticated, or very simple. But whether you're writing a nursery rhyme, or a complex prose poem for adults, wordplay is a valuable skill in the process of creating dynamic, original, poetry, or lyrical prose.
Last year when we wrote hippo poems, I wrote in this form. I really love that poem, so I was a bit intimidated to try this again. It took a while to find a topic I liked, but I'm surprisingly happy with this draft about lemons.
Lemon is a sour word
that makes you purse your lips
squinch your face
shiver at its taste
Lemon is a disappointing word
turn the key in a new-to-you
used car as it sputters
and chokes
Lemon is sunny word
recalling hot summer days
money-making schemes
grandma’s depression glass pitcher
Lemon is a scurvy word
eat the wedge
peel and all
daily dose of Vitamin C
Lemon is a chef’s word
brightening every dish
a zestful ingredient
unheralded secret weapon
