Friday, June 07, 2019

Poetry Sisters Write Skinny Poems

Andi set this month's challenge to write a skinny poem. A skinny poem consists of eleven lines. Lines 1 and 11 can be any length and line 11 must use the same words from line 1, though they can be rearranged.  Lines 2, 6, and 10 must be identical. And finally, what makes this poem skinny, is that fact that all lines except for 1 and 11 (the first and last) may be only ONE WORD LONG. You can learn more about the form at The Skinny Poetry Journal.

This form scared me. Couple that fear with a hellacious work schedule as of late, and that meant I had no poems the afternoon before posting. So, I was poem-less, but promised I'd try my hand at this form. Here are several first drafts of poems I whipped up just in the nick of time.

Skinny 1
A poem is a prayer
a
touchstone
of
truth
a
triumphant
metaphorical
wonder
a
prayer is a poem

Skinny 2
My numbers don't lie
just
forget
the audit
just
trust
my
calculations
just
don't number my lies

Skinny 3
Carefully chosen words
are
poems
stories
psalms
are
epistles
lyrics
speeches
are
words carefully chosen

Skinny 4
Traveling through time:
one
dimensionally
transcendental
TARDIS,
one
Doctor.
We
are
one,
traveling through time.

Poems ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2019. All rights reserved.

You can read the pieces written by my Poetry Sisters at the links below. Liz and Sara hope to have poems in the next week or so. 
I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Michelle Kogan. Happy poetry Friday friends!

8 comments:

  1. Oooh, Tricia, I'm so glad you pulled a few out of the hat (or somewhere!). I especially like 2 and 4. So much truth in both of them, despite how different they are.

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  2. See, THIS is what I'm saying - people can slide in at the last minute with a Skinny and still blow readers out of the water. I feel like your facility with this form outstrips mine by far! I especially love the concept of a poem as a prayer.

    Candles lit for YOU and your crazy schedule by the by. You will come THROUGH.

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  3. I love when the Poetry Sisters get to posting!

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  4. I love how your skinnys are so much about language, and say so much with so few words. I keep going back to the first one... "a poem is a prayer, a prayer is a poem". Yes.

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  5. "triumphant metaphorical wonder" that's what your skinny poems are!

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  6. I like how the meaning of "one" changed in #4! Well done!

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  7. My favorite is definitely the last one (I can't resist the Doctor), but all of these are good. I wish I could write this form as well.

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  8. Yes, number 4 captured me–I love time-travel!

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