Poetry Prompt Day 17 : Games We played

The moment I log in to Facebook , my first thought is to once play Candy Crush [ Am stuck on same stage for about 15 days now ].  And then , I proceed to check other notifications. On mobile too , I am addicted to same game from some time. Before that , there was Ruzzle , Motto race  , WordFeud and a  few more.

So while I was thinking of today's prompt , I was of course playing Candy Crush again , when the idea hit me. Why not write of the games we play on mobile , desktop or play stations ( sorry , I am not aware of latest gadgets ) . While we are at it , lets go back into our childhood and list all the games we loved to play.

Poetry prompt day 10 : A Poetry Collage ?

This is a last minute post so be prepared to get something really senseless as a prompt from me today :P

Just Kidding ! Lets get to work now.  so , Last month in one of the poetry tip posts , I wrote about collaborative poetry where 2 or more poets write a poem together.  As a further modification or a side track to this style , we have some poems that inspire other poems , often as replies to the original voice. On another group blog , we use to refer these poems as "Reply Poetry" .

We all have our favorite poems. Some from own blog , some from other's blog. I want you to pick those poems today , read and re read till you find your trigger in there. Write the poem , whatever is in your head - be it a continuation or an opposite voice to the narrator. Be it a comment on the voice of the original poem or maybe even a verse to wrap it around the original thought.

Please note , when you post your poem , please share the link of the original post too.
Or better , share the whole poem in the post .

Some of you , who are a little short on time [ like ME ;) ]  to search a favorite poem , pick one of the last 10 poems from your own blog and use it for the prompt.Or pick the poem that some participant linked to the post !!

This is one of my favorite poem from the poet I am in love -

Poetry Prompt Day 3 : I wrote a poem one day .

In school , I used to curse the poets. All those long poems that said something else , and meant some thing else entirely .. And imagine  learning all those poems by heart so you can use the lines in references when you write your exam at the end of the year.

Considering that , I am sometimes myself amazed at  my love for poetry today. There is no day when I do not read a poem on blogs or jot down an idea for next verse for my own blog. Or maybe just randomly send few lines to my poetry buddies. In moments like these , I feel poetry has become a part of me , an identity for me.

So today , I want you to share your story of initiation into poetry ? Did you always love it ? Or like me , woke up to its charm and wonders one bright day ?  What was your first poem ? to whom was it dedicated  ? Or if you had to go back in time and write a poem for someone in your life  , who would you chose as your muse ?

Lets write a Poem about Why We wrote that very first poem. 

Before you go on wandering in your imaginary gardens of thoughts , have a look at this video full of poetry meanings :

~ Nimue

What is the mood of your Poem ?

What we write , the one that reaches across to others , is mostly the very words that echo our mood for the moment. Sometimes , when you are in a particular mood  , experiencing a particular emotion , it is very much possible to capture it in your poem within a few hours than to do the same , a few days later.

But I feel,  everyone's writing has a mood of its own. Years back , when I started writing , most times I wrote to let my fears and thoughts out of my mind. It were not happy times and the nights would be a little too hard to handle. That's when I discovered poetry writing and it helped me cope up with my feelings. In the process , my writing took a character of its own. A face that is kind and sad at same time. A voice that talks of past and is hopeful of the future too. A mood that is aware of the pain it has seen and expects but also knows that love exists.

Whenever I have written with such mood and honesty , not just have I felt satisfied with the poem but the process itself has been rewarding. And its same with so many bloggers I read around. I can almost judge the thought process , the mood , the projection of the thoughts from them to me. It is a sense of familiarity that envelops me when I read such poems.

I agree that one should step out of boundaries and try new writing ways , new techniques. But can not the same feeling be expressed in hundred different ways ? Is it so important to write happy poems even if you know you are doing a below average job with that ?

Writing is about being honest . To please yourself . Not to appeal to others.

Lets make Poetry together !

While I was wondering what to write for this week , I thought to ask from my friends on Facebook to help me with a topic.  Anup , the guy who started a wonderful Poetry Group / Club for all poets of my city [ called PACH : Check the link to know more ] suggested me to write on duel poetry.

This reminded me of the few times I have unknowingly written along a friend and result has been a beautiful poem with alternate ideas and styles.

Little did I know this style of poetry has a name and structure since long time. Collaborative or collective Poetry [ wikipedia page linked ] is an alternative technique of writing poetry by more than one person. What I love about this style is the fact that two people can communicate and emote , linked by a similar thought. The voice can be of taking the story further or that of an opposing idea , but the fact that two people chose to communicate , in a poetic way is something that rejoices my heart to no end.

Its been a long time I was active on twitter , but I still remember replying to random tweets and watching so many others do the same with their own idea. This trigger of one thought and many poets adding to it or opposing it in their own fashion was what and how spontaneous poetry writing can be some times.

Historically , collaborative Poetry's origin lies in Japanese Poetry styles. Renga is the most popular poetry style which has been in practice from over seven hundred years. Also called as "Linked Poetry" , Renga is a syllable based poem form that opens with a 3 line poetry [ 5,7,5 haiku ] and others keep adding to it. Modern collaborative poets though are more flexible when it comes to form of every couplet.

New ideas or new words

Yesterday , while on twitter I read this tweet by Coyote :

If you want to figure out why someone writes better, try seeing how they write differently, how they use words differently.

 Immediately I was reminded of a discussion between me and my close friend some days back. We were returning from another poetry meet and reflecting upon the poems we heard when he commented that most of the poems , though appeal to heart and mind , are basically plotted on love , feelings , nature . Rarely do we see some one writing very differently on the same topic or writing on a unique topic.

Later that night I logged on to my blog and read the poems on the front page. And then skipping few pages each time , I read about 10 posts in last one year and indeed i could see a pattern. When read together , only a few poems stand out. Some times it were the way words were linked or other times it was the unique title that prompted a whole new direction of thought.

If I talk about myself , I found that trying to write one post for multiple prompts usually result in an amusing mix.

Sample this post which was an idea based on the image , the word transition and a prompt - "what is the rest of the story" :

The only name he smiled at,
the only eyes he looked for,
the very smile to flatter him,
the only girl he wished to live for -
today she remains in heart and mind,
a memory of a long-lost time.
From everything to some one special,
the transition happened without cause;
the face was never captured in photo,
it was meant to stay as a muse unknown.

The Rules of Poetry and writing

Everything has rules. Even chaos has an order within itself. But Poetry is neither organized nor chaotic. I treat it as a chaotic way to unbalance some order or an ordered way to tame chaos in my mind. Either way it just flows through the head and heart if you surrender yourself.

Image source

So what are the rules?
I say NONE.

Not for writing, not for reading, not for supporting and encouraging, not for sharing, and not for hiding it either.

But learning to let go of the Rules does not come easy. It is a conscious and constant process that you learn to accept while your write.

I started writing six years back and to this date I can not understand my obsession with rhymes during that period. I actually spoiled many ideas for the lack of rhyming words. And those days I was unaware of rhyming dictionaries. ;)

A year later I switched to rhythm and thank goodness I discovered poetry forms that did not require me to rhyme. Not that the syllable count was any easier, but still, there was a sense of freedom as I penned those verses. Like miniature cupcakes put on display for all.

Bottom line: Follow rules of heart and not of the art!
Let yourself be free and dip into the creative pools that are as vast as your mind wants to wander.

Have fun!

~Nimue