OctPoWriMo Poetry Prompt #23: Another Chapter Begins.....

Another chapter begins…

We are in the final third of October which means… we are that much closer to the end of this poetry writing spree.

Some of you, like me, may not quite be up to speed with the numbers and guess what? That is perfectly fine. Please forgive your lower numbers and continue to write as called and compelled.

I have written two poems this month I am absolutely thrilled about and have several in the works in my notebook. I don’t consider myself behind because… 

                                       I don’t believe in “behind” I believe in everything being just right as is, thank you very very much!

 

With that in mind, I want us to think and write today - if you choose to follow the prompting and as always we love whether you do or you don’t - to imagine turning the page to the next chapter….

If it helps, actually grab a book from that shelf over there. Go to the end of one chapter and literally turn the page.

Repeat as necessary.

Maybe for you “another chapter begins” is like waiting for the new school year or writing resolutions or starting a new job….

Perhaps you’ve been writing haiku all month and right now you want to set those aside and write all American Sentence poems! (Are there any Allen Ginsburg fans out there who know what I speak of?

Whatever it inspires for you, so be it... move your pencils and shuffle these possibilities into poetry.

Phrase prompts:

Another chapter begins…

Turn the page….

And then there was….

I begin again….

And then there was….

Now it is time to write….

And an image and quote inspiration I forgot I created! 

Share your poetry with us by linking up. Make sure you visit your neighbors one or two before and after. If you are last on the list go back to the beginning of the list. If you are the first few on the list please go back to the day before and visit the last on the list if you haven't already. Have fun!

Poets: Prepare to Start Your Engines - Poetry Pre-Writing Tip

Note in the title I did not say START your engines. We have ten days left until the “big” day appears.

Car racing is part of the life blood of the family I was raised in and is even showing up in parts of the next generation of Jordans. When I was a young girl, I would spend hours and hours and hours in the garage, handing my brother, the race driver, tools. You know, sort of like a doctor asks for scalpels.

All that gorgeous, seemingly without effort grace on the race track doesn’t start when they raise the flag, it starts long before, when the drivers work on their cars and finally warm up their cars during the days before the big race.

I am going to share with you one of my favorite poetry writing warm ups.

Simple Or Intricate?

One of the things I love most about poetry is its versatility. There are guidelines...sure, you could even consider them to be rules. But since poetry writing is an expressive art, it is open to interpretation and personal expression. Therefore, there will be times where anything goes. 

When writing a poem, will you choose something simple? A haiku? A sparse stanza? Or something more intricate and rich with iambic pentameter? There is a simple rule to haiku writing and a more complex set of guidelines to iambic pentameter. 

Your words can take on a playful rhyme ala Dr. Seuss or an emotive and descriptive tone, lush with introspection and imagery. From the silly to the soulful, it's all poetry and yes, you can have it both ways. 

Recently, I was thumbing through my copy of Suzanne Vega's book of poetry and lyrics. It is a collection of her work from the time of her childhood up until the 1990s and it demonstrates a wonderful example of the evolutionary path one can take with poetry as well as the beauty of both simplicity and intricacy. Vega has a way of weaving words together seemingly effortlessly in such a way that the reader is taken on a whimsical, yet thought provoking journey, and that is something I think many, if not all of us strive to accomplish in our writing; to take the reader to another place, yet provoke thought and depth of feeling, whether it be of the joyful sort or to the point of tears. 

To my mind, that is truly successful poetry. Is it simple and silly enough that you've made up a word or phrase and conjured a side splitting laugh? Or is it beautiful, even tragic - leaving the reader deep in contemplation and inspiration? 

It's all powerful. And exploring the possibilities of each mode of expression is a compelling exercise. 

The title of Suzanne Vega's book is "The Passionate Eye..." and I think that encapsulates the idea of poetry. Whether you write from a simple or a more dramatic and involved perspective - your passion for the subject of your writing as well as the medium itself is what will inspire you to get your point across in whichever way the mood strikes you.