OctPoWriMo 2022 - Day 11: Love, Great And Small

 

'

In further considering the idea of 'growing the creative self', we can think about how our loves, great and small, can unlock our creativity and inspire us to write.

Over the years I have written about various crushes and other more meaningful relationships, some of which have been brief but left footprints on my heart, and others which are still in my life today. 

A sonnet might be one way of expressing these feelings - it is, after all, a classic love poem format, espoused by Shakespeare, Petrarch, Keats, and others. (See October 2nd's prompt for a guide to the sonnet structure.)

However, in the words of the recently departed Her Majesty the Queen of England (and, doubtless, others), grief is the price we pay for love. Having also recently lost my grandmother, who lived a very full life but whom nonetheless we are of course also sad to lose, I may choose to expand my creativity with an elegy.

The poet Thomas Gray was one famous exponent of this particular form, along with, Whitman and Rilke. Elegies express three stages of loss: grief and sorrow, followed by praise for the dead person, and concluded with consolation and solace. Traditional elegies are composed in stanzas of two quatrains, using iambic pentameter and an ABAB rhyme scheme. However, for a modern elegy, you can of course deviate from this if you wish.

Word prompts:

Bright

Warmth

Lightness

Everlasting

Boundless

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions: you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Happy writing!

Bianca

OctPoWriMo 2022 - Day 10: Feeling Is The Way

In line with the theme of 'growing your creative self', maybe recognising our feelings is also a way of doing this.

Being British, it's common to grow up in a culture where feelings are not expressed; the ideas of the 'stiff upper lip' and 'keep calm and carry on' are not just amusing stereotypes but actual ways of life. Luckily, though, this is changing to an extent, thanks in part to the pandemic but also due to paradigm shifts that were under way before this. People are encouraged more now to seek counselling/therapy if they need it and to put their mental health priorities on a par with their physical health. And for us creative types, prioritising our feelings can help us to know ourselves better and so unlock our creative selves. 

A longitudinal study carried out by the University of New South Wales - explored accessibly here - found that it doesn't matter so much which emotions we unlock but the intensity at which we manage to do so - and that your openness to the full breadth and depth of your emotions is a greater predictor of creativity than IQ. So whether it's watching your favourite food shows on YouTube or getting your old family home movies out, find a way to unlock your emotions at a high degree of intensity - and then write those feelings down. According to the research, it's also good if you can show sensitivity to unusual combinations of emotions. So perhaps try to recall a time where you felt both happy and sad simultaneously, or both excited and afraid, and convey that in your poem.

For this poem, you might want to create a poem that resembles a monologue or a diary entry. 

Or you might want to try a Korean poetic form called a sijo, which contains a 'volta' or 'turn' in the third and final line of the poem. The whole poem is very concise, consisting of only 42-48 syllables. The theme is introduced in the first line (aim for a total of 15 syllables), followed by the elaboration on this theme in line 2 (try another 15 syllables). The final line introduces the turn (aim for 8 syllables), ending with a conclusion (maybe another 7 syllables). A famous sijo is referenced in the Korean period drama Love, Lies:

사랑 거즛말이 님 날사랑 거즛말이

꿈에 뵌닷 말이 긔 더욱 거즛말이

날가치 잠 아니 오면 어늬 꿈에 뵈리오

"Love." It is a lying word.

That you love me, another lie.

"The loved one is seen in dreams."

That is still a greater lie,

How can I, who can never sleep,

hope to see you in my dreams?

Perhaps the act of trying the sijo will help you to better express your feelings and in doing so, grow your creative self.

Word prompts:

Sadness

Hope

Changing

Turning

But

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions: you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

OctPoWriMo 2022 - Day 9: Magic In The Now

The theme for this year's OctPoWriMo is 'Growing The Creative Soul', and one way to grow one's creative soul is to find and feel the magic in the now...hence today's prompt.

When I first started writing poetry, 'mindfulness' was not really a 'thing' in the way we recognise it today. But various mindfulness processes are a good way of recognising that 'magic in the now'.

So perhaps sit down and colour for a while, either in silence or with music on in the background (I had a wonderfully detailed colouring book of mandalas years back). Or maybe just kick back and close your eyes and feel the music. You could even engage in some meditation or hypnotherapy at home, using an app to help. Afterwards, note your feelings. What did it feel like to be immersed in the 'now' and to be so much more aware of yourself? Then make them into a poem.

While a free write would work well for this (for reasons which are, I hope, apparent), but if you want to follow a stronger tradition of mystic poetry, these guidelines on Medium.com are useful: what myths, symbols, and/or natural imagery might enhance your poem? To further encapsulate the notion of 'now', try using only the present tense in your poem, as per the prompts below.

Word prompts:

Breathes

Expands

Becoming

Silencing

Grow

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions: you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Happy writing!

Bianca

OctPoWriMo Day 8

 

Art by MDragonwillow

Thursday was a very difficult day for me. My laptop stopped charging and when I went to have it repaired, found out it would be more than a new laptop. So I bought a bluetooth keyboard for my tablet and it's rather awkward to use but I'm doing my best. Oh, and after all that, I got into a car accident on my way home. Just a fender bender but still, one more thing that caused me stress and more money because it was also my fault.

This Prompt, Strange and Wonderful I've been struggling with. I've been procrastinating writing it. Writing in general actually, since Thursday. Today I even took the day off to process, rest, and nest a bit in my room. I really don't know where I'm going with this. 

The wonderful, the woman I collided with, she was so nice that she even told the officer not to write a report because she didn't want me to get a ticket. A good friend who lives down the street from me, when I told her about my day, brought over beer and we sat on my porch and chatted for hours which felt wonderful.

My life is a series of strange and wonderful and I transfer that onto the page, in words and art. 

Poetry Prompt

Write about what is strange and wonderful in your life? How can you express that on the page?

Word Prompts

Wonderfully strange

unexpected

shocking

life altering

chaos

confort

Poetry Type - Acrostic, I like acrostic for this prompt because you can turn it into a story like I did with my poem, Lipstick. Unfortunately that poem was on the blog that no longer exists and I realize I don't think I have a copy of it. Anyway... I challenge you to write a story with your Acrostic in a poetic form.

Or...

Use magnetic poetry and randomly choose strange and wonderful words to create a poem.

It's too difficult to attach a video on my tablet so turn on music you wouldn't normally listen to and move to it.

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Much Love to You,

Morgan Dragonwillow

Read, Dance, Write, Repeat.

Where I'll be writing poetry: A Writer's Universe

OctPoWriMo Day 7

 

“That’s what keeps me going: dreaming, inventing, then hoping and dreaming some more in order to keep dreaming.”

ANONYMOUS

Sometimes when you're stuck, it's so easy to stay stuck. Some of our stumbling blocks and challenges can seem insurmountable, especially at that moment. When we push through and get to the other side, it can be these very obstacles that make the win even sweeter. Finding the courage to persevere, no matter the circumstance, can be life-changing and often for the better. Thinking back to challenging times, what did you gain from stepping forward?

Poetry Prompt

Were you ever surprised by your own courage and determination? What can we learn by deciding not to give up? Where can you find the reward in the journey or is the journey its own reward? Falling is as important as soaring because these experiences help shape who we are as individuals. Tell me how your story propels your need to put one foot in front of the other.

Word Prompts

determine/determination

light

compassion

endure

fearless

inner strength

Suggested Poetry Forms

Villanelle or Cascade

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

OctPoWriMo Day 6

 

to 

Photo by MDragonwillow

This one is a little late. I had to watch some Youtube videos to get out of my own way around this prompt. Surrender is an issue for me and in particular surrendering guilt. Guilt is a black stain, it chokes the life out of you. You have to let it go to be able to get out of your own way. Do what you need to do to break through it and let it fly. What I'm going to post below, from Youtube, isn't the sort of thing I would normally post but listening to their stories, watching them get out of their own way and keep pushing until they fly, is inspiring. I was sobbing through a lot of it. I hope you watch it.

Poetry Prompt

What guilt are you choking on? Write like your life depends on it, put it all down on the paper, or laptop, but if on the laptop, print it out afterwards and then take it somewhere you can safely burn it and watch your guilt fly away with the smoke. It isn't worth holding on to no matter what it is. If you have to make amends, make amends, if you can't see yourself able  to do it in person, or can't for some reason, take it to a higher plane, say what needs to be said and let it go.

Word Prompts

Surrender

Guilt

Fly

Choking

Burn it 

Let it go

These people all had huge hurdles to overcome and I hope you let them inspire you to not hold on to what is holding you back. 

And for you to dance it out...

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Much Love to You,

Morgan Dragonwillow

Read, Dance, Write, Repeat.

Where I'll be writing poetry: A Writer's Universe

OctPoWriMo Day 5

 

Art work by MDragonwillow

This young woman talks about What Does it Mean to be Yourself and I have to say that I was in tears by the end. Yes she is young, but she is sharing a fundamental reality that we all struggle with. In writing they are always talking about finding your voice and a huge part of that is knowing who you are and being yourself on the page. I know this video is a little long, but trust me when I say, it is worth it.

Poetry Prompt

Be yourself. That is one of the most difficult discoveries we go through in life. Who are you? What are your fears? What are you stopping yourself from doing because you don't believe you are good enough? Write down, I am enough, and then keep writing and see what lands on the page.

Word Prompts

Enough

Who I am

I am enough

If I didn't doubt myself...

Poetry Type - Palindrome

Music to inspire and dance to.

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Much Love to You,

Morgan Dragonwillow

Read, Dance, Write, Repeat.

Where I'll be writing poetry: A Writer's Universe

OctPoWriMo Day 4 - Collaborative Dreaming

A month ago I found myself on a quest to find myself a new tarot deck.  Although it had been more than a couple decades since my long lost art nouveau cards were spread across a persimmon silk scarf, I knew my next deck needed to resonate on a deep level. 

'This deck is dedicated to you - you who wants to live your own unique and inspired life, to awaken your sacred rebellious heart and honor your creative power'

The Sacred Rebels Oracle has spoken - 

"Collaborative Dreaming - Working with others creatively is a way to allow the heart to grow. It is a chance for you to learn how to honor yourself and others and to find ways to live and let live, simply by growing and strengthening your active trust in your heart’s guidance.

You are asked to bear the rough patches that can happen when you work creatively with others. Ideas might clash and there can be friction, particularly if you have different ways of working. Sometimes big dreams need more fire to ignite them into reality. More fire might require more friction along the creative path."

Poetry Prompt

Think of a time when you took on a creative project with another person or group - write a poem describing how this collective experience flourished and when there was friction.  Or conversely, write a poem describing a situation when you knew it was time to let the group go, to move on - what was the tipping point?

Word Prompts

Win-Win

Collective

Friction

Ignite

Control

Oracle

Poetry Type to Explore - Joseph's Star  

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions: you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Happy writing!

*Photo Credit: Alana Fairchild, Autumn Skye Morrison, Collaborative Dreaming, Sacred Rebels Oracle

OctPoWriMo Day 3

 

Public Domain Pictures

This prompt had me diving deep to see what really wanted to be said about Spirals of creation. When we tap into the stream of creation, we flow through the shadow world, our ups and our downs, ins and outs and we often have to struggle through our self sabotage to get to the other side. Spirals of creation, what do you go through, physically, mentally, emotionally, to come to the page and let your words flow?

Poetry Prompt

Spirals of creations - write for ten minutes diving into where you are at, what shadows are you dealing with, what has you spinning and spiraling? Get it all down. Choose a phrase or a few words and then create a poem from that.

Word Prompts

Spiraling

Shadows

Spinning

Flowing

Letting go

Poetry Type - Loop poetry felt like a good one for this.

Music and Movement

This song helped me find where this prompt wanted to go. I hope you will listen to the words and see if you can relate, dance and move it out of your body and then come to the page.

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Much Love to You,

Morgan Dragonwillow

Read, Dance, Write, Repeat.

Where I'll be writing poetry: A Writer's Universe

OctoPoWriMo 2022: Day 2 - Thunderstorm

 

I remember being trapped in a pub in Kent, UK, years ago as a thunderstorm raged over the sea. The atmosphere was jovial, the views spectacular (though the photo above is sadly not mine!)...and let's face it, there were worse places to be stuck!

Perhaps, therefore, in your poem today, try to create contrasting atmospheres (of both cosiness and fear, for instance). A structure that has two clear parts, like a sonnet, might lend itself well to this. (I have posted a visual structure of a sonnet above in case you are unfamiliar with it.) Romantic poets like John Keats also frequently used sonnets and wrote often about nature. An ode (also beloved of the Romantics) would work well here too (again, some guidance is posted below). Failing this, a shape poem shaped like a lightning bolt and/or cloud would be equally evocative! 

Of course, the thunderstorm could be metaphorical or literal - regardless of the poetic structure you choose to follow.

Word prompt:

Flash

Illuminated

Hold

Fade

Momentary

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions: you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Happy writing!

Bianca

OctPoWriMo 2022 Begins!

 OctPoWriMo is here! Life has been a whirlwind for me the last couple of months. I went from being a Nomad to renting a room with seven (yes, seven) roommates on a community land trust. I realized being on the road all the time was getting to me and I wanted a space for myself and I am loving my new space.

This year the theme for OctPoWriMo is; Growing Your Creative Soul! The first prompt, Shine Your Light, is very close and personal for me because the last couple of years I feel like I've been hiding my light and. I say no more! My light is bright and I'm giving it lots of fuel to shine even brighter.

Every year I've shared poetry types from Shadow Poetry and I will continue to do that but for the beginning of this journey I'd like you to ask yourselves, how am I hiding my light and what can I do to let it shine and free write what comes to you.

Created by my granddaughter, Olivia

When I talk about your light, I'm talking about your creative light, either creating your poetry, your stories, your art, your dance whatever fills you with passion when you think about it, talk about it, or do it. For me it is my stories. I've been writing a lot lately. Since September 6th I've written over 200,000 words and most of that is one story. So I am shining a light on my words, on my stories and I'm not going to quit until I've published them.

Poetry Prompt: 

Shine your light, write for ten minutes about what shining your light means to you. Are you hiding it? What can you do to let it shine brighter?

Word Prompts

Passion

Creativity

Soul

Light

You

I

Poetry Type: Free writing but you can check out Shadow Poetry Types if you'd like to explore something different. 

Music and Movement - Move your body, move your words is my motto. This is my favorite light song that I'm sure I've shared before but it is absolutely the most right and perfect song for this prompt. 

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you and if this is your first year or if you have been with us from the beginning.

Much Love to You,

Morgan Dragonwillow

Read, Dance, Write, Repeat.

Where I'll be writing poetry: A Writer's Universe

OctPoWriMo Day 31: Goodbye train

As you read this, chances are I will be on the train home from Paris, after celebrating a dear friend's birthday there. I have not lived in the Paris area now for four years and it's always so hard to say goodbye to the place and to the wonderful friends I made and still have there.

And yet as the train clacks away there is usually a sense of peace, as I know I will soon be back.

'Goodbye train' is also (fun fact) the name of a song by The Apartments, recorded in 1993, which my husband put onto a mixtape (well, mix CD) for me when we were in the throes of our international long-distance relationship in the mid-2000s. Have a listen:

Word prompts

points

platform

track

fading

distance

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions; you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants' work, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you. 

OctPoWriMo Day 30: Diary

I kept diaries throughout my teenage years, writing copiously to get my seemingly interminable sadness out, just to make it feel manageable. This self-awareness sometimes felt like such a weight, but in the end I think it's what lifted me up. I don't write in my diary that much now - probably because there's less to say in a diary when you are happy. But I daresay that many of us have kept diaries at difficult moments in our lives.

If you have kept a diary (or even still do!), use this poem space to express what it means to you. If you have never kept one, or even find the idea bewildering or weird, let those feelings out in your poetry too. Even if you have at some point read someone else's diary, write about that perhaps: did the person whose diary it was ever find out? How did you feel afterwards, having read it?

Word prompts

secrets

pages

whisper

turn

hide

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions; you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants' work, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you.