8:04 a.m. — Walnut Creek
Hello, all. Is it my imagination or are the days slipping by even faster than they already seemed to slip by? Not fast enough, you say? Bring on neutral weather with comfortable temperatures? I’m with you there. How about we start with this week’s prompt which mirrors the one we did on summer. Let’s give winter a turn.
It’s no longer a new party trick, but you can still do it. Write, without thinking, a list of all the words and terms you associate with winter: cold, ice, icy, freeze… come on, no censoring to save a word… snow, hot chocolate, mittens… What’s that? You wouldn’t have thought of hot chocolate and now you have? Ah, well. Fireplace, Christmas, skiing… Write winter out of your brain onto the paper. Remember the fresh and original poem you wrote about summer? To reach it, you had to write summer out of your system first.
All done? Okay, remember that you may not use any of those words in your poem. Consider what it is about winter you want to convey. Those of us undergoing weeks unending of heat, might want to conveyΒ the bone-chilling cold of a winter day; those undergoing the bone-chilling cold of that winter day, might wish to convey their view of a perfect summer day. Decide if you want to write a universal, or a personal, truth about winter; if you want to describe a scene, or an event; if you want positive, or negative; if you wish to recall a memory, or create a fantasy.
Freewrite your thinking as you are doing it. Jot notes about what, as well as how. Write down words, images, and sensory details. Think about the best form [this does not mean you have to use a form as opposed to free-verse, but you do need to decide which] for the winter poem you have running through your mind, now. What form complements your content?
Write, post, come back and read others or, read all of last week’s entries now, and this week’s entries next week! That way you will catch several poems to read. I will see you Friday for the Freeforall and next Tuesday for an image. I know: Ooooh!
Happy writing, everyone.
P.S. Should you have the kind of brain that automatically runs possibilities by, when you glance at my Tuesday and Friday attempts at different titles around the same words, feel free to let me know!
The Happy Amateur
24/07/2012 at 12:08 pm
Hi Margo,
just a quick winter memory:
Eight a.m. Still dark
On my way to school. Yellow
Moons of streetlamps glow
In the snowy midst
City noises are muffled
My winter boots squeak.
margo roby
24/07/2012 at 12:34 pm
Sasha, I am glad you decided to capture this. Such a tight little scene made so vivid by the imagery and the shortness. I am there with the memory.
The Happy Amateur
24/07/2012 at 12:41 pm
My muse is often kind of short π
margo roby
24/07/2012 at 12:44 pm
It took me a long time to learn how to. Much more difficult than long. Now, i love writing short π
The Happy Amateur
24/07/2012 at 1:16 pm
You are very kind, Margo, thank you π
It is one of the first winter memories that come to my mind. Snowy days, but no “snow days” nonsense π
carolisle
24/07/2012 at 5:15 pm
Margo most excellent poetry lesson. I will keep your words in mind for another time, however I already had my Dahlia Dalliance dancing in my head maybe it fits some how π http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/not-in-my-backyard/
margo roby
24/07/2012 at 10:55 pm
Maybe, Carolisle!? I’ll be right over for a read.
wordsandthoughtspjs
24/07/2012 at 9:00 pm
Hi Margo, I am going to start my list this evening. That is if, the medication I am taking cooperates and I don’t fall asleep.
Pamela
margo roby
24/07/2012 at 10:54 pm
Pamela, are you still living in a druggy world? Is this still your neck? If so, what on earth is it? I feel your pain, having had my neck seize up for three days, but it did finally go. Take care, my friend.
margo
wordsandthoughtspjs
25/07/2012 at 2:16 pm
Hi Margo, it is two dislocated cervical vertebra, 4 and 5. I had a car accident when I was 18, and the doctor never ordered a neck brace. Hence, aging and being active in sports for most of life have finally caught up with my butt. π Thanks for the well wishes, my friend. I am feeling better each day.
margo roby
25/07/2012 at 5:17 pm
Ouch, ouch, Pamela! No more dancing on tables! I’m glad to hear you are feeling better.
m
wordsandthoughtspjs
25/07/2012 at 7:04 pm
Ha ha ha, I gave that up a year ago π Now, I just dance on me head π
margo roby
25/07/2012 at 7:24 pm
You nut, you π
barbara_
27/07/2012 at 11:15 am
ouch. be better.
purplepeninportland
24/07/2012 at 11:47 pm
Mine is up. It is quite a challenge to write without using the usual set of descriptive words.
margo roby
25/07/2012 at 12:26 pm
Sara, Indeed it is. I think the stretch is good. I find I use fresher imagery and figurative language. I’ll visit in a minute.
rosross
25/07/2012 at 2:49 am
Winter draws the Soul inside,
of Self and Earth and all,
as if to mock the fading Sun,
to hold all to itself.
In huddled, dark becoming,
we reach for warming flames,
and feel the chill upon the glass;
the whispered Season’s grace.
margo roby
25/07/2012 at 12:29 pm
Ros, I love the idea of winter drawing us inside, as well, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually.
Misky
25/07/2012 at 6:53 am
Done and posted at Winter Elements
margo roby
25/07/2012 at 12:30 pm
Coming over now, Misk.
Hannah Gosselin
25/07/2012 at 12:05 pm
Well there!!! Done, fun and a day late!! Thank you, Margo!! Smiles!
http://wordrustling.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/life-sized-shimmering-magic-sphere/
margo roby
25/07/2012 at 12:31 pm
Hannah, I am going to cut a willow switch if you mention the word late again! I shall be right over π
Hannah Gosselin
25/07/2012 at 12:35 pm
Ha ha!!! I know!! I’m such a creature of habit though if I’m not writing for you on Tuesday I feel like I’m a million years behind!! lol!
wordsandthoughtspjs
26/07/2012 at 1:25 am
Hi Margo, I actually managed something, but I had fun. Thanks for being here.
Pamela
“Nordic Illusions”
margo roby
26/07/2012 at 1:30 pm
I am glad, Pamela and shall be over in a second.
margo
barbara_
26/07/2012 at 5:54 pm
I *nudge, nudge* lost my list, so may have slipped a few winter stereotypes into the mix.
http://briarcat.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/in-the-midst-of-one-the-other/
margo roby
26/07/2012 at 6:00 pm
Uh huh, Barbara. You are possibly even more of a rebel than I, so if you think I trust you to even have written a list! I’m fetching coffee and shall be over.
Irene
26/07/2012 at 11:08 pm
Yay, I’ve got a winter poem, that’s really written in summer.
expecting winter, she writes
margo roby
27/07/2012 at 12:35 pm
Double yay, Irene!
PF Anderson and JM Barnett
27/07/2012 at 7:37 pm
Hi Margo, maybe this one is about summer, who knows? These pills are making me a bit weird. You can ask my husband, he’ll tell you all about it … π
Pamela
βBorrowed Gardensβ
p.s, my apologies for not visiting others right now, I am hoping to do that this weekend. Sitting at the computer is difficult after 10 minutes, right now. It is hell getting old and broken.
margo roby
27/07/2012 at 7:45 pm
Poor Pamela. My mother says it gets worse! Stronger pills, I say. If I may, you’re sort of cute, when you’re a bit weird. I suspect your husband thinks so too π
margo
PF Anderson and JM Barnett
27/07/2012 at 7:48 pm
OK, now please critique the poem. I value your opinion, drug induced or not π
margo roby
27/07/2012 at 7:52 pm
Yes, ma’am. Feisty! I’m coming back over.
m