Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Grandma’s Kitchen

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If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!


LEVEL 1

TOPIC: Grandma’s Kitchen – Focus on a single memory or describe what you might imagine the typical grandmother’s kitchen to be like


LEVEL 2

WORD LIST:

1. Clamor – Shout Complain With A Lot Of Noise
2. Vigorous – Strong Energetic
3. Hot – feverish, warm


LEVEL 3

Write it as a cinquain.

A cinquain is a poem consisting of five lines and twenty-two syllables:
two in the first line,
then four,
then six,
then eight,
and then two syllables again in the last line.

These are deceptively simple poems with a lovely musicality that make the writer think hard about the perfect word choices.

Here’s an example of a cinquain poem, “November Night” by Adelaide Crapsey:

“Listen. . .
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.”

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Radio

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If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!


LEVEL 1
TOPIC: Radio: Tune in to a radio station you don’t normally listen to, and write a poem inspired by the the first song or message you hear.

LEVEL 2
WORD LIST:
1. Predicament – quandary, dilemma
2. Gross – improper, low
3. Aloof – reserved indifferent

LEVEL 3
Write it as a pastoral.

Pastoral poetry can take any metre or rhyme scheme, but it focuses on the beauty of nature. These poems draw attention to idyllic settings and romanticise the idea of shepherds and agriculture labourers living in harmony with the natural world.

Often these traditional pastoral poems carry a religious overtone, suggesting that by bringing oneself closer to nature they were also becoming closer to their spirituality. They can be written in free verse, or as poems structure. Here’s an excerpt from a famous pastoral poem, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe:

“Come live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.”

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology.

Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Lessons From Math Class

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If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!

LEVEL 1
TOPIC: 
Lessons From Math Class: Write about a math concept, such as “you cannot divide by zero” or never-ending irrational numbers.

LEVEL 2
WORD LIST:
1. Accretion – the growing of separate things into one
2. Trifling – Unimportant
3. True – right, accurate


LEVEL 3
Write it as an acrostic.

An acrostic poem is one in which certain letters of each line spell out a word or message. Usually the letters that spell the message will be the first letters of each line, so that you can read the secret word right down the margin; however, you can also use the letters at the end or down the middle of the lines to hide a secret message. Acrostic poems are especially popular with children.

Here’s an example of an acrostic poem, “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky” by Lewis Carroll. The lines spell out “Alice Pleasance Liddell,” who was a young friend of Carroll’s and the inspiration behind Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

“A boat beneath a sunny sky,

Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July—

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear—

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream—
Lingering in the golden gleam—
Life, what is it but a dream?”

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Cold Water

/ marshamills1 / 2 Comments

If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!


LEVEL 1

TOPIC: 
Cold water: What feelings do you associate with cold water? Maybe it’s a refreshing cold glass of water on a hot day, or maybe you imagine the feelings associated with being plunged into the icy river in the winter.


LEVEL 2
WORD LIST:
1. Dulcet – melodious, harmonious
2. Harrow – to distress, create stress
3. Yarn – fibers for knitting


LEVEL 3
Write it as a free verse.

Free verse is the type of poetry most favoured by contemporary poets; it has no set metre, rhyme scheme, or structure, but allows the poet to feel out the content of the poem as they go.

Poets will often still use rhythmic literary devices such as assonance and internal rhymes, but it won’t be bound up with the same creative restraints as more structured poetry. However, even poets that work solely in free verse will usually argue that it’s beneficial to first work up your mastery of language through exercises in more structured poetry forms.

Here’s an example of free verse poetry, an excerpt from “On Turning Ten,” by Billy Collins:

“The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light—
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.”

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – On the Field

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If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!


LEVEL 1

TOPIC: On the Field: Write from the perspective of a sports ball {Baseball, Soccer, American Football, Lacrosse, etc.} – think about what the sports ball might feel, see, hear, think, and experience with this poetry idea!


LEVEL 2

WORD LIST:
1. Abide – to be faithful, to endure
2. Big – vast, gigantic
3. Poignant – deeply moving, keen


LEVEL 3

Write it as a concrete.

A concrete poem, sometimes called a shape poem, is a visual poem structure where the shape of the poem resembles its content or message. These are another favorite with children, although they can be used to communicate powerful adult ideas, too.

When writing concrete poetry, you can experiment with different fonts, sizes, and even colors to create your visual poem. Here’s an example of a concrete poem, “Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree” by George Starbuck:

*

O

fury-

bedecked!

O glitter-torn!

Let the wild wind erect

bonbon bonanzas; junipers affect

frosty freeze turbans; icicle stuff adorn

all cuckolded creation in a madcap crown of horn!

It’s a new day; no scapegrace of a sect

tidying up the ashtrays playing Daughter-in-Law Elect;

bells! bibelots! popsicle cigars! shatter the glassware! a son born

now

now

while ox and ass and infant lie

together as poor creatures will

and tears of her exertion still

cling in the spent girl’s eye

and a great firework in the sky

drifts to the western hill.

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Stranger Conversations

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If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!

LEVEL 1

TOPIC: 

Stranger Conversations: Start the first line of your poem with a word or phrase from a recent passing conversation between you and someone you don’t know.

LEVEL 2

WORD LIST:

1. Profundity – depth

2. Invincible – too strong to be defeated

3. Mark – note, impress

LEVEL 3

Write it as a ballad.

A ballad is similar to an epic in that it tells a story, but it’s much shorter and a bit more structured. This poetry form is made up of four-line stanzas (as many as are needed to tell the story) with a rhyme scheme of ABCB.

Ballads were originally meant to be set to music, which is where we get the idea of our slow, sultry love song ballads today. A lot of traditional ballads are all in dialogue, where two characters are speaking back and forth.

Here’s an excerpt from a traditional ballad poem, “La Belle Dame sans Merci” by John Keats:

“O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.”

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Misfits

/ marshamills1 / 4 Comments

If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!

LEVEL 1
TOPIC: Misfits: How it feels when you don’t belong

LEVEL 2
WORD LIST:

  1. Prim – neat, formal
  2. Eschew – avoid
  3. Tell – disclose, reveal

LEVEL 3
Write it as a ghazal.

A ghazal is an old Arabic poetry form consisting of at least ten lines, but no more than thirty, all written in two-line stanzas called couplets. The first two lines of a ghazal end with the same word, but the words just preceding the last lines will rhyme. From this point on, the second line of each couplet will have the same last word, and the word just before it will rhyme with the others.

Ghazals are traditionally a poem of love and longing, but they can be written about any feeling or idea. Here’s an excerpt from a ghazal poem, the first stanzas of “Ghazal of the Better-Unbegun” by Heather McHugh:

“Too volatile, am I? too voluble? too much a word-person?
I blame the soup: I’m a primordially stirred person.

Two pronouns and a vehicle was Icarus with wings.
The apparatus of his selves made an absurd person.

The sound I make is sympathy’s: sad dogs are tied afar.
But howling I become an ever more unheard person.”

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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Stretch & Strengthen Writing Challenge – Untouchable

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If you are up for the challenge, here’s your STRETCH & STRENGTHEN EXERCISE!


LEVEL 1

TOPIC: The Untouchable – something that will always be out of reach


LEVEL 2

WORD LIST:

1. slow – unhurried, gradual
2. suffice – enough
3. fly – soar, flee


LEVEL 3

Write it as a haiku.


A haiku is a traditional Japanese poem structure with no rhyme scheme but a specific shape: three lines composed of five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and five in the third line.

EXAMPLE by Matsuo Basho
An old silent pond…
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

Submit your poem to RNCPoetry@gmail.com for consideration for publication in this year’s Rhyme N Chatt Poetry Anthology. Also, consider sharing your poem at an upcoming RNC open mic session!

PoeticOut!

“Changing Lives One Rhyme At A Time”

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