Write a haiku sequence that talks about poetry without mentioning it by name. Here is your mentor text: "The L Word" by Kelly Sargent.
Now, I am of the opinion that what goes unsaid in a poem is an important part--nay, ESSENTIAL part--of the poem's success. If you tell me everything, then where is the work to be done, where is the smithing of my soul upon the workbench of my brain & body?
[Laura Shovan will be sharing her expertise on this topic at a 2-night Highlights workshop called Breaks, Blank Space, and Gaps: Poetic Gutters in Novels in Verse and Poetry, and while I'm temporarily put off by the word "gutters" and its unsavory connotations, I realize also that gutters are the conduits through which life-giving water flows.]
So I am tickled by any challenge that tells me what I CAN'T say. However, the combination of haiku demands *and* the other requirements did prove (usefully) challenging. Here's how it went.
I only know a little of what the other Inklings will have for us today, so the mystery and the pleasure of soul-smithing with them awaits us all below.
Mary Lee @ A(nother) Year of Reading!
Catherine @ Reading to the Core
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche
And lastly, lo, I am attempting an NPM project which I'm sharing on my Instagram--it's a series of elfchen for kids with a *rescue* theme, hashtagged #NationalPoetryMonth #earthmonth #30days30poems #elfchen. Here's today's:
Thanks to Irene at Live Your Poem for rounding up our poetry community on this first Friday of NPM!
I love the individual haiku (especially "wa[it] wh[at]?") and the way they add up to a bigger picture. And your wind-downed nest is brilliant!
ReplyDelete"Rain comes/ catch it/ hold it/ on paper/ forevermore is the. part of this generous sequence that grabs me as we've enjoyed much could water, between sun baths, here in North Florida in what is our earlier-than-the-North, springtime. You Poetry Inklings are so clever.
ReplyDeleteWow! Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Heidi! What a fine job you made of the parameters of this poem without the "p word" So much fun here.
ReplyDeleteHere's a Development of Language course...in haiku! "we fabricate truth" indeed!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm LOVING your elfchens!
Oh, you do take a challenge by both horns and wrangle it with perfection...I love the haiku that messes with the forms. Break up those words! It's fun! I saw your elfchen on IG. Rock on! You inspire me.
ReplyDeleteLook at you go, Heidi! There's so much to love and admire within this series of haiku. I love how you're always ready, willing, and able to shake things up! I thought the final haiku was my favorite, but the rain one is, too, and so is that line "bumping through muscle". I'll just savor them all without playing favorites, I guess.
ReplyDeleterain comes/ catch it hold it. on paper. LOVE! Here's to all poetry says that it doesn't say and to your rising to that CAN'T challenge... Forevermore!! xo
ReplyDeleteGrowing up with poetry is tricky, but, to me, you've shown the way all might learn the craft from babyhood on! I love your elfchen, too, Heidi, nature's sculpture!
ReplyDeleteThat is a jampacked series of poems, Heidi! I love how they wove them together. I enjoyed going back and teasing through each one.
ReplyDeleteLove all of this, Heidi! Thank you for sharing your brilliance.
ReplyDeleteI love the progression - you take us on a ride through kidlit's magic!
ReplyDeleteWow! It's like the history of dance in poems. This is amazing, Heidi!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you were a lively child to raise... ;0) These are clever as ever, and I always love your embrace of a challenge!!
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