One of the things I love about this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere is how the trees are returning to their broader life. I often wonder what it would be like to be a tree, how different life would be - rooted in one place and  naked in the winter (or to have one unchanging outfit if you’re an evergreen).

The challenge this week is to write from the perspective of a tree. (See, for one example, Pauline’s triolet “Field Notes“.) This prompt is an exercise in observing details and in writing from a different point of view, which is a valuable ability for a poet! If pretending to be a tree seems too fanciful, you could write about trees from any point of view - the trees may be the subject of the poem or they may form the background of the poem. Allyson at Not Contained Between My Hat and My Boots recently shared a poem about a “Winter Storm“.

I’ve published several poems featuring trees in my poetry blogmag Bolts of Silk; you can read them here.

You can also find examples of poetry about trees at Spirit of Trees - Tree Poems and Trees Poetry . (The Trees Poetry site takes a while to load but it is gloriously illustrated, offering lots of visual inspiration.) It’s also worth visiting Festival of the Trees, a blog carnival that focuses on trees and sometimes includes poetry. (And was co-founded by Dave Bonta, a participant here at Read Write Poem.)

Idea for collaboration:  Email a photo of your favourite tree(s) to a fellow participant for them to write a poem about.

Then come back next Monday after midnight (CST) to share your poetry! Look forward to seeing you all then.

~Juliet.

get your poem on #18 will be open and accepting links to you poems based on this prompt - or any other inspiration - next Sunday after midnight.)


5 Responses to “read write prompt: #18 see things differently 1: be a tree”

  1. 1 ...deb

    Tree poems - I can hardly wait to write and read! Nice spring prompt, Juliet!

  2. 2 Noah

    I wrote one already, but I’ll likely write something else about trees before you do it.

  3. 3 Christine

    Ever since I read this prompt yesterday I’ve been thinking about trees. I already was a bit of a tree hugger anyway, but now I’m filled up with the tall creatures. Fun!

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WEEKLY READ WRITE PROMPT

July 2, 2008 — The current Get Your Poem On post is here. This is where you leave us a link to your blog, this week in response to Dana ShuffleWords idea, or any other kind of word play. (Or see if RWP-Twitter is for you!)

Next week's prompt will light you up. Thanks, Jill!



WEEKLY READ WRITE ARTICLES

June 26, 2008 — This month Jessica tells us which poets she first picked out to read, all on her own, because she wanted to. Who did you pick out?

Tom's Informal Talk About Forms has got more rhythm.

Christine's latest installment of Get The Lead Out discusses epigraphs. It's an inspired article.

We've been wanting more read here at Read Write Poem and Juliet brings it with her review of Spoken Word Revolution Redux.

January gives us a primer on revision.



POLL DANCE

July 5, 2008 — This time Carolee talks about how we talk about poetry we may not understand straight away in her "poll dance".

There's a new poll up. Yeah, a day early.



RANDOM PROMPTS

A different word or phrase will appear here each time you visit the site or refresh the page. Your current prompt is — cantilever



RANDOM WRITING TIP

Think of something that is usually portrayed a certain way in your culture (bunny rabbits are sweet, dark rooms are frightening), and write a poem that challenges those assumptions.



RANDOM READING TIP

As you read a poem, make notes about what you like. What words and phrases jump out at you? What was unexpected? How do you relate to the poem?



RANDOM COLLABORATING TIP

Write a poem, then take out all the important words, leaving only blank spaces. Send it to one or more collaborators and have them fill in the blanks. All the variants could even be collected in a series.


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