by Nathan Moore
Collaboration can take many forms. We can have poems put together word by word, line by line or stanza by stanza. We can have poems written in response to other poems and poems written on the skeletons of other poems.
This week we’ll try a collaborative free-for-all. We’ll have you write a short prompt for someone else to write about. Here are some examples of what you might do: Suggest a theme; post a word, line or stanza that someone could use as part of a poem or to inspire a poem; link to one of your poems for someone to write a response; mention something in the news that would be interesting to write about; or write a longer, more developed prompt on your blog and link to it here.
We’ll post our prompts here in the comments. Comments will be closed at midnight Sunday (CST).
We’ll choose a prompt, write a poem and link to it when its time to Get Your Poem On Thursday. (Make sure you mention whose prompt you used.)
Push us, pull us, make us think. Provoke us into poetry.
Here’s my proposed prompt to any brave soul who dares: write a response to the poem, “Assent to Darkness”:
http://ravenswingpoetry.com/2008/08/24/assent-to-darkness/
(FYI, this was written for the skeleton RWP prompt from a few months back)
-Nicole
First off, I’d like to say this is a great idea, Nathan. What an egalitarian process for writing together.
OK, here are two different phrases I use for free-writing that seem to get my ideas flowing. I set me timer for five to eight minutes, and start the writing off with:
*what really matters is, or what matters is…..
* what I mean by_______ is…… (fill in your own word)
After the free write, I chop off the beginning phrase, and see if there’s a poem to shape.
N, I wasn’t trying to talk like a pirate with, ‘me timer.’ It should say, my timer.’ : P
Can I comment here since I wrote the one up on top? Oh well, I’ll throw one in too.
Pick 5 to 13 words at random from the dictionary or a poetry anthology and use all of them in a poem.
(Close your eyes, place your finger on a page and choose the word closest to your finger. Do not attempt while driving.)
…here’s a phrase that might be fun:
“there has never been a moment such as this”
Nicole -
Your piece, Assent To Darkness inspired me to put some finishing touches on a ‘rhyme-noir’ piece I’d had kicking around in my early-draft portfolio.
This is not so much an answer to your piece as it is a reflection of the spirit of your piece. It’s entitled:
Up From Hell
A poem prompt of prompts …
could recurse — It’s like turtles
all of the way down!
It’s like turtles …
My blog-partner Whirling Dervish has a photo set that begs for interpretation at
Rorschach Poetry
Deb, thank you for the interesting “Rorschach Poetry” link. Given that I was a psych major, haha, letting my imagination run rampant is an understatement. LOL.
I’m going to try and respond to those photos now.
http://alotus-poetry.livejournal.com/41179.html
Here’s my prompt idea: Write a poem with an anagram in it. There’s an example below.
http://sewina.blogspot.com/2008/02/poet-tree-anagram-of-eden-circle-of.html
Here’s a sentence for a prompt:
She is Magellan today.