by Carolee Sherwood
Finally, watching kids’ movies and stalking people on Facebook has paid off.
A couple of weeks ago, I took my kids to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. I am rarely a Ben Stiller fan, and only sometimes a fan of kid movies, but I really enjoyed every moment. It’s weak as movies go but splendidly imaginative. It is a sequel, and the premise of both movies is that an Egyptian tablet brings museum exhibits to life at night. In both movies, Stiller — the night guard — works with some historical figures and battles some others.
In this one, Stiller’s sidekick is Amelia Earhart, and when I got home, I was inspired to update my Facebook status as follows: “Saw ‘Night at the Museum 2′ with the kids, and now I want to sleep with Amelia Earhart. Historical figures are sexy!” And I knew I had the makings of a fun poem — me going on a date with Amelia Earhart — or at least a fun writing prompt to share with all of you.
Here goes: Write a poem in which you go on a date with a historical figure, any historical figure. If you prefer to have tea or cookies and milk with your historical figure, go for it. I will also encourage riding the bus with your historical figure, cooking dinner for your historical figure and running over your historical figure with your car. Do whatever comes to mind, just interact with someone famous from history.
For me, the one of the best parts about a prompt like this is researching and going off on tangents, so if you stumble upon something else in your travels, feel free to go with what inspires you. Just be sure to come back on Thursday to see which historical figures your fellow poets Get Their Smooch Poem On with.
Oh my Carolee, after reading the prompt I’ve had such delicious naughty thoughts. I can hardly wait to share with you and fellow prompters. ?:^}
oh, I love this prompt!!
I couldn’t wait–I took “genghis khan to the mall”
(who knows…I may squeeze in a few more dates before thursday!)
http://therer2doors-thespacebetweenwords.blogspot.com/2009/06/taking-genghis-khan-to-mall.html
This prompt reminds me of a great favorite of mine: Allen Ginsberg’s “A Supermarket in California,” q.v.:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15306
(which naturally leaves me feeling a bit intimidated, so we’ll see what happens…)
Thought you might be interested in this poem I posted last year about Amelia Earhart
http://catapulttomars.blogspot.com/2008/09/amelia.html
I’m glad everyone is so enthusiastic about the historical figure prompt!
Gordon — Thanks for the link to your poem. I’m going to hold off on reading it until I’ve already written/posted my own so I’m not unduly influenced.
Thankyou to Paul Oakley for the introduction to Ginsburg’s “A Supermarket in California”What a brilliant poem!
Hrm…Khalil Gibran, Pancho Villa, Malcolm X….the possibilities are endless. Now to pick a victim — er, I mean person — and write.
I did not know her well, but we did take the bus…
Dancing with Cleopatra
http://www.humboldt1.com/~dobrothunder/page-cleo.html
[...] on the manuscript). One of them is a poem for my response to my own Read Write Prompt — “Kiss Me, Amelia Earhart” (over at Read Write Poem, of [...]
[...] wrote this for Read Write Poem Prompt # 78: Kiss Me, Amelia Earhart. I decided to approach this a little differently, as there are so many historical figures I would [...]
ON MEETING A FAMOUS POET
I knew this was a mistake
I was so nervous
I could hardly concentrate on a word
you were saying
Your banal chat sounded like the feint hum
of a radio in the room next door
How on earth could THIS create
All those gorgeous exploding mind jewels
I should have settled for the pearl
Rather than the rough shag oyster
Ahmadinajad picks me up at my parents’ house.
[...] them; Roadmaker was clearly fascinating and while I am not thrilled with my poem response to Carolee’s prompt at Read Write Poem, I am keen on Roadmaker. Perhaps I’ll try another version or [...]
Not strictly “historical”, but a living “popular” person:
Hanging out with Adam Lambert
[...] am sharing this piece as a contribution to Read Write Poem #78. Carolee asked us to find ourselves in conversation in some way with a famous figure. I *might* be [...]