by the Read Write Poem Staff
Last week’s prompt by Matthew Zapruder invited us to explore the relationship between our individual use of language and the ways language can express itself through us. Were you able to get a sense of the tension between the particular and the absolute?
How was your work with the dictionary? What could be more fun than swimming around among words both common and strange? Let’s see what you came up with!
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Game on!
Lemon Drops and Damask ~ RWP #108
every language, i suppose, has an ineffable chi,
something always gets lost in translation:
the chi eludes definition; thats why
a dictionary is not always sufficient
love chip
Lawrence Gladeview replied:
January 10th, 2010 at 9:59 am
irene, attempted to read your poem, however it is password protected. any way i can get in on the secret? thanks! -lawrence
Irene replied:
January 10th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
hey Lawrence, I’ve sent you a message via RWP..
In case anyone else wonders how to read my post, you could drop me a note via RWP members messaging, or email me at irenetlk AT hotmail DOTCOM to request the password. It’s that simple really.
I’m back with Gouache on Burning Rubber. I’m also going to try and catch up on some of the prompts I missed while I was away.
You’ll find mine here:
http://beyondtheblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/you
This time around, it’s called… The Sounding Line
I took some random words from a classical music text book and the poem ran away with itself.
‘Churchill Daffodils and Lipstick’
http://rallentanda.blogspot.com
Hi!
Wanted to add to a prompt for a while, but, who has the time! Crazy work hours leave me with only the wee nights to make this happen.
Ways
Happy New Year everyone!
I may not have followed the prompt exactly but I have used words from the dictionary! You’ll find my offering here:
http://melrosemusings.blogspot.com/2010/01/trawling-through-dictionary-backwards.html
Irene replied:
January 7th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Dictionary rush, snow rush. That kind of feeling.
(Derrick, for some reason, can’t comment there, Mozilla crashed thrice.)
barbara_y replied:
January 8th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Having some trouble commenting, but I do love the black swirling
I took it to heart and worked totally on the finding the hardness of the prompt. It was difficult because I like to find where the emotion takes me. I humbly submit – Gypsy Heart
my first prompt in a few weeks, man this new year has been busy already! look forward to reading everyone’s poems.
http://beatnikprose.blogspot.com/2010/01/light-weight-contender.html
-lawrence
I didn’t quite complete the poem for this prompt – still needs a couple more rewrites, at least. However, I did finish a villanelle that I’d been working on. I’d like to share it with you.
You can find it here:
Of the Sugar Trade
Hello Everyone! My first post of 2010 is about TIME…you will find it here:
http://cynthiashort.blogspot.com
Letter of resignation
http://poemsotherwise.blogspot.com/2010/01/winds.html
[...] is for Read Write Poem’s latest prompt (#108). Click here to read what others did with this [...]
Here’s mine. Happy 2010.
The Test
she-a-wakes
Here’s my offering for this week:
http://ravenswingpoetry.com/2010/01/07/nike-looks-for-zelos/
Here is my poem. I enjoyed the heck out of this.
http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/jjspoetry/2010/01/note-to-soul-from-readwritepoem-get-your-poem-on-108-by-matthew-zepruder.html
Are you Damaged Goods?
Donald Harbour replied:
January 7th, 2010 at 9:34 am
I know, I’m replying to my own post and posting again, hence the picture on this one. However, Derrick had so much fun with the Queen’s Dictionary (a marvelous job he did reading it) I took a look myself and found the wordIteration.
Therese L. Broderick replied:
January 8th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Hi, Donald. I think a series of replying to your own poetry posts would create a fascinating digital work of words. (Most probably, someone else has already thought of and executed this idea — whenever I think I’ve come up with an original idea, it turns out not to be so!)
My poem is epiphany
I think I did it but not the right way. BUt who cares?!
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2010/01/saga-continues.html
This was incredibly cathartic for me. Hooray! Here is mine – great exercise:
http://melaniesmasalamusings.blogspot.com/2010/01/read-write-prompt-108.html
[...] Get Your Poem On #108 Similar Posts You Might Enjoy:RWP #104 — Spousal Seductionget your poem on #94get your poem on #106 — UnspokenSHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "RWP #108 — Regulator", url: "http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/?p=336" }); [...]
Zippity Do-Dah Day…Time to Poetry Play!
http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/?p=336
I need more coffee…
“The Bride in Long Delay” (using words from a dictionary of antique collecting) is here–
http://theresebroderick.wordpress.com
I didn’t manage to write to the prompt, but I did get a poem written this week, against all odds:
Labor
http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2010/01/this-weeks-portion-labor.html
I mostly followed the process, although I didn’t use the words in the order I found them:
Wen Chang
I went from possible to impossible
I didn’t go to to dictionary, but chose a lot of word-types that could take on different behaviors if they so chose:
Contrarian
The wise woman said to the . . .
bully, weep
speaker, listen
leader, follow
giver, withhold
teacher, learn
clergyman, broaden
poet, capture
CEO, settle
advisor, pace
observer, act
writer, speak
traveler, stay
strong, yield
braggart, confess
pilgrim, invite
seen, see
initiator, wait
taker, give
photographer, blink
contrarian, die
and so she did
and lived.
Deb Scott replied:
January 7th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
I adore contrariness. And the way these words can point or follow or coax or cajole.
Mine is Trading in Impulses.
Here is mine – I had to finesse the prompt directions a little bit to make it work for me.
“Edification”
http://djvorreyer.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/rwp-prompt-108-let-the-language-lead-you/
[...] This poem was inspired by ReadWritePoem’s Prompt #108. [...]
Intent Interrupted
I’ll be reading y’all’s poems slowly through the week but probably won’t be able to resume participation until February, as I’m in Chicago taking intensive classes all through January, already missing being able to participate…
Allan Cox replied:
January 8th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Deb, I tried to reply to your comment, but couldn’t open it. We adore your impulses!
I followed the spirit rather than the letter of the prompt, using a text which was not the dictionary to produce my words; still, I’m fairly pleased with the result.
http://rhiannonproblematising.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/poem-a-world-backwards-or-a-non-theist-friend-is-drawn-into-theological-debate/
I went to the dictionary starting at “birth” ending at “death” and picked some interesting words along the way. Here’s the poem:
Birth of the Bittern
At birth the bittern doesn’t bleed.
There is no blood to speak of then
or in the after bloom
of the blue baby
tucked into the bramble
bread, her bric-a-brac
cadaver pie. Meanwhile,
the cadence of her call,
bereft of this calamity,
dependable as a calendar,
teases the camera of a man
about to cancel his marriage –
a twenty-five year old unfinished canvas.
It’s a cardinal sin. Skip
the casket he’s going straight
to Hade’s cave as if
he were wearing cement shoes.
Let him chafe his organ
all the way down. Tell him
no chance of a change of life
baby. Covet the bittern. Heck, she knows
it’s a crapshoot – crib death, accident, croup. Even
a daguerreotype disappears in the dark.
Daughter, daughter, she calls, day-to-day
dazzle the dead.
derrick replied:
January 10th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Hi Cindy,
I think this is great. Lovely use of words, which flow quite naturally. “Let him chafe his organ/all the way down” sounds rather painful though!
Cindy replied:
January 13th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Derrick, thank you for your comment. Glad you enjoyed the poem. Cindy
rallentanda replied:
January 10th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Some good lines here Cindy.
Tell him no chance of a change of life baby
I also liked ‘let him chafe his organ all the way down.’…Clever and funny
Cindy replied:
January 13th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Thanks rallentanda!
Here is mine NOT using the dicitionary…however words might be found there. SPIRITUAL MYSTERY
http://waynepitchko.blogspot.com
Im stuck between two worlds
My husbands and mine
Our love for each other has also left behind.