It's National Poetry Month--Give Yourself an Assignment!

Throughout April (National Poetry Month), I'll be posting poetry-themed Wednesday Writing Workouts.

On my own blog, I'll add more poetry writing tips and assorted poetry treats, including giveaways of Write a Poem Step by Step.

Be sure to check out what the other Teaching Authors are working on this month! April is posting daily metaphors, and Laura is writing a riddle haiku every day. For more Poetry Month delights, check out the list of 2014 Kidlitosphere Events on Jama Kim Rattigan's Alphabet Soup Blog. You could start reading the links above and continue for days. Just be sure to come back here on Friday for a special announcement!

For today's workout, give yourself a writing assignment. If you keep writing in the same old forms all the time, try a new one.

How about a limerick? They are silly, lighthearted, and fun. As a challenge, I decided to write one using the name of the place where I live. I first tried to rhyme with "Shorewood," but the stress is on the wrong syllable. Does anything rhyme with "Wisconsin"? I don't think so, but I didn't let that stop me!

(Note that this poem is not autobiographical. I would never do such a thing!)

A traditional limerick typically starts out by naming a person from a place:

• There was an old man from Seville.

• There once was a girl from Cancún.

To write a limerick, read a few first to get the anapest rhythm in your head: da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM. Lines 1, 2, and 5 each have three anapests (with some variation allowed), and lines 3 and 4 each have two.

Edward Lear made limericks famous. You can read many of his poems and see his accompanying illustrations on the Project Gutenberg site. Or look for a poetry collection in the library--most of the limericks online are vulgar!

One thing that helps is to choose a two-syllable place name with the stress on the second syllable, such as Madrid or Green Bay. Remember that you have to find two words that rhyme with the place name. Brazil might be easier to work with than Detroit. Have fun!

I'll be highlighting a whole slew of forms on this blog and my own web site throughout the month. So after you stop here on Friday (You are stopping here on Friday, right?), visit me there for more poetry fun!

Oh, and feel free to post your limericks here--we'd love to see them!

JoAnn Early Macken

Fears Into Fiction--HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Poetry Friday and happy nearly-HALLOWEEN!
Today we have THREE rather bloody poems and a lesson plan / Writing Workout!

Let’s start with a scary song! With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm, written in 1934 by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee is one of my favorites. It’s about the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Here’s a 1938 recording featuring Cyril Smith (2:25 minutes).

Now that you're in the mood, let's talk Halloween.  Here’s one of four of my limericks that are included in the fabulous how-to-teach poetry book for teachers, WRITING FUNNY BONE POEMS by Paul B. Janeczko

LIMERICK

by April Halprin Wayland

Once was a ghost dude named Dave,

Who lived at the beach in a cave

On Manhattan Beach turf

he invisibly surfed

scaring up some gigantic rad waves.

© April Halprin Wayland

* * * * * *
That’s one way to look at Halloween. But Halloween can be scary...right?  So let's try writing something scary.  I'm going to start by telling you one of my secret fears...

I’m terrified of writing something that’s mediocre. Of writing something that’s ordinary, common, average, inferior, second-rate, uninspired, amateurish, middling, undistinguished, unexceptional, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill, pedestrian, lackluster, forgettable.

(Thank you, Thesaurus—you may take a bow.)

If my fear were a monster, what would it look like?

It's a blob. A beige blob.  With blood-shot eyes. It's as big as a refrigerator and hunches on the rug blocking the window. It smells. Like a wet giraffe. It has tuna stuck between its yellowing teeth and a runny nose, and it's dropping Snickers wrappers on my clean carpet. And it JUST KNOCKED OVER MY OBAMA DOLL which was carefully balanced on top of my stuffed dog!

What do I do to this monster? What do I say to it?  Or maybe I'M the monster.  THEN what do I do?

Here are two Halloween poems that came from this weird daydream..one funny, one scary:

GO AWAY, BIG BEIGE MONSTER OF SECOND-RATE WRITING

by April Halprin Wayland

I’m pushing you out, so GO AWAY—

don't touch that chandelier!

I’m airing out my office

from the last time you were here.

You smell of ink and blood and death

and seventeen kinds of fear.

My hands still shake, my headache’s back

and now my stomach’s churning.

I will not play with you anymore.

GO HOME!

(Hooray! I’m learning!)

© April Halprin Wayland

* * * * * * * *

A WRITER ON HALLOWEEN

by April Halprin Wayland

I push open

the heavy door.
I take out the cleaver, the machete,

the switchblade, the scalpel, the penknife,

the X-acto knife.

I plunge my arm into the oily black pile of drafts

and haul one out.

And though it screams a thousand deaths,

I stab it over and over and over with the cleaver,

hacking it in two.

Then I amputate.

I sever. I cut.

I carve.  I slice.

Finally,

I mince words.

I take a breath and step back to admire my bloody work.

Then…I drop it back into the oily depths,

pack away the knives,

wipe the black spots off my desk

and leave.

I close the heavy door.

I will come back.

Tomorrow.

To do it all

again.

© April Halprin Wayland

* * * * *

Writing Workout / Lesson Plan—Fears into Fiction

For ages 7 through adult (or younger, with individual help.)

Objective: This lesson teaches beginning writers to find story and poetry ideas from their deepest darkest fears.

Instructions:

1) What are you afraid of?  Make a list of at least five things that scare you. Are you afraid of snakes? Of flying? If you’re an author, are you afraid of rejection?

2) Circle the one that scares you the most…or the one that you can’t wait to write about.

3) Make this fear into a creature.  Try to include as many of the five senses as possible--how does it sound?  How does it smell?  Maybe your fear of heights is a moldy grey vulture who hides in caves, makes snarky noises, and wears high tops…or maybe your fear of the dark is a neon green monster with sticky skin and garlicky breath that whispers evil things in your ear.

4) Write a story or a poem about this creature. You might want to speak to it or yell at it. Dialogue is fun to read aloud. Wouldn’t it be neat to YELL at your fear?  Or maybe YOU'RE the creature!

5) Share your writing with someone.

And…even though it’s Halloween…even though you’re scared…write with joy. And remember to breathe.

all drawings by April Halprin Wayland