Happy National Poetry Month 2023! Curious about what I’m doing? Want to play along? Read more here.
[Heads-up: If you’re visiting regularly, please know that the bold, blue text is what I’m writing fresh each day. The black text is the same each day:>) ]
All right, yesterday I admitted I don’t love snails, and today I’m telling you baseball’s not on my favorites list either. Maybe I’m sharing too much about what I don’t like! But it’s interesting to try to create something about a topic I’m not all that crazy about.
And it’s funny how I can find a kidlit connection to almost any word! I just yesterday finished listening to an audiobook of an old John Bellairs novel, The Eyes of the Killer Robot. (It’s part of the Johnny Dixon series, but I really recommend the Lewis Barnavelt books. I adored them when I was a kid!) Anyway, the book hinges on a robot brought to life with an evil spell and a human’s eyes. Creepy. And a baseball hitting contest.
In this case, the word “batter” on the board yesterday made me feel like I almost HAD to pick baseball as my topic. There’s so much waiting and standing in baseball. I decided to make my poem about the physical moments that are high intensity! The hitting, the running, and when outfielders collide.
What words will I be digging through today?
And here’s the card that I can pull my topic from:
So my possible topics are:
- plastic
- tree
- heart
- brain
- surgeons
Will you join in? Would love to see what you come up with!
- Intro to what I’m doing this National Poetry Month
- ALL the Digging for Poems drafts I’ve written this month
- If you’d like to see each daily poem as I post it, you can:
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- What is National Poetry Month?
- My previous National Poetry Month projects:
10 Responses
It’s great, Laura, & is sometimes amusing (when trying to catch a fly ball) & terrible when they do “crash” (at the bases). And, a surprise, my prompt today was a cinquain, so I took on your challenge! And used “batter”! The link: http://bit.ly/40WqhCd
baseball
batter
firm heart control
beautiful virtue
change darkness to light – amazing
young one
Linda Baie ©
From Day 2:
I chose HATS and had to add a few itty bitty words
Not Just Beautiful Hats
Young and sweet,
she,
being beautiful
like light through darkness,
a heartguide,
hears wailing.
Fights for change.
I pictured the women suffragists who in the style of the day might wear large hats with maybe plumes and fabric puffs.Often white. I live near Seneca Falls and near where many were from. I added: not, just, a, and used, a touch of poetic license to go along with the rebellious nature of a free verse poet and a suffragist. Enjoying these, Laura. PS really quick writes but still I like doing them!!!
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Ooh, lovely. And thank you for the backstory, Janet. I can picture the scene. I extra love your lines 4 and 5. Loved your “memorizing poems” post. I was so proud of myself that I could lead the little audience through Puddle Song several times without looking at the book. I know it’s only 7 lines or so, but I have a terribly difficult time memorizing poems. I thought of you at my book launch, before I even knew what your NPM project was :>)
Wow, what a variety of poems to be made from such a few words. I love the women suffragists in your poem, Janet. “sights for change”
Linda, I like “firm heart control” definitely needed when trying to bat a 95 mph fast ball.
And Laura, good job writing about things you don’t love. I love “rough as riot” — What a great simile.
I wrote about a:
Bowler -
Firm control to
batter them down
like one crash-crushing
sweet orchestra.
That group barreled
down.
Doing some catching up… using words from Day 1:
(EASTER) EGGS
brilliant, shiny
better (naturally)
holy
My friend gave me eggs from the chickens she raises… the egg shells were beautiful pastel shades- perfect Easter eggs with no dye involved. https://wp.me/p2fY1t-1Nq (see photo at my blog)
The words in () were my additions.
Wow! I love that you’re making this game your own. Whee! It’s fun to see a bit of how you made the connections by the words you chose to add in yourself. Thanks, Diane.
Hats
Skeletons never need them
:>D Hahahahahaha…I LOVE this!
These are so cool, and I love seeing how different they are. Loving “rough as riot,” “beautiful virtue,” “heartguide,” “crash-crushing,” and those skeletons have me cracking UP! xo, a.
It’s kind of magical seeing everyone’s different takes. Thanks for reading, Amy!