Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A couple of weeks ago, I shared that my Poetry Princesses poem of the month was written on an airplane as I flew from Minneapolis to Orlando. Today, I thought I’d share the notebook pages of the drafts.
I started out with my rhyming words, because the poetic form (clogyrnach) demanded rhyme. And I had the metaphor in mind of stained glass already. But while I looked at the picture on my phone, the butterfly reminded me of a little boat, bobbing there, waiting to take off again. So I worked on that.
I played with the rhyming words, trying to come up with phrases that might work. The clogyrnach also requires a strict syllable count, so this was tricky.
I wish I had put together the final two lines first, because I really struggled with those. I only made them semi-work in the end:>(
Then I played around with a couple of apps and made the imagepoem. Whee! I love poems with pictures.
Want to read some more poems? Check out the Poetry Friday Roundup at Catherine Flynn’s Reading to the Core. Catherine is a fabulous teacher and a beautiful poet, and this week she’s sharing awesome poems by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich from Grumbles from the Town.
17 Responses
It’s always fun to see the process behind the poem. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Liz!
Love seeing your notebook, Laura, and the poem is lovely. This is a new image for me about butterflies, those boats bobbing. Ours have laid their eggs I think and flown. I haven’t seen my swallowtails in a while.
Thanks, Linda. I started with the stained glass image, but that ended up being secondary to the boat metaphor. Never know where a poem will take us!
A beautiful poem! And I love monarchs. 🙂
Thanks, Sara!
It’s so much fun to see behind-the-scenes of poetry, and watch as it takes form and comes to life! Poetry is like a living art form that grows and changes — fascinating to see! Thank for your sharing a glimpse of your creative process. 🙂
Aw, thank you, Jane. I DO love adding the layer of an image to poems now. Changes it even more!
Really interesting to hear the approach you took, Laura. Which apps did you use to create the image?
Thanks, Michelle–took pic on my Android phone and used the camera’s Studio function to filter it. Probably the Posterize or Cartoon effect. Then I used Wordswag on my phone (finally, available for Android!) to add the poem.
So cool that you did it all on your phone!
How interesting, to view your poem-making process. The blur of movement in the photo fits perfectly with the last lines. The end product is beautiful in its thingness.
Thank you, Violet–I am super happy the “thingness” worked for you–heehee. And I was unhappy about the blur, but it was the clearest image I had. Now I feel rather fond of it. Thanks for that!
I loved this poem when you first shared it, Laura, and am happy you shared today about your process. I’m curious about what apps you used, too. My notebooks are also filled with lists of rhymes. It’s fun to see what new ideas emerge when an unexpected word shows up!
Thanks, Catherine–took pic on my Android phone and used the camera’s Studio function to filter it. Probably the Posterize or Cartoon effect. Then I used Wordswag on my phone (finally, available for Android!) to add the poem. Hooray for rhyming word lists!
Lovely the way your poem emerged from its cocoon and flew into the world.
Thanks, Brenda:>)