Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Life is busy here. Our daughter Maddie got married last week (out of state, and they got back last night). This next week, we’ll have a tiny celebration here in Minnesota, and another bigger one in Oregon (where the groom’s from) at the end of March. Whew! I’ll share photos soon. But meanwhile, yay!
Also, I’ve updated my How Much Money Does a Writer Make? page with my 2024 numbers.
Now…poetry! Our Poetry Princess challenge this month was a Wordplay poem, specifically the form Nikki Grimes described here (scroll down): “When I talk about wordplay, I’m talking about studying a word from top to bottom, and inside out, considering every aspect of the word: What it looks like, sounds like, feels like. What it does, how it’s used, etc. The idea is to bring all of your senses into the act.” I like to incorporate what the word ITSELF looks like and work that into the poem or even use it as the framework for the whole poem. Not sure that’s what Nikki intends, but I have a blast with them!
Then I challenged myself to work a couple of them into my poem. I avoided “My soul”–too obvious with eyes! But I couldn’t resist “bullseye.” Also, when I formatted my draft, I italicized the letters and words that were meant to really use wordplay, including a few hidden ones. Here’s my draft:
We didn’t Zoom this month–everyone was scattered. So I can’t wait to discover what they–and you?!–did with this prompt! I’m off on an author visit today, but I’ll be making the rounds this weekend.
Liz
Sara
Kelly
Tanita
Tricia
Mary Lee
Click here to see all our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations.
Our Poetry Friday host is the thoughtful Denise Krebs. Be sure to check out the Roundup!
20 Responses
Eye is all mememe–I laughed out loud and then realized just how clever this is.
You are a master of this form. Love it!
Irises!:) Love. Congratulations to the bride & groom! xo
I vote AYE for so much delightful fun! This just skips along, exploring all the ways eyes work (or don’t, although I’ve often wished my eyes could record like a camera) and I love that last poignant verse, which pairs so well with the bullseye one earlier.
Congratulations to Maddie & her husband! Those celebrations are so full of joy! I like your “eye” creation, Laura, imagining many times the “bullseye” lands “across the yawn of space” — special moments!
Wonderful word play, Laura, especially how you used iris that is part of the eye but also a flower. So clever! And I love the phrase “across a yawn of space.” Congratulations to Maddie! Enjoy the celebrations.
So clever and inventive. Love the “mememe” part and “my eyes say yes when they meet yours.” Congrats to Maddie and her husband!!
I say aye to Eyes, too! Seeing and acknowledging are wonderful themes. The “mememe” part is great, too.
I love that you added a ‘y’ which asks a poignant question of the memememe — bridging the distance between I and you…
Laura, I always enjoy reading the process poets go through, along with the unique challenges they give themselves. Your play with the letters in eyes is perfect. Bullseye was a great addition. I forget which Poetry Friday post I read today that mentioned “Sheep is a Solid Word”; after I read it this morning, I had to agree with her that “Sheep…” is the best “___ is a word” poems!
Laura, you are so clever! I admire your lines refuting the idea of eyes as passive cameras and love that yours gather tall purple flowers. : )
“across a yawn of space” — love love love how you wove this in your poem.
ooooh! I love that “eye is a.” There are so many true statements about an eye in your descriptions. I think students will love this. I need to share this with my students.
Wow! Great images and emotion in your poem. I especially love the unexpected ending. Congratulations on the wedding. 2025 is going to be a year of many exciting and wonderful changes for you!
This is gold medal wordplay, Laura. When one e meets the other??? The bullseye??? My eyes ask y???? Yes, from start to finish!
(Again I blush that I completely ignored/forgot the theme of conversation. Oof.)
First of all, congratulations to Maddie!
I love the idea of using metaphor dice to find new ways to think about a word! You got so much out of such a small word! BRILLIANT!!!
Wow, Laura! In your first stanza, I hear you reading your first two lines quickly because of “short word’ and “fast glance”. I hear you slowing down and maybe using a deep voice for “deep as an inked sea”, which I like a lot. I got a kick out of how your how your 2 es meet across a yawn of space and bullseye of a contact is funny, too. In fact, when I saw bullseye as one of your words, I thought you might have giggled when you saw that word. I love tall purple flowers! I like how your last two stanzas juxtapose the rest of your stanzas with serious and emotion. Great ending.
Congratulations to Maddie! And that’s wonderful to celebrate 2x! I’m sure you must have had a good day on your author visit. Thank you for showing process and for your inspiration.
Love “when one e/meets the other/across a yawn of space”
Brings a whole new perspective on a yawn, just makes you feel good too, rich poem, thanks Laura! Many Congrats to all!
Oooh, this was fun, Laura! I laughed at “eye is all mememe” and love “deep as an inked sea.” It’s playful and full of meaning at the same time. 🙂
And congrats to the newlyweds!
Laura, smiles for the Newlyweds! And cheers for the lucky ones who were in conversation with you & your expressive eyes at that Friday author visit. Your poem is a clear focus on not only eyes, but also on the world play form of “.…. is a Word,” which you always carry off so cleverly. Brilliant to use the plural in your “Eyes is a Word” title.