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| (original art by Joy Acey, all rights reserved) |
I'm still playing with spine poems. Poems that have one or two words on each line. This poem is also a concrete poem--a poem that takes the shape of the thing the poem is about.
If you have trouble reading the text in my illustration, it reads:
WIND
pushes
waves
UP
UP
to crest
F
A
L
L
and rush to shore.
I've been working lately on writing poems that move in the direction of the object I'm writing the poem about. It has been fun to experiment with words, lay-out, and having to do illustrations to show how the words should be read.
You challenge for today is to write your own poem about something that moves. (That is about anything that is alive. I'll put one exception in there, my dog is alive, but after his morning walk all he does all day is sleep.)
I'm having fun playing with my poems. I hope you have fun too.
POETRY FRIDAY is today. Margaret is hosting with a lovely poem about oak trees. You can find links to other children's poets on her blog here.
Thank you Margaret, for hosting us.
Dear Joy,
ReplyDeleteI loved your spine poetry. You are good at poems and art to accompany it. Thanks for sharing your work with us your readers!
Celebrate you
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Ah, Joan. this means a lot coming from you who do so much to encourage all writers. YES, let's celebrate.
DeleteThis is a lovely wave and the words, just right. I'm sure this poetry style is harder than it looks. Something that moves...hmmm. Rough drafting it right here in your comment box. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOnly the tail moves
back and forth.
A small twitch of the ear,
her eyes follow movement,
patiently waiting for the
just right moment
to pounce. The lizard
scurries off,
foiling her attack once
again from the other side
of the window.
Margaret,
DeleteHow delightful. What a lovely poem. Thank you for sharing your creation. I love your opening line, "Only the tail moves." It gets my curiosity going. Your line breaks are in exactly the right spot. The movement/moment end words are another nice combination. Well done.
Fun! The poem fits the form perfectly...again!
ReplyDeleteJoin the fun. Try it.
DeleteThanks, Mary Lee.
Another fun challenge, Joy! And one-word lines are so manageable too. I must try this.
ReplyDeleteOh, please do. I'd love to see what you come up with for your short lines.
DeleteA very fun poem and a beautiful wave.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liz.
DeleteI appreciate your coming by and leaving a comment. My art is very primitive. It helps show what the words are doing and I'm having fun while I'm learning.
I can almost hear it crashing as it rushes! What a fun idea. I'll have to try my hand at your challenge this weekend!
ReplyDeleteKeri,
DeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Have you tried it yet?
I do like what you're doing here, Joy! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThis really is a lot of fun. I'm glad you are enjoying it.
DeleteJoy,
ReplyDeleteI like this collection of poetry and illustrations. A spine poem is a great choice for showing an ocean wave's movement. And I loved how the last line rushed to shore, just like a wave does. Perfect. This particular poem reminds me of movement in a story too. Did you think of that?
Thank you Linda.
DeleteDo you mean like a story arc? I should think the SUN or the MOON poem shown earlier would be better examples. Hmmm, I'm going to have to think about this. Using concrete poetry might be a fun way to present lots of the adages that go with writing.
I appreciate you.
Yes, I was thinking of a story arc. I appreciate you too. I'm glad I offered you have more to ponder on.
DeleteHi, Joy--Thanks for your interesting musings on where to sit, and for all your tidy but inspiring spine poems! I'm so late here that I get three for the price of one! The wave one is beautifully worded, and I admire you for getting in there and illustrating. Keep going with the less is more approach--we in kindergarten love those 12-word poems...
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I've just been having fun playing with words and the movement. I'm sure your minnows would have fun trying this form too. Oh, you got me to thinking about a minnow swimming in the water poem. Thank you. Poems are everywhere.
DeleteThis is beautiful, Joy! I love the interweaving of the verse and the image and the dynamism of the wave. :) Thanks for sharing this. :)
ReplyDeleteMyra,
DeleteI hope you enjoy some of the others too. I must finish the Marshmallow illustration. Thanks for leaving a comment and for reading my little poems.