GOSSIP All Over Town

Miss South,
a blabber-mouth
told
Miss North,
who sallied forth
to tell
Miss West,
she was a pest,
who told
Miss East, 
who confessed
to her priest,
spreading gossip
all over town.

   How did you learn the directions NEWS (North, East, West, South)?  Can you try writing your own poem today that includes the four compass points?  Have fun writing.
 Have you ever gossiped?  Have you told a secret you shouldn't have?  What happened?  How did you feel?
Is a blabber-mouth the same as a tattle-tale? What should you do if someone is spreading tales?

New Day

I'm sorry I'm so late posting today.  Yesterday we had a power outage and I lost my internet connection for 24 hours.  I kept thinking it would come back on, but it didn't. I kept putting off going to the library or Starbucks to get a connection.  So as not to waste time, I spent the day making another batch of prickly pear jelly.  Today I've been busy trying to catch up on the things I should have done yesterday.

I had pictures to show you what our sunrise looked like at 5:30 in the morning.
So here:

 

And here:

     It really was a beautiful morning.  This got me to thinking about my Sunrise poem, and the fact that yesterday's poem read from left to right, but when you look at a map on paper the East is on the right and the West is on the left.  So I took that poem apart to try running the words in the opposite direction.
    But along the way something happened.  It made me think about two poetry exercises I have learned about in poetry workshops.

   The first exercise I learned from poet Yousef Komunyakaa.  He said that a lot of poets carry their poems on past the point where the poem should be done.  Many is the time I've read a poem and known  what I was reading was really two poems and the poet needed to seperate the two thoughts and write two poems.  Komenyakaa suggested reading the poem from the bottom up and asking yourself if you really need that line.  Eventually you'll reach a point where the natural ending of the poem should fall.  It is his instruction that helps me to make tighter poems with more impact.  His exercise helps me to get down to the essential meaning of my poetry.

  The second exercise is one I know my friend Ruth Moose uses in many of her poetry workshops.  She has students cut apart the lines of their poems and then try to see if there are other ways to patch the lines together.  This changes the order of the lines.

  This is what I was doing with the spine poem when I took the words off the first drawing to have the poem read right to left.  Like Magnetic Poetry, I could easily look at each word and see if it was in the right order.  To see if I had the words in the best order.  And in my playing I tightened the poem.  I think I like the poem better this way.  What do you think?

(original art by Joy Acey, all rights reserved)

If you have trouble reading this from right to left, here is the Sun poem

UP
Rise Up
start
a new
day
rise 
in the
east
come
out
play
when
it's
time
to rest
sun
sets
in the 
west

     Your challenge for today is to take one of your old poems and cut it up to see if you can come up with a different poem by rearranging the lines.  Have fun playing with your poems.

SUN

(original art by Joy Acey, 2013 all rights reserved)

This is another of the spine poems.  I played with the idea of having you read the poem right to left, so the poem would end in the traditional west side of the paper, but it was really hard to read that way.

If you have trouble reading this, here it is in a traditional vertical mode.

Sun
rises
in the
east
starts 
a new 
day
UP
Rise Up
come 
out
play
when
it's
time
to rest
sun
sets
in the
west


     Now it is your turn, can you write your own poem about the sun, or play?  I hope you have as much fun writing poems as I do.  Enjoy.

Moon

(original illustration by Joy Acey, 2013)

Today's spine poem reads in an arc, so you read from the bottom left to the bottom of the right side of the picture.  This one I had to illustrate, to show you how to read it.
If you have trouble reading the words, here they are in traditional linear fashion.

shape-
shifter
moon
rides
the back
of a
wolf
watches
sleeping
children
when
all is at
rest
moon
sets
in the
west


    I hope you enjoy today's poem.  Your challenge for today is to write your own moon poem.  Indians had a different name for the moon for each month.  You might have some fun doing research before you write your poem.  Have fun.

Rabbit

runs across the road
white tail
a flash with uncertainty
hopping west
dashing east
under a bush
around a century plant
lost from sight
heading south
like so many
the tail catches the eye
but the feet create wonder
trying to find true north.

     What direction are you heading today?  Can you write a poem today about directions?  Have fun.