Thursday, July 29, 2010

My Poem

In the July 2010 Of Good Report newsletter (the monthly newsletter of the American Night Writers Association), Patti Hulet issued us all a writing challenge. She challenged us to write a POEM! Now, I'm about as far away from a poet as any writer can possibly get, but for some reason, I decided to sit down today and fiddle with her suggestion.

Patti challenged us to use or adapt the following form to create a poem:

A_____________
            My poem.

When ____________ you'll find ___________
           ___________
           ___________
           ___________
           ___________
That __________________ to make
           _______________.

Patti gave us an example, borrowed from Word After Word After Word, by Patricia MacLachlan (p 36):

A nut.
           My poem.

When cracked you'll find inside
           Words
           Whispers
           People
           Place
That tuck in snugly to make
           Story.

Now, leave it to me to be unable to entirely "color within the lines". Patti gave us the option to vary the format, and I jumped at the invitation. Here's the poem that I came up with, "inspired" by Patti's pattern:


A cat
             My poem.
When we share our lives you’ll find
            Mad energy
            Mystic calm
            Bedtime snuggles
            A lapful of purrs
Wrapped in a silken ball of fur.
I will entertain, love and soothe you
            On my terms.




My cat, Glinka, all worn out after a mad burst of energy

2 comments:

Valerie Ipson said...

I like it, Joyce! Well done!

And yes, the internet is working in the basement. Hope you're getting a lot of writing done at the retreat.

Joyce DiPastena said...

So funny that you read my poem from the basement at the ANWA Retreat, Valerie! Was this before or after "the flood"?