I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
-Billy Collins
The above poem is a poets take on how he would like his readers to interact with poetry. To experience the words as they are and for the image and experience they create. He expresses his distaste for the way in which poets (and writers in general) have their personal lives pulled into their work as if critics aer the CSI team looking for the secrets that are hidden. For this assignment we are going to take a very light approach to poetry.
You will be given multiple prompts from which you must select four (totaling no less that 30 lines of poetry). You can write in the form of prose or rhyme. For many of you this will be difficult. Take your time and play with the words. Poetry is the greatest form of condensed writing and the most liberating. In your poetry you must demonstrate an understanding of the following terms in your poetry: stanza, end rhyme, simile, metaphor, line break, alliteration.
PROMPTS:
Local Poem
Write a poem about a place you know well. This can be about8t Minnesota, your hometown, or anywhere else you are familiar with. When writing the poem, think about what makes that place unique. What is special about this place? Why is this place familiar to you or comfortable? Capture a specific moment, emotion, or feeling that place conveys inside of you. Be as specific as possible with your details. Your goal here is to have the reader understand what it is like to be in the place you've selected.
Prose Poem
Write a poem that tells a story. Don't worry if your lines are longer than in your other poems. Your goal here is to tell a story using as few words as possible. Begin by writing down a sequence of events from beginning to end. Then add in the details--descriptions, characters, conflict, and if possible, resolutions. you may want to write this poem out as a prose, then worry about line and stanza breaks when you complete your first draft.
Love Poem
Many writers struggle to write good love poems. They are often difficult to write because conveying an intense emotion through words is about as easy as plucking a rhino's nose hair. Instead of writing about your abstract feelings of love, try focusing on writing concrete events that illustrate your feelings. If you don't want to write about love, try flipping it around and writing about why love is bad, an anti-love poem.
Imitation Poem
This activity works best with a poem you either love or hate. Once you have a poem, write your own poem that mimics the form, tone, ideas, images, or emotions. If you don't like the poem, try satirizing the author. Make sure you include the name (and text, if possible) of the poem you are imitating.
Dual Voice Poem
A dual voice poem requires two people and is often part of performance poetry. the idea with a dual voice poem is to have two individual voices, each telling their own story, or communicating to one another, while maintaining a constant theme in the poem. This type of poetry allows you to show tow perspectives in the same poem. Often one of the voices is the "overseer" and the other voice is the "actor" who is overcoming an obstacle.
Snapshot Poem
Find a picture and tell its story. You have lots of options here. You can describe what is happening in the picture. If there are people present you can write about what they are thinking or feeling. If there is an object, you could tell the story of the object. If you are feeling really creative, try to write the poem from the object's point of view.
No doubt you have many questions about this assignment. Please, speak to me directly. This assignment requires more direct instruction than most.
