Reading books inspire!

A quick little Celtic offering inspired from reading a chapter on creativity in Restoring the Woven Cord by Michael Mitton (Bible Reading Fellowship) price £8.99:

Creator

You are the earth from which I am formed

You are the rain that urges my growth

You are the wind, my living and breathing

You are the sun, the life-giving force

You are the sea, the swell of emotion

You are the snow that purifies my soul

You are the day, the hours of my doing

You are the night who brings rest in my sleep

You are the light, the joy that shines through me

You are the dark, the watchman at night

You are the word, the music, the colour

You are creation, the breath of us all.

©2012

Controversial poetry

I've been reading a lot about an anothology of poetry written by the Taliban.  There have been lots of comments about whether we should publish such a book, whether it is right.  Being a democracy is one of the strengths in this country so do we want to be like them (Taliban) and ban this book because we might not agree?  When I think about the Taliban I think of all the things they have banned that bring people pleasure.  I'd like to know where in the Qu'ran it says we should not listen to music.  I do believe that even the Taliban sing and I think I read that an instrument, maybe a flute, is allowed.  Their poems are what has been described as 'the softer side' where they talk of laughter and blossom.  Do have a look at The Day site which has a good article and links to other sites (The Guardian has some of the poems on their blog - 1st link under Become an Expert on The Day blog).  What do you think?

Keeping up with with it all

If only I had time! (Chichester Cathedral clock)

Today I've sent off two poems to the Bridport Prize.  These are new poems written within the last week which I am particularly pleased with but hope I have not been to quick to send them out as normally I let them rest for  a period of time.

I don't know about you but I find it hard to keep up with the world of writing.  There are writing magazines I read which I glance through on receiving then realise the next one has arrived and I never read the previous one!  I like to read poetry books, poetry mags I subscribe to, keep up with whatever current course I am doing as well as using other exercises to get me writing, keep an eye on possible competitions (and submit within the deadline) and then I actually need to physically write something!  Of course there are always things to distract me, which is bad enough, but also have commitments in my life and hobbies to pursue (and we all need balance to our lives). I've actually spent a lot of time on my writing in the last week while also catching up on those outstanding magazines so I am feeling quite pleased with myself.  I know it won't last but hey, what would I find to write about if life was that straightforward and simple?

More poetry games..music to my ears

Been having more fun with poetry exercises.  This time by putting together song titles together in the form of  a poem and using one word from the title in the title of the next!  Oh! I have wasted so much time on Spotify putting this together but I ended up with two poems, the second of which I was pretty pleased with.  I did use a few joining words so they made a bit more sense, but I kept them to a minimum.  Have a go yourself. Can you do anything better?  I'm sure you can.  Do comment!  Post yours here too.  Go on, I dare you! (PS there is a small error...can you spot it? Hint: 1st poem!)

The Pain of Love (Poem 1)

Love hurts;                                                         (Jim Capaldi)

When I fall in love,                                           (Nat King Cole)

before I fall to pieces,                                    (Razorlight)

before the lobotomy,                                    (Green Day)

could you be the reason,                              (Akon)

could it be forever?                                        (David Cassidy)

Be my baby,                                                       (Ronettes)

tell me baby -                                                    (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

tell it like it is                                                      (Tracy Chapman)

it’s a sin to tell a lie,                                         (The Ink spots)

even

a beautiful lie.                                                   (30 Seconds to Mars)

Beautiful day,                                                    (U2)

strange and beautiful;                                   (Aqualung)

like

Romeo and Juliet                                             (Dire Straits)

you and I;                                                            Lady GaGa)

call it what you want,                                     (James Morrison)

call it wishful thinking;                                    (Polar Caps)

when I’m thinking about you                      (The Sundays)

your love is my love                                        (Whitney Houston)

What is love?                                                     (Howard Jones)

Love is strange,                                                 (Mickey & Sylvia)

a strange arrangement,                                                (Mayer Hawthorne)

a certain romance                                            (Arctic Monkeys)

but.......

what am I doing here?                                   (Chicane)

It’s doing my head in,                                     (Saravah Soul)

head over my heels                                        (Tears For Fears)

when love takes over.                                   (David Guetta/Kelly Rowland)

And I love you so                                             (Don McLean)

I love you so much it hurts                           (John Prine)

On the Road (Poem 2)

Standing in the road                                                       (Blackfoot Sue)

in a big country                                                                 (Big Country)

the in crowd (are)                                                            (Bryan Ferry)

down on the corner                                                        (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Up around the bend                                                       (CCR)

the man from Nazareth (went)                                  (John Paul Jones)

from here to eternity.                                                   (Georgio)

Eternity is....                                                                       (De-Phazz)

the way it is;                                                                       (Bruce Hornsby)

the more you live the more you love;                     (Flock of Seagulls)

love the one you’re with                                              (Will Young)

one day at a time.                                                            Akon/Enrique Iglesias)

Time after time,                                                                               (Cyndi Lauper)

block after block,                                                             (Mel & Kim)

new kids on the block,                                                   (New Kids on the Block)

kids in the street (are)                                                   (All-American Rejects)

dancing in the street (and)                                          (Martha Reeves & the Vandella’s)

standing in the road.                                                      (Blackfoot Sue)

Poetry word games

I have just joined an online line poetry course with The Poetry School called Adventures In Form.  This is an unusual sort of poetry as the forms are not your usual sonnets or villanelles but made up forms using word games.  The course is untutored but the assignments (10 in all) are uploaded each week and then participants work on them and upload their offerings and comments can be made via the forums.  There are over 20 people on this course so I have found it time consuming keeping up with all the emails in my Inbox so now I just log on to the course and view them from there.  The first assignment was a oulipo sonnet and the idea was to choose a title from a sign or saying etc., and then use the letters from that to form a poem of 14 lines.  I used the added restriction of trying to write it as as a sonnet with rhyme scheme.  What fun and what a challenge but I really got into it. It can help to use an anagram generator - one for Scrabble is good.  You can find an online one through Google.  Just type in the title and it will list all the words you can make out of the title.

The next assignment is writing what's known as N+7, meaning to change each noun in your poem to the 7th one following in the dictionary. Try using www.spoonbill.or/n+7/ You can type or paste in your poem and it will make the changes for you. It can be very funny.  Whether it is poetry is another story!  All good fun though.

Here is my oulipo sonnet with title taken from a magazine and no doubling up on letters:

Spruce up your home for spring

You refine your home in a soupçon,

root out mess, compress,

ship out in grey sing-song,

focus on genre, of purpose,

muse on scope for a fancy

corner in green or crimson;

no grimness here, sun, comfy

in rosy hue on crisp space, fine cushion;

pep up spring in fiery rinse, pour

cerise from cans, shiny, hip,

no passé guise in puce or more,

no gross or grimy form can grip

for in your eyes you can see secure

your rooms supreme, sprucy, pure.