Comments | ysabetwordsmith: Poetry Fishbowl Open!

ysabetwordsmith

Poetry Fishbowl Open!

Jun 09, 2009 12:00

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems ( Read more... )

writing, fishbowl, magic, poetry, cyberfunded creativity

Comments 43

arielstarshadow June 9 2009, 17:20:22 UTC

Hummingbirds as faeries

Poem ysabetwordsmith June 9 2009, 17:45:15 UTC

From this I got the free verse poem "Quicker Than the Eye," about an ornithologist and a hummingbird feeder. Of course, you folks know what's going on because you've seen the prompt, but without that, the poem has a nice surprise setup.

13 lines, Buy It Now = $10

haikujaguar June 9 2009, 17:20:55 UTC

You have a duplicate post here... which one do you want comments on? :)

Gah ... ysabetwordsmith June 9 2009, 17:28:00 UTC

Are you seeing two in my blog or one here and one over on cyberfund_creat? I forgot to use the shorter "over here" message for the community, and it doesn't seem to want to edit posts.

Comments should go on the Forge message, but it's okay if I get some on the other too.

Re: Gah ... haikujaguar June 9 2009, 17:34:04 UTC

Oh! Right, you're right. I missed the second tag.

Let's see. Every day things. I choose... this!

Re: Gah ... ysabetwordsmith June 9 2009, 19:55:10 UTC

I think you'll love this one. It turned into a humorous poem, written in couplets, using proverbs to frame a conversation between Brownies and other foods.

16 lines, Buy It Now = $10

janetmiles June 9 2009, 17:23:21 UTC

Question -- in the second paragraph at the top, you give the theme as "The magic of everyday things," and the description of what you're looking for seems to match that, but in the first paragraph below "Feed the Fish!" it still says "Travel and Exploration." Probably not terribly confusing, but it might be.

Okay, prompts.

I don't know if this counts, but how about the way math shows up so much in nature, like sunflower spirals matching the Fibonacci series? Or the Golden Mean?

A modern superstition -- I know I'm not the only one who, when going through a traffic light that's turned yellow, taps my steering wheel and the roof of the car. I'm not sure if that's meant as an expression of gratitude (for still being upright and in control of the car) or a blessing / invocation (like knock on wood), but I always do it when I'm driving.

Correction and Poem ysabetwordsmith June 9 2009, 18:10:05 UTC

Thanks for pointing out the error; I have corrected that.

From your math prompt, I got "Immersed in Miracles," a poem about how we are surrounded by amazing things but rarely notice or understand them, using examples of math in nature.

30 lines, Buy It Now = $15

Re: Correction and Poem arielstarshadow June 9 2009, 18:36:18 UTC

It might also be cool to do a poem about math as magic, somehow.

Man, that makes me want to create a world where mathematics = magic.

Poem ysabetwordsmith June 10 2009, 03:17:42 UTC

I put together your "superstition" prompt with two from minor_architect about superstitions. The result is "Keeping the World on Course," an explanation of why we follow superstitions.

23 lines, Buy It Now = $10

whuffle June 9 2009, 17:39:54 UTC

I've always wanted to see someone do justice in poetry to the magic that is a fresh and perfect spider web glistening with dew first thing in the morning.

Poem ysabetwordsmith June 10 2009, 03:03:20 UTC

From this I got "The Work Revealed," a poem written in unrhymed, unmetered quatrains. It tells how a spider spins a web during the night, which is revealed when the sun rises.

24 lines, Buy It Now = $10

minor_architect June 9 2009, 17:41:04 UTC

Since one of your suggestions to us includes "folklore or superstitions about everyday things," I've got several of those for ya:

1) You can make a wish on a white horse of a red-haired woman. (Although with today's hair-coloring products, how would you know if she's a true red-head?)

2) If you find a button, you will have good luck for as many months as there are holes in the button.

3) If you accidentally put on any article of clothing wrong side out, you will have good luck for as long as you wear it that way.

4) Because salt is a preservative and remains stable for a long time itself, it has been known as a symbol of friendship. The ancient Greeks even believed that whenever salt was spilled, quarrels would result and friendships would come to an end.

5) (Just because I thought this one was amusing:) Apparently, frizzly chickens are supposed to keep witches away. In this instance, frizzly means "feathers ruffled in the wrong direction."

*studies you*Somehow, I don't think you're the type to be scared away by a chicken! ( ( ... )

jenny_evergreen June 9 2009, 17:56:54 UTC

See my comment about scrats...that might be it! :)

minor_architect June 9 2009, 18:09:09 UTC

Hey, that sounds like as good an explanation as any! :D

Poem ysabetwordsmith June 9 2009, 20:08:59 UTC

The quote about the redhead made me wonder what would happen if you wished on something you thought was a legitimate wish object, but wasn't. The result is "False Wishes Come True," a humorous free verse poem of calamity.

14 lines, Buy It Now = $10

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