Mechanical Poetry to overcome writer's block

Yes I am still suffering from this infliction.

I have found another web-site which offers help for poets suffering in this way. OK, so we have all seen many sites which offer prompts galore - does this help? I have even posted prompts and sources in previous posts but I am not sure it has been helping me that much. As I said, I am getting ideas to work on but it's carrying them through to more than fragments -to a complete poem.

Now that is patently silly because even a Haiku is a complete poem, so what do I mean? I am not expanding the ideas to longer poems I guess and this is bothering me. But hold on, before carrying on let me share a few more Haiku.

Wind chill factor high

The Beast from the East arrives

red warning of snow

(note: a red warning from the met office is issued when dangerous levels of snow are forecast)

Ignored totally

morning, get up, go to work

back home, silence reigns

Newspaper healines

full of bad news to annoy

answer, don't buy them

Newspaper headlines

designed to sell more copies

create frustration

Nespaper headlines

can they ever be believed

read between the lines

(what makes you think it was a good day for the newspapers)

Now, back to the main theme of the post. I have found a web-site which describes a creativity game for writing poems. I have been working on something similar for creatiing abstract art and so was attracted to it. The site, "Dial-a-Poem", also describes one or two ideas for writing poetry which it describes as mechanical poetry. I shall be trying out these ideas, hopefully more helpful than working to simple prompts.

watch this space I will let you know how I get on.

Descriptive prompts for poetry

It has been a quiet week for me this week, so I searched for creative writing prompts and found these on Creative Writing Now. A short list of descriptive prompts follows:-

1) the first signs of spring

2) your house late at night

3) someone who annoys you

4) what it's like to be under water

5) the classroom of a school you attended

6) a pet or another animal you've had the chance to observe

7) a doctor's waiting room

8) a monster you imagined when you were a child

9) the way a particular person snores

10) the view from the top of a tree.

A second topic this week is the idea of writing across lines. Yes, I know it is quite legitimate but I have been reading one or two well-respected poetry magazines (including The Poetry Review). I am appalled at the random way in which many so-called poets simply break up the lines of the poems.
I have two reasons, the first is that I really believe that to enjoy a poem it has to scan, have rythm and have some discernable structure. Otherwise, why not call it prose and write it as such. Does calling it poetry confer some imagined kudos?
The second reason is that I like to be able to read a poem without studying it first. If I have to read a poem several times before I can understand it, then I lose interest. Am I lazy? I don't think so, I read constantly. I read a wide range of subject matter from many sources but "modern" poetry is not something I enjoy. Much of it is like abstract painting of the kind perpetrated by the conceptual school of art. In my opinion, and I stand by it, it is utter rubbish.

And still the Haiku come forth

Just read the haiku from the last post and decided to alter the last one in that post. It was originally:-

Winter night comes early

Cloaking day's end silently

Until tomorrow

 

But upon reflection that second line simply sounds wrong, I have re-written it thus:-

Winter night comes early,

Silently cloaking day's end.

Until tomorrow.

 

Does it make a lot of difference? I would argue that it is the little things which make a difference, perhaps you agree, perhaps you don't, but it is my poem.

 

 

And by the way, this is a new pastel painting from my own fair hand, except for a little post processing from photoshop. You can see it and an explanation of how it was completed on my blog, painting with John. I will be creating a series of Zazzle products with the resulting images, find them soon in my Zazzle store. 

So, advertisement break over, here are a couple of new Haiku.

Sixteen wheelers rushed

drove down the road before me

hurtling far too fast

Driving in convoy

too close to one another

there's trouble ahead

As you might imagine, these were written after seeing too many lorries from the local factory rushing down our road in the morning rush hour. Not typical Haiku material, am I cheating and just creating fragments of poems, which I am trying to get away from. perhaps I should play safe and stick to nature and natural subjects?

Still writing Haiku as a way forward

Don't know if this is working, but at least I am not left with what to me seem like fragments of poems. The first stanza or a few lines, and then running into a case of writers block. Time after time after time. With the Haiku, without wishing to claim anything for them, I am able to feel that I have a complete piece. The discipline of the 5-7-5 syllable count is also making me work a little at the words I am using.
It can only be good practice, and heaven knows I need it. So what of this weeks batch. Again I leave them untitled - is this usual? Must take another look at some of the Haiku related sites.

Winter, think sunny

Think warm foreign beaches

Winter, bearable

----------------------------------

Rain everlasting

Spring, summer, Autumn, Winter

Earth needs space to dry

------------------------------------

Rain on rain on rain

Falls on saturated ground

Flooding now certain

------------------------------------

The setting sun dies

Ending of another day

Sleep, refresh, renew.

-------------------------------------

Winter night comes early

Cloaking day's end silently

Until tomorrow

Well, what do you think? Is there any merit in these short pieces. I will be carrying on with this game in the hope that it will bring about an end to this current period of writer's block. And if it doesn't? - well then I shall have to think of something else to try.

Poetry contest submissions - Am I ready?

I have been wondering for sometime if any of my earlier poetry was good enough for submitting to a contest. With some editing and modifications which I have been working on. Well it is something whilst I have problems with writing new poems.

I saw however that there are competitions for Haiku. Not saying that they are easier, in fact they do not immediately suit my style. For instance read: Poetry contests for new poets.

I have therefore submitted three haiku to the Haiku Foundation contest for the new year (2013). I havae edited three that have been posted in this blog which does not count as publishing for this contest. They are:-

traditional haiku:

Footsteps in the snow
freshly fallen, crisp and white
follow them, should I?

modern haiku: 

Poetry  is words
words live forever
forget me not

innovative haiku:

Inspiration grows
Poetry
new thinking, new skills

I await results with anticipation although I don't really expect to hear anything, I can already see other edits / changes which I could have made. Is any art ever perfect?

watch this space!

Haiku to overcome writer's block

I have written about my difficulties creating poetry at the moment. I am not sure why this is but to reiterate, I used to be able to write poetry quite freely but I seem to have dried up. I have sought and discusssed possible reasons but this has had little effect.

I have been reading more modern poetry and not enjoying the so-called "free poetry", as published in many modern magazines and in their web-sites. I think I have come to accept non-rhyming poetry; but poems without structure and rhythm and  readwith no sense to the line lengths has left me cold. I think this is because before I am a writer, I am a musician and an artist. I like to be able to pick up a poem and read or more likely "perform" it without having to study the nuances which the poet may or may not have thought about.

I have seen texts which seem to excuse this on the basis that the message is the most important thing and the overall structure of the poem should noy be allowwed to get in the way. Bullsh*t. This is lazyness on the part of the poet. I have seen free poetry which I have enjoyed but the poet has considered his reader and made it obvious by various techniques what his intentions were.

Similarly, I can enjoy abstract art - but by no means all of it.

I am of the opinion that reading so much poetry that I find almost offensive has been bad for me, drying up the stream of what seems to be considered childish crap. I still find ideas relating to things happening around me but I just seem to run out of steam. However, I have been reintroduced to Haiku - short and to the point. This has given me a way forward to explore some of these ideas without worrying about completing long(er) poems.

So here are a few Haiku written during the snow this week.

Early morning snow

glist'ning in the morning sun

bringing fear to some

Red flowers, white snow

A beautiful sight to see

such blooms cannot last

glistening at dawn

white frost covering the ground

dangerous to tread

Footsteps in the snow

freshly fallen, crisp and white

follow them, should I?

Lamp posts line the road

lighting my way thro' the dark

warm thoughts, home awaits.

Footsteps, pristine tracks

snow records where I have been

short lived memories

A forecast of snow

stores are filled with hectic crowds

shopping in panic.

Creative writing prompts for poems

I am really suffering from a bad case of writers block. Nothing is happening for me at all this month. I have become so desperate that I have been searching for poetry prompts on the internet and thought that I would share a site with you. Creative writing now.

Let me give a couple of examples, I hope that the site owner won't mind:-

9) Write a poem from the perspective of a character in a fairy tale.
10) Write a poem using all of the following words: moth, angle, cloth, tangle.
11) Write a poem that tells the story of a specific love affair or marriage.
12) Write a poem in the form of a message or letter to your future self.
13) Write a poem about the color red or another color. (Some ideas for brainstorming: How does the color make you feel? What things do you associate with that color?)

Go to Creative Writing Now for many, many more examples. Oh, and wish me luck using a few of these.