It’s National Poetry Month in the USofA, and I’m taking part in a progressive poem – where we each write one line (one person per day for the course of the month) to create a collaborative kids’ poem. This is my first year taking part and it’s been fascinating, watching each line drip-feed through the interwebs – wondering where I might land and testing ideas as possibilities for when it would be my turn. I thought the wordplay and crisp sounds from Heidi, Tabatha, Dori and Michelle were building to a surprise rhyme from Diane – a rhyme that I could perhaps build upon in my line …
But I clicked on Diane’s blog and found – yes – a surprise! A diversion. A breather. A most unexpected change of pace …
And no rhyme.
I’m fidget, friction, ragged edges—
I sprout stories that frazzle-dazzle,
stories of castles, of fires that crackle,
with dragonwords that smoke and sizzle.
But edges, sometimes, need sandpaper…
Where to from here? I played around … rumples unscrumpled, smoothing, soothing, rasping grasping, splintered words, stone/hone… and then found a line that built on Diane’s matched pair, but kept the medieval mood of the earlier stanza.
I’m fidget, friction, ragged edges—
I sprout stories that frazzle-dazzle,
stories of castles, of fires that crackle,
with dragonwords that smoke and sizzle.
But edges sometimes need sandpaper,
like swords need stone and clouds need vapour* …
* I’m guessing ‘vapour’ will soon condense to American spelling. 😉
Tomorrow our lovely organiser Irene will pick up the pen and write the line to follow mine, and I sit back to relax and enjoy the poem that everyone pieces together.
Dates in April (American-time)
1 Heidi at my juicy little universe
2 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
3 Doraine at Dori Reads
4 Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty
5 Diane at Random Noodling
6 Kat at Kat’s Whiskers
7 Irene at Live Your Poem
8 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
9 Linda at TeacherDance
10 Penny at blog-a- penny-and- her-jots
11 Ramona at Pleasures from the Page
12 Janet F. at Live Your Poem
13 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
14 Jan at Bookseedstudio
15 Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales
16 Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy
17 Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
18 Buffy at Buffy’s Blog
19 Pat at Writer on a Horse
20 BJ at Blue Window
21 Donna at Mainely Write
22 Jone at Jone Ruch MacCulloch
23 Ruth at There’s No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town
24 Amy at The Poem Farm
25 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge
26 Renee at No Water River
27 Matt at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme
28 Michelle at Michelle Kogan
29 Charles at Poetry Time
30 Laura Purdie Salas at Writing the World for Kids
I love this, Kat! Swords do need stone, don’t they? And clouds vapour… I hope the spelling sticks. 🙂 Okay, now I am thinking about tomorrow’s line…. Thank you! xo
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Looking forward to seeing where you take it, Irene. Have fun!
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Ha! Ha! I like it, Kat! And the spelling of vapour adds a bit of exoticism!
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I think you’d say I dawdled, Diane? (As opposed to sizzled.) 😉 So glad you liked.
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That was very hard to follow Kat. I love it! I love the medieval vibe throughout.
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When that line came, I could readily imagine a castle shrouded in clouds, with smoke dissipating into the mist.
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I enjoyed hearing your thoughts before sharing that fabulous line. You’ve added mystery and perhaps a connection not previously considered.
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Funny you should say that, Linda, because after posting my poem, I went back to see if there were new comments on earlier lines – and saw that Heidi is hinting at a second character. I’m guessing the possibility is there, now.
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Enjoying the word choices and rhythm developing here! I can’t wait to see what story Irene launches us into!
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Love it! Can’t wait to see where this goes.
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Me too, Tabatha and Dori. Let the wordplay continue!
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Nice sidestep, Kat! 😉 I wonder what Irene’s going to do with that surprise diversion now? Seriously though, I thought you did a masterful job connecting your line, not only to the one before it, but to the previous stanza as well. I’m with you, now that our jobs are done, I’m enjoying just watching the poem progress.
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PS. Vapour all the way!!!
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Thanks, Michelle. You just ‘know’ when you’ve found the right words, don’t you? Confirmed by my son who was ‘actually quite impressed’. 😉 #actually I think it was a good move to get our words down early. And grinning at all this ‘vapour’ love.
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Magical and mysterious! Such a fabulous line…and here’s another cheer for VAPOUR! xx
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I think that vapour does add a touch of mystery and mood, Amy. Must be the spelling.
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Love this line and your reasoning behind it. My pet peeve is changing people’s previous lines, so when I get to my line (the very last one), I’ll be sure to spell it vapour! Much more exotic than plain old vapor ;>)
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Oh, how lovely! Thanks, Laura.
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Brilliant, Kat – High five-ing through the vapour….!
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🙂 That vapour… I briefly toyed with sandpaper/paint scraper – but it wouldn’t have been near as much fun! (Not to mention, the mood would have been lost.)
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Perfect Kat, I love your line! I wonder what the vapour may bring out . . .
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Apart from all the little spelling rebels, you mean? 😉
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts about your line. I love hearing the process! And I love the line!
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I’m always fascinated to hear what shaped a writer’s words, Penny. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the poem emerge from the mist.
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I love the way this is developing.
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Me too! With two more lines added, it has strong foundations.
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