Category: Wax Poetic

 Concrete poetry is not child's play but rather the intersection where typography and poetry meet to play. Sir Ken Robinson reminds us that “…imagination is the source of every form of human achievement.” Concrete poetry is an invitation to imagine possibility.

So how do you begin to craft a shape poem? Of course there are many wonderful resources online, but the best place to begin is to remember that what seperates all poetry from prose is, first and formost, its shape. Each and every poem has a very specific arrangement on the page because white space, to the poet, is an extension of punctuation, directing the reader's eye to pause, move, breathe. Concrete poetry takes shape a step further into the realm of representation. For example, if your poem is about a blooming garden, your poem might be flower shaped. If your poem is about sorrow, it might take the shape of a teardrop. What I love about Constance's poem below is that the simple window shape draws me, the reader, to come near, to peer through the panes and contemplate the complexities of thankfulness with each drop drop drop that fabricates the window frame. 

Concrete poetry is not child's play.

So here's my idea. This week, when I introduce shape poetry to my young writers, I'm going to begin by exploring Constance's poem with them—a single statement with repeated words to form a shape. I'll invite them to meet me at the intersection where typography and poetry play. And together we'll imagine the shape of thanksgiving. Imagine the possibilites.

Why not join the fun? After all, "…'tis the season to be thankful!" We'd love to hear from you. Feel free to post your poems in the comment section of this post.

                                     Thanksgiving

The first  rain of the year  announces its  presence by every thick

drop                                     drop                                            drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

drop                                     drop                                             drop

on the  glass  drum  of  our  kitchen  window:  a rain that, with kind

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

drops                                     drops                                         drops

they say, is  mother to the  stale cracked  skin of godforsaken lands.

-Kim & Constance

Imagination is just the thing to inspire young writers. 

To get started, visit our Pinterest: Snail of Orange

Juxtapose the grotesque and the delicious, the crude and the dainty by drawing inspiration from this snail—usually not considered the most beautiful or appealing creature-—created from an orange.

How can you create a beautiful concept out of something unexpected; something strange and slimy like a snail? Or vice versa?

Unexpected images are just the thing to quell writer's block. Think .

Here's another bit of fodder from Les Miserables: “One morning [Bishop D—] was in his garden, and thought himself alone, but his sister was walking behind him, unseen by him: suddenly he paused and gazed at something on the ground; it was a large, black, hairy, frightful spider. His sister heard him say:– ‘Poor beast! It is not its fault!’”

Example Haiku:

An Art Lesson

stamps of greasy lips

and fingertips on napkins are

unexpected flowers

-Constance

Think scavenger hunt.

Found poems are snips of non-poetic language gathered from unexpected places collaged into verse.

Think scraps of newspaper, snippets of conversation.

Think clipped magazine phrases woven to phrases you've invented.

Think scramble, unscramble.

Keep your eyes open, you never know where a sliver of poem might be lurking. 

In our world where
fast paced technological communicating is the norm, our lexicon is shrinking
hand over fist. But the potential of words is a great wonder. Words are salty goodness that pepper writing with flavor.

So this month at the Guild we are, once again, making words.

Last spring I
introduced my writers to the idea of “neologisms” coined by Lewis Carroll. I
began by asking the writers to remind me of the details from last spring’s
lesson. I was surprised that they remembered with great detail the suffixes we
explored so long ago:

» cosm 
[From Greek kosmos, order,
universe.] 
Universe; world
microcosm, macrocosm

» esque
 [F., fr. It. -isco. Cf. –ish.]
 An
adjective suffix indicating manner or style
Arabesque, Romanesque

» ism 
[Greek -ismos, -isma noun suffix]
 A
suffix used to form action nouns from verbs, distinctive doctrine, system, or
theory skepticism, truism

They even
remembered more than a handful of the words they crafted, words like: appleism,
s-e-e-ism, TVism, tablesque, pencilesque, windesque, bouncehousecosm,
balooncosm, and lollycosm

As I sat with the
group, I marveled at their retention, but more significantly at their
delight. can’t say the same
about any of the vocabulary development lessons that I’ve utilized through the
years from various curriculums that shall remain nameless! 

The art of
crafting neologisms focuses the writer’s attention on the specificity of words
and their potential to enact ideas in a very meaningful way. And lessons that
are meaningful are lasting. 

So we began our
exploration of suffixes, mining for meaning and application:

» able 
[From Latin abilis, capable of, fit
for.]
 washable, enjoyable, pitiable

ex.
Neologism – baloonable

» nomy
 [From Greek nomos, system of rules
or knowledge.] astronomy, economy, autonomy

ex.
Neologism – iPodonomy

» ization 
[From Greek izein, to become.]
popularization, organization, generalization

ex.
Neologism – basketballization

 »
ology 
[From Greek logia, to speak of, study or science of.]
biology, geology, anthropology

ex.
Neologism – pickleology

 » phobia 
[From
Latin phobia, abnormal fear] claustrophobia, arachnophobia, xenophobia

ex.
Neologism – flipflopphobia

 » ward
 [From
Middle English ward, specifics of direction] toward, homeward, backward

ex.
Neologism – chocolateward

Bonus Suffix:

 » biotic
 [From
Greek biotikis, of life, method of living] antibiotic, probiotic, microbiotic

ex.
Neologism – fauxbiotic

Ultimately, I challenged the
writers to create a list of neologisms for each suffix. Now I challenge you to do
the same. And as you do, keep in mind, words are a great wonder! Go and salt the earth.

-Kim

I shrink in the company of Sarcasm. I’m admittedly deficient, two steps behind when it comes to her volley of shrill phrases. When she enters the building, I chuckle a bit but rarely participate. I acknowledge that, on edge of her spectrum, chatter is light-hearted, friendly. Still, try as I might, I can’t quite squeak a giggle in the midst of her raucous presence.

Recently two students in my guild moved on to explore new education paths. Both students had been part of the guild for many years. My idea was to provide an opportunity for closure by challenging writers to craft a farewell phrase. I decided to incorporate this exercise into our regular writing workshop. What better way to put my “writing is a gift” motto into action?

So we began, “Let’s craft kind words to encourage our friends as they set out on a new adventure.” Sounds simple, right?

As I watched the card I provided move from writer to writer, I anticipated reading the messages before posting them the old fashioned way. But later that day, when I sat down with a cup of tea excited to read the phrases inscribed on the card, my heart sank. There she was, Sarcasm, smirking in all her glory, “Have fun wandering the halls,” and “Happy Easter (jk),” and “Yeah, whatever, thanks for leaving me behind,” and “Life is good (not),” …not a single kind word. There were careless spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors.

Decibels peaking, Sarcasm crossing over to the caustic zone, I wanted to shrink. At one point in the reading, I wanted to cry. Our guild is not a typical classroom where children come and go annually, most of these children have been learning together for many years. These children are respectful of and grateful for friendship. Still, not a single phrase in the card was crafted vulnerably. What in the world? I knew that this group would really miss their friends who had moved on. I knew this must be something else. Maybe they did not know how to craft vulnerable words.

Continue reading Crafting a Poem of Thanksgiving