Yesterday, I asked my 21 year old daughter to come up with 10 words for me to use for a poem. While she packed her bags to come back home from spending two months in California, she texted me these beautiful things:
fierce/fragile/fish food//
grassy/glassy/growing//
beneath/betwixt/between
umber/under/thuder//
thieving/thriving/feeding//
fortune/feeling/undone
Almost a poem themselves, I was stunned. I started writing a poem about her using those words in the order she sent them just to see what happened. Here’s what I got:
fierce this one this baby tiger princess this dirt grime under chubby chins
on oh so fragile a neck stubby fingers pouring out mountains of fish food
pleased with herself never mind the scramble for spoons to scoop to skim
the murky green water grassy handsful littering the glassy sides how this
bandit could squeal with delight a squeak toy a living a breathing growing
beneath the chairs beneath the tables beneath the sink beneath the stairs
the little girl with a little curl mixed betwixt the one shoe on one shoe off
lifetimes lived between hurt and heard
I love it…but it absolutely refused to include the rest of my prompt words. Okay, sure, there were more than 10…but she’s an overachiever and I am a sucker for a word game. So, I kept at it and came up with the poem that you can find at Tupelo Press’ 30/30 project just scroll down to the 24th to find mine. While you’re there, check out the other amazing things people are writing…
Good luck to you and your writing habits!
monstersofourowndestiny 