Tag Archives: poetry

Redwings⤴

from

Redwings Haiku
Redwings Haiku flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says

Write a haiku about autumn. Bonus points for illustrating it.

We’ve been waiting for the redwings to arrive at the end of our garden and this weekend they appeared. They are really hard to see in the rowan trees as they blend into the red-brown leaves and red berries, but I got a photo of one yesterday that I’m quite pleased with. Here’s a haiku I wrote as I watched them flit from tree to tree.

Flashing through the trees
Stripping berries as they fly
Redwings have arrived

Spinning Fish⤴

from

Spinning fish
Spinning fish flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says

Look at this fish, spinning and spinning. Write a poem about the fish – bonus points for putting it to music.

Spinning Fish

A fish out of water
Spinning in the ether
Silently, effortlessly, eternally

Acrostic Poems⤴

from

Sarah
Sarah flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says

Arguments rage in poetry circles about the merits of the Acrostic Poem (where the letters of the name of something, written vertical, form the first letters of words for each line). Use this Acrostic Poem generator to create your own, and if time, maybe transform the lines of the poem into a piece of art (what that means, is up to you, per DS106 ethos).

I made a couple – one for me and one for my Lacey Cat

Lacey
Lacey flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Snobby Nursery Rhymes⤴

from

Today’s TDC says

Read a nursery rhyme aloud in a bad snobby accent.

Now, last week when we were out for a drink a pal told me I always sound posh, so here’s a nursery rhyme in my own acccent

This is a  rhyme mum said to us every time she dried our hair – I can’t find this exact version online. I still say it to myself every time I dry my own hair.

Rub a dub dub

Rub a dub dub
Three men in a tub
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker
All wrapped up in a rotten potater
Green peas, tuppence a peck
A man fell down and broke his neck
Apples for the king and pears for the queen
And a jolly good dance on the old bowling green

Pavement Talk⤴

from

Pavement chalk
Pavement chalk flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says

Imagine your sidewalk could talk — what would it say, in the form of a small poem or prose?

I wrote a poem about my pavement. We live on a busy road with a school over the road, so there are a lot of people walking up an down throughout the day.

Who’s that walking overhead?
Who’s that walking on my head?
Pounding, stamping on my head
Oh how I wish that you would stop

I took the photo at the top of this post a couple of months ago as I walked up the road to the bust stop.

Iquitos⤴

from

Iquitos
Iquitos flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says:

Research how a specific location has changed over time using historical photos online. One such tool is Google’s Timelapse Google Earth Engine. Write a poem that moves through time, reflecting on environmental changes.

I chose the meandering rivers in Iquitos, Peru. After watching the timelapse I found the Wikipedia page about Iquitos and pasted the climate section into a blackout poetry generator. The poem I made is at the top of this page.

Haikomic⤴

from

Haikomic
Haikomic flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says

Comic creator Grant Snider has long used comics for expression and he periodically goes through periods where he turns his poetry into comics. He even has a book of Poetry Comics. For Write Out, Snider suggests a haikomic, or a haiku in the form of a three panel nature comic.

Grant has even provided a template, if you need one.

Read more about Grant’s idea at the Write Out site.

Here’s the haiku

I sit on a branch
As I sing a happy tune
And my friends sing too

If The River Could Speak⤴

from

UofG Tower from the bridge over the Kelvin
UofG Tower from the bridge over the Kelvin flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC says

One of the options on the Write Out 2026 Choice Board is a prompt to consider the voice of a river. You can learn more about the prompt — including a walk through an urban block by Amanda Eke of The Poet Speaks and Puerto Rican poet and educator Mario José Pagán Morales here. 

Think of a waterway near you or one that have visited. What would it say if it could speak? What memories might it hold? What wishes?

I chose the River Kelvin, and this is the poem she dictated to me:

The River Kelvin

I meander south
Then wander west
My sisters join me as I flow
Then, hearing a familiar voice
I rush south, as fast as I can
Down past an ancient seat of learning
(Though not as ancient as I!)
And join my mother Clyde to journey on together

A Wish for Your Place⤴

from

A wish for my place
A wish for my place flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Today’s TDC  says

Today is the National Day on Writing. Today, make a wish for your place. This activity is taken from the Write Where We Stand Choice Board

Go outside where you are, take something to write with, and find a comfortable place to sit for a few moments. Take in your surroundings.

  • What do you notice about your place?
  • What do you notice about the natural environment and the human-made things around you?

Now, consider what your place was like in the past. Then, switch your perspective and consider your place and its future.

Draw, write down some words, gather details – capture what you notice and imagine in a way that works for you.

Now, close your eyes, imagine you are blowing the seeds of a giant puffball dandelion flower, and make a wish for the future of your place. What would your wish be?

I went to stand outside, but it’s pretty rainy so I didn’t stay out for long. I noticed a hole in the fence though, where a fox had dug a path out of our garden last night. However, I appreciated the quiet of the morning – no workmen using powertools, no neigbours shouting over the fence. So here’s my wish for my garden.

I hope that the birds keep visiting and brightening my day with their songs
I hope that the brambles keep growing despite the fox’s antics
I hope the bugs find a cosy place to rest amongst the fallen leaves
And I hope that we can call this home for many years to come