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Author Archives: margo roby

About margo roby

I spent the first twenty years of my life in Hong Kong, where my parents met and married and stayed. I spent the second twenty years of my life following my army husband around the world with our two children. The second twenty overlapped with the third by two years. My husband’s last posting was Jakarta, Indonesia and when he retired he joined me teaching at the international school. We lived there twenty years and I discovered writing poetry. Now we are living in Atlanta. My husband teaches at the international school and I retired from teaching, so I can concentrate my energy on my poetry.

Poem Tryout: Can You Taste It?

18 Jun

8:32 a.m. — San Antonio

not listening to anything ’cause I don’t have a music set-up here — won’t be listening all summer: woe is me

toast and coffee

Hullo, all. Yes, I did, amongst the laundering and packing, forget to post last Thursday for Friday. It may happen a couple of times, in which case go to the latest link I have for a site and explore from there.

We started our re-look at sensory imagery with smell, and trying to capture scents in words. Not easy, but here’s a harder one: taste. A great deal of what we taste is a matter of smell. Try eating something when you have a cold or when you are holding your nose. You will find that what you eat seems almost tasteless, simply because you cannot smell it. Since we can only taste four different true tastes (sour, sweet, salty, bitter), it is smell that lets us experience the complex, mouth-watering flavours we associate with our favourite foods.

sweet and sour by Paul

Wine and food experts cannot work if they have colds. Their sense of smell is more highly developed, thus they can taste. Have you ever listened to a wine person talking about the taste of chocolate, with a hint of tobacco and an aftertaste of blackberry, and all you taste is red wine? Their taste receptors can distinguish the different shades of taste.

Try the test yourself. Pick something to taste, like a pickle, and holding your nose tight, see what happens.

“What does a pear taste like?”
“Don’t you know?”
“I want to know what it tastes like to you.” Nicholas Cage City of Angels

What words do we associate with taste? salty, sweet, sour, bitter, nutty, fruity, spicy, bland… what else?

List your favourite foods. Try for 25.

List your most hated foods. Try for 25.

pretzel by Marcus

Next to each jot the taste. If you feel particularly creative and exploratory, try for what they taste like, as opposed to what the flavour is. If you find coffee bitter, fine. Now, what does coffee taste like to you? Sometimes the comparison leads to synesthesia, a mixing of the senses. Coffee tastes like the smell of road tar. If you have specific associations with any of the tastes, jot your recollections for a few minutes. They may lead to something.

Now, list as many tastes as you can think of… no, this time, not food. Haven’t you ever tasted non-food things? Stamps, envelopes, your skin, toothpaste, your pet’s fur, someone’s cheek, medicine, metal…How many non-food things can you come up with?

Again, if your memory associates events, people, stories, jot them down.

Pick three or four of the items you have listed above and describe how they taste WITHOUT mentioning the item.

whole and crushed chili by Paul

Now list some of the things that surround you; speculate on and imagine the taste of some of them. Describe how they taste WITHOUT mentioning the item.

Choose one of the items in your lists and expand on it,

or,

connect several together to form a poem you can taste.

or,

go with something that popped up while you were jotting. You were jotting, right?

I salivated through this whole post. All the gorgeous photographs I had to look through. Enjoy tasting. As Ray Bradbury says, “Savour them in your mouth, try them on your typewriter.”

I might see you Friday for a Freeforall. Depends how long my yearly checkup takes. I will see you next Tuesday for a definition poem.

Happy writing, all.

1 Comment

Posted by margo roby on 18/06/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Tags: sensory imagery, taste

Poem Tryouts: Profile This

11 Jun

7:25 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to Neil Diamond singing River Deep, Mountain High

Hello, all! This should be interesting. While I haven’t quite left yet, my brain clearly has. When I write down ideas for Wordgathering, I jot notes with them. I have a notebook just for that. So, when I went looking for my notes on a profile poem (I mean I thought it fun enough for a summer prompt, thus expected something!), I expected elucidation… not a jot, anywhere. I remember that one of the prompt sites suggested a profile poem last week and I was amused and made a mental note to link to it (yeh, that I remember). However, I find no mention in my Friday Freeforall. Oh my God, I’m hallucinating stuff.

I cannot raise a single brain cell that knows what I meant by a profile poem. This is all to say that we are winging it folks — not something I like doing, but, hey! On looking the word up, something I always do because cool things can happen, I find that profile derives from Late Latin filare “to spin, draw out a line,” from filum “thread”. The meaning “a side view” is from the 1660s; the meaning “biographical sketch, character study” is from the 1730s.

Consider: to spin a thread, a side view, a character study. I am going to give you some possible directions to run with this. Above all, this does not have to be you.

1] Pick a well-known person: a writer, an artist, a celebrity [as in acting, singing, dancing], a politician, a scientist… Ponder your choice while jotting notes on what you know. The jotting is important as it lets the brain delve. Write us a side view, something people don’t know, but you imagine, given what you do know. You can take a single incident regarding your choice and use it to draw a profile.

2] Pick someone in your every day life, a checkout person, the mailman, gas station attendant… you know the sort of thing I mean. Given the appearance of the person, which you will think on for a while, give us a biography. Each stanza should be an era: As a child… When she was eighteen… In his early twenties… That’s right, total fiction, but your brain will draw on things that make sense to it. One thing: have a thread that continues through each phase.

3] Compose a WANTED poem. A couple of ways to go with this. If you [yes, now it's you] were wanted by, say the CIA or MI-5, what would the description include? Do some research on this one. You want to catch the right tone. Or, you can write a poem about someone being looked for. Wanted: a baker of banana cream pies. Have fun with this. You may have fun with the others too, but this one encourages play!

4] Come up with your own idea for a profile poem.

Think about form. A haiku might be just right for what you want to do, or you might want to sprawl all over the page. Form equals content.

Right, that should do to be going on with. I wonder whether I will ever remember my original thought. I shall see you Thursday for the Freeforall, as we shall be on the road and heading South, Friday; and next Tuesday for another prompt on the calendar. We’re going tasting!

Happy writing, everyone.

16 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 11/06/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Tags: profiles

Poetry Freeforall: On the Menu

07 Jun

7:21 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to At the Zoo sung by Simon & Garfunkel

Hullo, all. Thank you for your good wishes for my vacation. Nine days ’til we take off. We already have a reservation at a lovely, little restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana, where we’ll stop overnight on our way to San Antonio. I learned from my parents to map travel routes by restaurants. Let’s get into our own food for the soul.

Donna’s parking place.

At Naming Constellations Joseph Harker refines his own poem, a circumstance that must have felt a little weird, at times. However, if we can learn to look at and refine our own work like he can, even to a degree, we would learn so much about our own writing. He includes a prompt to do with sound. Give it a go, even if you, like I, run for the hills when words like dactylic are thrown around (actually I was taught all the meters as a child, but don’t have an ear for it when writing).

At The Music In It: Adele Kenny’s Poetry Blog, Adele asks what is our favourite childhood book. Well! I stopped for several minutes to ruminate and reminisce. What fun! My mother kept every single one of my childhood books and sent several boxes to me, a few years ago. I love seeing them on the bookshelves. Go on over to see what she suggests we write about.

At The Sunday Whirl, Brenda has a lovely selection of words. I even wrote a poem. No, I didn’t quite get to posting it. If you haven’t wordled yet, what are you waiting for? Brenda will have the new words up on Sunday. Visit to see the wordle and to read what others have done.

Over at Carry On Tuesday, Keith has given us a line from The Sound of Music. It encourages a list poem. Head over.

Whoa! I found myself, a moment ago, with notebook in hand, writing a first line. It must be summer. We’re at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog for Limerick-off Mondays. Madeleine always writes a limerick, as an example. Look around while you are there. I visit because I know I will laugh and laughing is good, so visit to read, to laugh, perhaps to write.

Visit The Mag [Magpie Tales] for our first image prompt. This week we have a painting, Waking, Walking, Singing, in the Next Dimension? by Morris Graves. I found myself wanting to stop and write immediately. Many possibilities with this one. Remember that you do not have to address the whole image, or its subject. What was the first thought through your mind when you saw the image? Grab it. Write.

Laurie Kolp, at Poetry Jam, talks about vacations, and she has added a twist. Go on over and see what she says and to see her photographs.

This week on Carol’s Light Words she has given us some gorgeous photos of flowers and asks a great question, What is the scent of summer?. Don’t forget that Carol chooses a song each Friday to get us dancing around — remember that she is on California time. A different kind of poetry and a whole lot of fun.

At imaginary garden with real toads, I can’t choose. I want you to check out both Hardcore Americana and Kerry’s Challenge, so get over there. Investigate. I promise, you have never heard Amazing Grace sung like this. Go play with the toads.

We Write Poems is on the seventh of ten poems asking us to focus on a protagonist. This week, your protagonist is metamorphosing. Head over to read the context and suggestions.

At dVerse, Charles Miller says, Take out the scissors! He focuses on the cut-up as a form. Visit. Look around. Stay awhile; it’s a friendly place. For those who haven’t seen the cut-up machine, can you say: cyber-scissors, baby!

Flash fiction fans: I’m going to give you the link to the general site of Flashy Fiction, rather than always giving you Friday, as you might come to the site on a different day, thus be offered a different image. Pot luck.

If you have questions, ask. If you write in response to any of these, the people whose blogs you visit would love to read your responses. Post!

I shall see you Tuesday, for a profile poem and Friday for the round-up of prompts.

Happy writing, everyone. (Why do you suppose all my links are grey instead of their usual bright red? Sigh… yeh, I’ll go up and add a text colour. I just want to know why!)

14 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 07/06/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Tags: Adele Kenny, Carry On Tuesday, dVerse, Flash fiction, imaginary garden with real toads, Light Words, Mad Kane's Humor Blog, Magpie Tales, naming constellations, poetry jam, poetry prompts, prompts, Put Words Together. Make Meaning, the refinery, The Sunday Whirl, We Write Poems, wonder wednesday, Wordle, Writers Resources

Poetry Tryouts: Poetry Calendar

04 Jun

Ack! I would have forgotten completely, if I hadn’t gotten a general comment from Mark about summer writing. Below, your calendar of summer prompts and what to do regarding them. Click on the image to have it lovely and easy to read. Design by Barbara ‘Briarcat’ Young!

These are all the prompts for the Summer Tuesday Tryouts. I will focus on a different prompt each week, in the order I have them. The order is irrelevant for you. Any prompt can be done at any time and posted anywhere — a link to your post is probably preferable, but, if you don’t have a blog, or want to keep the poem off your grid, post it in comments. My mini-discourses and the poems you post don’t have to match [if they don't, let us know which prompt you are writing to].

The list is bare bones. You can look at an entry and interpret it how you will, should you wish to write in a different order than my expositions. Are you thoroughly confused? I know. I’m trying to say things in as many ways as possible, in the hopes of clarity. Example: Say I follow this list in order. This week I shall write poetry that involves sensory imagery of smell, but you may decide you want to write a list poem. No problem. Have at it. Where do you post it? In this week’s comments, just as you always have. The poems and the exercises do not have to match during the summer. The following week, I shall write a profile poem. You may write… As always, there are no due dates. You post when you have a poem.

What’s that you say? Margo, it’s just going to be easier to follow your order. I know, but I wanted you to know you don’t have to. If you are away one week, but that’s the poem you want to write, fine, write it in place of another. Do two.

If you aren’t sure what I mean by one of the titles below, but that’s the one you want to write, make it up. You are allowed. What’s the worst that can happen? You have something different. Uh huh, and? Alright then.

Happy writing and have a wonderful summer. I’ll still be with you, just less of a presence (I won’t be commenting on your poems).

18 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 04/06/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Tags: poetry prompts

Poem Tryouts: What Does This Smell Like?

04 Jun

7:26 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to Maui Hawaiian Sup’pa Man sung by Iz

Hello, all. Two posts today. I shall give you the prompt now, then, later, send out the calendar for the summer. I want to keep the two elements separate.

We start our summer program with an exercise to do with imagery, one of the most important aspects of poetry because that is one of the main links between the poem and the reader. Whether the poem focuses on story, theme, or description [or any combination of the three], imagery, sensory imagery, is the bridge to the reader.

Something many writers forget is that imagery includes all the senses, not just the visual. While visual imagery is strong because most people are image oriented, the sense of smell is powerful because it is the one sense routed through the memory area of the brain. Tactile imagery attracts all those people who have to keep their hands in their pockets in a museum [I'm one - I learn and make my bridges through touch]. And we are bombarded by sound everywhere. If you employ imagery, your reader can step into the poem. Check Keats’ poem “The Eve of St. Agnes,” if you want to read a master of sensory imagery: Forty-two stanzas and worth every minute you spend reading.

We will try several exercises which may, or may not, result in poems. Don’t worry if all you end up with is a list of images. They become a resource pool for you.

by Chris Pirillo

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we have lived.” Helen Keller

Smell is the most evocative of the senses. Of all our senses it is the one which will most immediately transport us to another place and time, because it routes through our memory. There are odours that spark passion and sensuousness and others that repel us physically. Our culture produces thousands of products to alter a person’s scent or that of her surroundings. Animals use scent to mark their territories. We use scent to mask and manipulate.

Smell, scent, odour, fragrance, bouquet …what other words do you associate with smell? Go around your house, place of work, or choose a route to walk. Focus on smell only. Do your perceptions of a place change with smell? Below, we have several possibilities for using smell in a poem.

John William Waterhouse

Describe smells. On the left side of the page, list significant smells; and on the right side, jot down what you associate with these smells. Pick two or three and expand into a vignette.

by Kevin Ertell

Describe two or three places using only your sense of smell. Don’t mention the places.

Describe a person using only your sense of smell. Don’t mention the person.

Describe your most vivid memory evoked by a smell.

Flikr user Ashok

Enjoy focusing on smelling things this week. Smell even things you know the scent of, but now focus on the smell. What does this thing smell like? How do you put the smell into words that another person can smell? Dip into your spice jars. If there were no names for herbs and spices, how would you describe their smell?

According to summer rules, you may write on this, this week, and post here, or you may choose the topic for three weeks from now, even though you will go into it without my bit of chat. Should you choose the latter, post here anyway, but tell people your poem is for the prompt three weeks down the road. You can slot smell in somewhere else, or ignore it and redo another prompt. It’s summer. I don’t really have rules but even they are at the beach.

Happy writing, everyone.

10 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 04/06/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Tags: imagery, poetry prompts, sense of smell, sensory imagery

Poetry Freeforall: Push the Envelope

31 May

8:22 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to East of Ginger Trees sung by Seals & Crofts

Hullo, all. We’re moving too fast, people. I wish I knew a way to slow it all down. One way, is to visit each site — wild, huh? Or, choose one you don’t usually go to, with the firm determination of writing a poem to its prompt. If you usually avoid, say, images, then make sure you try an image prompt. If you have not written a limerick… well? What are you waiting for? Did you know you can write a story poem through limericks? Check out Madeleine’s composition down in comments here.

Donna’s parking place.

At Naming Constellations Joseph Harker reviews Lesley Wheeler’s The Receptionist and Other Tales. No, not a prompt, but a good idea. Even if we don’t get around to reading chapbooks, we can learn a lot from a good review, and you know our Joseph. He says, in part, with tongue firmly planted in cheek: there is an equal mix of everywoman sensibility, nuanced university politics, and a rich literary allusiveness. Sounds intriguing, no? So head on over to read the full review.

At The Music In It: Adele Kenny’s Poetry Blog, she suggests we try writing transformation poems, that is, poems in which something becomes something else. Her suggestions were eye-opening. I hadn’t thought of transformation in such a wide sense. Plenty of scope for poems. Visit to discover for yourself.

At The Sunday Whirl, Brenda says My daughter and I constructed this list. If you haven’t wordled yet, what are you waiting for? Brenda will have the new words up on Sunday. Visit to see the wordle and to read what others have done.

Over at Carry On Tuesday, Keith has given us the opening line from the 1949 movie Adam’s Rib. As a challenge, the phrase is in French. His extra is a trailer from the movie. Go on over.

We’re at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog for Limerick-off Mondays. Madeleine always writes a limerick, as an example. Look around while you are there. I visit because I know I will laugh and laughing is good, so visit to read, to laugh, perhaps to write.

Visit The Mag [Magpie Tales] for our first image prompt. This week we have an image by Last Exit which leaves it all to our imagination, if we ignore the title, Ponytail. Remember that you do not have to address the whole image, or its subject. What was the first thought that went through your mind when you saw the image? Grab it. Write.

Alan1704, at Poetry Jam, talks about goodbyes, the good and the bad. Go on over and see what he says.

This week on Carol’s Light Words I have given you the general URL, as I see several images that might spark a poem. Don’t forget that Carol chooses a song each Friday to get us dancing around — remember that she is on California time. A different kind of poetry and a whole lot of fun.

It seems I was just wondering what Hannah would be giving us next and here she is with the answer. At imaginary garden with real toads, Hannah promises us 22 weeks of magical, natural wonders. Visit. Investigate. Go play with the toads.

We Write Poems is asking us to focus on a protagonist for a few weeks. This week, your protagonist is going somewhere… odd. The post is titled Wizard of Oz Revisited. Head over to read the context and suggestions.

At dVerse, Victoria takes us through synesthesia. The main thrust of my summer prompts are sensory exercises, so give this one a go. Visit. Look around. Stay awhile; it’s a friendly place. Lemonade coming up.

If you have questions, ask. If you write in response to any of these, the people whose blogs you visit would love to read your responses. Post!

I shall see you Tuesday, for the summer calendar and first summer prompt; and Friday for the round-up of prompts.

Happy writing, everyone.

4 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 31/05/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Poetics Serendipity

30 May

7:20 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to America singing Sister Golden Hair

Hello, all. Summer is approaching waaay too fast, at least, the part that involves packing, driving, flying, more driving, more flying. You know me, I like routine, my cave, no people (other than my husband ); to be uprooted for two months… alright, no more whinging. Next summer will be even worse! We will be moving us and then my mother. Ack!

For today, we have three things to look at. I’m going to talk a little about the blog’s summer routine; I shall offer an opportunity for submission; and I will leave us with our favourite essayist David Marshall.

1] The blog’s summer evolved from a combination of my needing a bit of a rest (y’all are sooo high maintenance) and the fact that where my mother lives (where I spend a month each year) the internet connection is lousy and doesn’t like me — I swear, it’s personal. I sit, at Christmas, and watch three other people on their laptops, clicking away, while I am being told there is no connection. I do have, now, a mobile broadband connector that travels with me. BUT…

Thursdays goes dark. No links, or discussion. Fridays… last year I did Fridays. I haven’t decided about this year. I may give you a stripped down version. Links, no chat. Next Tuesday, I will be giving you a calendar of Tuesday prompts, so that if I don’t show up, you know what to write and you can post links in the first Tuesday’s comments. I am going to try to be there each Tuesday to post and talk a little about the prompt and give you a place to come to. The prompts themselves are recycled from the blog’s earliest days, but simplified for the summer — I know how busy you get.

I don’t comment during the summer. Wow, you are thinking, she’s even more curmudgeonly than she tells us. Yes… no… Some of you will remember two summers ago when I didn’t come back to the blog for a couple of months. I am trying to avoid that. You know I miss you like the devil when in dark, or minimal, mode.

2] Two of my fellow remixers from the Pulitzer deal-y, Mary Bast and Joel Preston Smith, came up with a proposal for a book. Joel is a photo journalist and has agreed to contribute 14 of his photographs from Iraq 2003 to the initiative. The photographs will be the spark for the poems. The guidelines and photographs are included in a pdf file, link below. I couldn’t get the link to open in another tab, so you will be taken from my page. Come back. If the link doesn’t work, let me know. You know how I am with tech.

call_for_submissions_image_poem_iraq26may2013lr.pdf

If you have questions, ask. Then try your hand at writing to a couple of the photos and consider submitting. I know that many of you particularly like image prompts.

3] I had planned to reblog this, but needed to write about the first two topics. Instead, I will leave you with a link to one of David Marshall’s essays, Speaking of You as Me (or the opposite). I have a few stacked in a queue. Fortunately, they are timeless. In August, plan on seeing another!

This post is a prose poem, as far as I am concerned. I read it the first time because I read his posts. I read it the second time for more understanding, the third time for its beauty. Marshall begins with a question: If you kept a part of everything you’ve broken, how big would the pile be? He goes on to talk as much about writing as about breakage and loss. He tells us, Writing means to make discarded cogs mesh and turn detritus into treasure. This is something we all know about. Now it is voiced.

Okay? That’s a wrap. Poetics Serendipity will return 15 August, rested, relaxed, tanned…

I shall see you tomorrow for this week’s roundup of prompts; and next Tuesday for the first summer prompt and a look at the calendar. The calendar, by the way, was designed by Briarcat, known by many of us as Barbara.

Happy writing, all.

11 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 30/05/2013 in poetry, writing

Tags: David Marshall, Joel Preston Smith, Mary Bast, submissions

Poem Tryouts: Try an Escher

28 May

7:28 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to The Only Living Boy in New York by Simon and Garfunkel

Hullo, everyone. Last Tuesday of the month is image day, when I remember, and today we are working with some of M. C. Escher’s prints. I chose a few that spark an interest in my mind, in hopes that we share similar ‘ooh’ factors.

Remember: the resulting poem does not have to have any apparent connection to the art that inspires it. The art is there for inspiration unless you deliberately write about the piece.

With some, such as the black and white above, you might want to tell the story of what appears to be going on in the piece, completely ignoring the Escher surreality. You may want to focus on one, or two, of the figures and just tell their stories. Or, you might decide to include the Escher factor metaphorically when telling the story.

The piece up and to the right might start a piece on unraveling, either a story coming apart, or a person coming apart. Maybe it’s an unwinding, rather than an unraveling. Of course, it can also inspire you to write about peeling fruit.

The pieces to the right and above left, speak to reflections, or reflecting, as well as perspective. Like the others they may pull to mind story. Trust where your mind takes you.

This last piece is for the sheer fun of sharing it. The first image of the eye that I came across was fuzzy, so I was peering quite closely to see what the image at the centre is when I realised it.

Clicking on any image should give you a clearer and bigger image to contemplate. I look forward to seeing what Escher brings forth.

I shall see you Thursday for links; Friday for the prompt roundup; and, next Tuesday for the beginning of the summer calendar.

Happy writing, all.

47 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 28/05/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Tags: Escher, images, poems, poetry, poetry prompts

Poetry Freeforall: Visit. Write. Post.

24 May

8:51 a.m. — Atlanta

listening to Lee Greenwood singing Mornin’ Ride

Hullo, all. Summer is a-comin’, although our temperature has taken a nose-dive, today. Atlanta is like that. Let’s go for a prompt walk.

We start with Donna. It occurs to me that most of you are looking for prompts that you can write, then post. Giving you prompts from last year doesn’t hack it. I’m not a superstitious person, but Donna has started my Friday postings from day 1. For now, I am going to leave the old tow truck image as my start. I can’t quite bear not to start with Donna.

At The Refinery Joseph takes on a poem by Guy Traiber. I am amazed every time he presents us with his refining of a poem, how much I learn. Don’t forget to keep sending your poems in to Joseph, so he has a stockpile. Joseph also gives us a prompt where he asks us to, Write a poem that combines your everyday life with those images. What images? Head over to find out. You’ll like the prompt.

At The Music In It: Adele Kenny’s Poetry Blog, I had to laugh. She asks us for a portrait poem. Just a few days ago, I finished putting together my summer menu for your Tuesday prompts. One of the weeks asks for a portrait poem. Now I’ll just link to Adele! [No, you may not link to your poem, if you write one. I want new, new, new.] Head over for her tips, her suggestions, and her example poems.

At The Sunday Whirl, the words come from a poem by Margaret Atwood: ‘Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing’. If you haven’t wordled yet, what are you waiting for? Brenda will have the new words up on Sunday. Visit to see the wordle and to read what others have done.

Over at Carry On Tuesday, Keith has given us a song title from Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh. You might want to wait until you have written your poem before listening to, or reading the lyrics of, the song. Keith has given us a Frank Sinatra recording for our listening pleasure. Go on over.

We’re at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog for Limerick-off Mondays. Madeleine always writes a limerick, as an example. Look around while you are there. After a year and a half of posting this link, I still smile as soon as I come to it on my list. I visit because I know I will laugh and laughing is good, so visit to read, to laugh, perhaps to write.

Visit The Mag [Magpie Tales] for our first image prompt. This week we have a painting by Jamie Wyeth. Remember that you do not have to address the whole image, or its subject. Find some small detail that sparks you and write about that. You can even riff off the title.

Peggy, at Poetry Jam, wants to know about shoes. What about them, you ask. Go on over and find out.

This week on Carol’s Light Words she gives us a lovely photograph to spark a poem. Don’t forget that Carol chooses a song each Friday to get us dancing around — remember that she is on California time. A different kind of poetry and a whole lot of fun.

At imaginary garden with real toads, it is Fireblossom Friday and a prompt to do with setting, something many of you are partial to. Head over to look at the wonderful photographs you might use as inspiration. Visit. Investigate. Go play with the toads.

We Write Poems is asking us to focus on a protagonist for a few weeks. This week, your protagonist is Playing Sherlock. Head over to read the context and suggestions.

At dVerse, Samuel Peralta gives us a complex but fun form, the glosa. Samuel is particularly good at taking people through a form, so give it a try. Visit. Look around. Stay awhile; it’s a friendly place.

If you have questions, ask. If you write in response to any of these, the people whose blogs you visit would love to read your responses. Post!

I shall see you Tuesday, for an image prompt; Thursday for links and such; and Friday for the round-up of prompts.

Happy writing, everyone.

7 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 24/05/2013 in exercises, poetry, writing

Poetics Serendipity

23 May

7:35 a.m. — Atlanta

Hello, all. I hope you are well. First, a reminder that summer is coming [unless it's winter is coming, where you live]. During the summer, Thursdays go dark. For some reason, I still give you Fridays. Hmm. We’ll see. Tuesdays I give you ahead and I drop by to expound, but I don’t read, or comment. I will explain further the first Tuesday in June, how Tuesdays will work. Meanwhile:

1] Our first link, to my amusement, also appears in today’s We Write Poems, so, I will give you a companion link, one that takes you to Robert Peake’s home page. Robert’s is among the handful of writers’ blogs I began following, when I returned to the U.S. in 2010. He writes beautifully, and articulately, and he has a sense of humour. Sometimes he reviews poetry books, sometimes he shares one of his poems, sometimes he has interesting stuff, like poetry hotspots in London [where he lives at the moment]. His blog is also a thing of beauty to behold, clean lines and easy on the eyes. Go explore.

2] Our second exploration is an unusual publication, the Safety Pin Review. In their About, they say: biweekly literary magazine featuring fiction of less than 30 words, with a major D.I.Y. twist: in addition to being published online, each story is hand-painted onto a cloth back patch, which is attached (via safety pins) to one of our operatives—a collective network of authors, punks, thieves, and anarchists—who wear it everywhere they go for a week. I’m not sure how anyone can resist submitting. Despite it asking for fiction, its 30 word maximum means that something poetic can work so long as it looks and feels like fiction and you call it fiction. They have forty-eight issues to date. Read a few. It doesn’t take long.

3] This is for your amusement. As it regards punctuation, I know you are intrigued already. Punctuation is not usually a topic for amusement.

4] Patrick Ross’ The Artist’s Road, is another blog I have followed from the beginning of my own odyssey. You have read one, or two, of his posts here. This one, entitled ‘Stop Super-Sizing the English Language!‘, should be of interest to all of us, as writers. Patrick’s topic is one I have long fought in the classroom, even forbidding the use of the word ‘evil’ when we study Macbeth. I offered twenty-five shades of the word, instead. It lead to a more nuanced study. We lose the meaning of words when we apply them to everything, with no thought to degree. Think about how often we hear the word ‘tragedy’.

5] The final link is to a free photo editor that is easy — i.e. I was able to use it — and produces useful effects, as well as collages. PicMonkey has a paid upgrade, but if you go through the offerings on the left of whatever photograph you are looking at, you will find a number of the effects are free.

Go play. I will see you tomorrow for the week’s roundup of prompts; Tuesday for an image prompt; and next Thursday, for the last Poetics Serendipity until August.

Happy writing, all.

12 Comments

Posted by margo roby on 23/05/2013 in poetry, writing

Tags: Patrick Ross, PicMonkey, poetry, Robert Peake, Safety Pin Review, The Artist's Road

Margo Roby: Wordgathering

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