Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.30

Zipper animated
Animation by DemonDeLuxe (Dominique Toussaint), from Wikimedia Commons


Z IS FOR THE END

The month has zipped by,
although some days
the writing was
much zippier than others.

Like the teeth of the zipper
we writers came together,
locking ideas to make a chain.
The prompt was our slider.

I thank you, fellow poets,
for joining me
in binding word to word, 
thought to image.

This common daily work,
putting one word after another,
has brought us close,
will link us forever.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013



Where it ends is where it begins,
our words entwined like wires
moving with electricity through the world
from our fingers to our ears
to the universe beyond.

Where it ends is where it begins,
a spark of creativity and connectedness
and shadows of worlds unfolding on the page
from our fingers to our eyes
to our thoughts settled inside.

Where it ends is where it begins,
poems as stories as memories
as thinking, as sharing in this space
where time and distance are immeasurable
and where our words collide
forever.

©Kevin Hodgson, 2013
The podcast is here.


From Linda (TeacherDance):


Tasty Pleasure

Baby poems zipped, enthusiastic group.
This was our own alphabet soup:
dashes of some humor, facts there, too;
thought-filled words together - eclectic stew!

©Linda Baie, 2013


From Carol (Carol's Corner):


"Zipper"

I crouch down
take your down jacket
in my hands
fumble with the frayed
late winter zipper
until it catches
I draw the zipper
to just below your chin
tie your hood and
stuff your hands
into mismatched mittens
hoping this 
little bit of love
will be enough
to protect you from
a frigid unloving world.

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2013



The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project was 

"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


I used the media to inspire my poetry, but I invited my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

Here are some of my students' creations:

Inspired by the fire breather

Inspired by the fire breather

Inspired by the fire breather


Volcano cake inspired by the fire breather



The above three inspired by Le Silence

Foodscape/sculpture of the Broadway Tower with an imaginative landscape surrounding it!


 
To go with the Rubik's Cube animation

And the poems that were inspired by the harp music:


that sound calms
me down every
time I hear
it going past
nice and fast
just the
way I
dream 
it

--B


SOUND OF BEAUTY

The brush of a harp.
The melody.
The sound.
The feeling.
The beauty.

--No


ANGELS

It feels like
angels are flying
over me,
playing their soothing harps,
sounds relaxing.

--Na


FLOWERS AND HARPS

When I think of flowers
    I remember the
sound of harps. They are
    both peaceful and
relaxing. They make me feel
              safe.

--Jo


peace    harmony

freedom
happiness

Litmus
Lozenge

vengeance    sorrow
pain              agony

honor    courage

respect

--Re


TWOs

Two harps
play
two beautiful
sounds

like two flowers
twirling around and
around

like two friends
caring for
each other

like two blue jays
singing
sister and brother

like two people
giving gifts on special days

like two children
wanting 
to play

like two angels
watching 
for us

like two harps 
playing
two
beautiful 
sounds.

--Ra


Had to remember
A loved one.
Running my fingers on the strings making 
Peaceful music.

--M


NICE SOUNDS
That sound, what is that
it's so...peaceful.

It makes me calm down,
overjoyed, I went to where
it came from.

It was at a church
it was a girl playing 
her harp.

I walk in and 
she stops, she looks
at me then looks away
and starts playing
again.

--G


HARPS

The music from heaven
letting us know the right way
like a rainbow in the clear sky
it is quiet music that
makes us feel safe.

--Y


HARP

The music is peaceful
like crickets making music.

All the sounds come together
like every feather of a bird.

This piece had harmony
like a two instrument symphony.

Playing my harp
making beautiful music.

Plucking the strings,
playing something inspirational.

Inspiration,
that made this poem.

--J


no stopping

back and forth, forth and back.
no stopping; for there is no
time in this new world.

back and forth, forth and back.
as i lean against ellis,
i try to remember those days.

back and forth, forth and back.
one year more until
this war is out of my head.

back and forth, forth and back.
my life is full of melodies,
and i need them to live.

--S




15 comments:

  1. (Love all of the work you have posted here, Mary Lee, and for all of the inspiration this month. Thank you.)

    Where it ends is where it begins,
    our words entwined like wires
    moving with electricity through the world
    from our fingers to our ears
    to the universe beyond.

    Where it ends is where it begins,
    a spark of creativity and connectedness
    and shadows of worlds unfolding on the page
    from our fingers to our eyes
    to our thoughts settled inside.

    Where it ends is where it begins,
    poems as stories as memories
    as thinking, as sharing in this space
    where time and distance are immeasurable
    and where our words collide
    forever.

    -Kevin
    And the podcast: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0ViCwHu2qtX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. That's what I was trying to say. You said it more eloquently.

      Thanks for writing with me/us all month, Kevin. You are an inspiration.

      Delete
  2. Lovely final post for us, Mary Lee. I so enjoy seeing your students' work, so much that is inspiring for us teachers! I especially love that you took your students along for the ride, a joyous month! Thank you again! (I'll be back later.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tasty Pleasure
    Baby poems zipped, enthusiastic group.
    This was our own alphabet soup:
    dashes of some humor, facts there, too;
    thought-filled words together - eclectic stew!
    ©Linda Baie, 2013

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a delicious month, wasn't it?!?! Thanks for playing along!!

      Delete
    2. You are very welcome! Yum!

      Delete
  4. A fantastic post, Mary Lee! I especially love the zipper simile! You are definitely zippy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mary Lee,
    Thank you so much for this wonderful journey. I learned a lot just stopping by and often found my inspiration right here. It was interesting to see the different perspectives poets took with the visual images. I enjoyed the collaborative nature of the posts. It was fun to watch the thinking grow.

    "Locking ideas to make a chain." <--- perfect!

    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  6. BTW --- loved the student work.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Here is my final offering. I really wanted to write something wonderful and profound and metaphorical like everyone else did, but it just wasn't happening tonight.

    Thanks, Mary Lee, for hosting this wonderful month-long poetry party. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing and reading poetry with all of you this month. I have been totally blown away by people's ability to take an image and turn some words and shape them, and have a poem emerge. I've loved seeing all of the different ways people have handled various topics. I will miss (a little!) waking up tomorrow morning without a prompt to think about!

    Here is my final offering.

    "Zipper"

    I crouch down
    take your down jacket
    in my hands
    fumble with the frayed
    late winter zipper
    until it catches
    I draw the zipper
    to just below your chin
    tie your hood and
    stuff your hands
    into mismatched mittens
    hoping this
    little bit of love
    will be enough
    to protect you from
    a frigid unloving world.

    (C) Carol Wilcox, 2013

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's just beautiful, Carol. So filled with love. It's exactly the poem you would write. Thank you for this gift on our last day. It will be odd to spend the day without waiting to see what you all make from the image I've chosen!

      Delete
  8. Whoops, forgot to say, like everyone else, I loved the student work. Would love to hear the story about how you orchestrated all of these projects. I'm thinking kids must have done them at home. Were they assigned or optional or ???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The projects were for extra credit and had to be done at home (with the exception of the harp music poems). The students could negotiate for the number of points they thought the work was worth. I was sad that so few took me up on the offer.

      Delete
  9. A month of wonders, Mary Lee! Thanks for sharing them.

    Love the student work here (which I'll actually link to tomorrow, BTW, in my PF Post).

    "no stopping" is potent, powerful poem - especially those last two stanzas. Kudos to this poet.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You brought inspiration to so many this past month, Mary Lee. Thanks for sharing the love.

    ReplyDelete

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