Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations.9

Wikimedia Commons photo by Shalom Jacobovitz
This photo is from the Wikimedia Commons Featured Pictures, in the category of Sports.

         
          push
surge          swell
                        curve
                           strength
                            massive muscle of water
                              Neptune's mighty bicep
                     

DRAFT ©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013


Yesterday was a busy day and I had a meeting that lasted until late last night, but I kept thinking about that wave and the power of that water. As you can see, the wave got reversed in direction in my mind! This is one that doesn't feel at all complete to me. I'll definitely come back to this one and work on it some more. (Although...the more I listen to its rhythms...it's almost a haiku...)


From Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind):


©Kevin Hodgson, 2013 (Image used with permission from the author)


From Carol (Carol's Corner):



It takes 
a lot of brave
to fling oneself
on the mercy
of those 
enormous
rolling
rushing
body- crashing
waves.

©CAW, 2013


******************


Ride a wave,
That's my fave!

Wanna hang ten?
Just tell me when. 

Gotta straddle
Then you paddle.

The perfect time
You must divine.

Have to wait
But can't be late.

From belly to knees
Then stand up please.

To find your balance
Can be a challenge.

Hit your stride
And take a ride.

To the shore
Then back for more.

Ride a wave?
Must be brave!
(or maybe a little stupid!)

©CAW, 2013 



The theme of my 2013 National Poetry Month Project is 


"Common Inspiration--Uncommon Creations." 


Each day in April, I will feature media from the Wikimedia Commons ("a database of 16,565,065 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute") along with bits and pieces of my brainstorming and both unfinished and finished poems.

I will be using the media to inspire my poetry, but I am going to invite my students to use my daily media picks to inspire any original creation: poems, stories, comics, music, videos, sculptures, drawings...anything!

You are invited to join the fun, too! Leave a link to your creation in the comments and I'll add it to that day's post. I'll add pictures of my students' work throughout the month as well.

13 comments:

  1. So much fun, these media prompts. I love "massive muscle of water/Neptune's mighty bicep." Want to highlight your project for my staff. Can you do a post directed at teachers who might want to project an image on smartboard for kids to write from, or have I missed that one? : )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing, Heidi! The whole shebang is directed at teachers for sharing. If they just want the image, they can use their "window shade" to cover up our writing. My students are FASCINATED by the variety of poems each bit of media inspires.

      Delete
  2. F

    A

    L

    L

    ing

    from the top of the wave

    I

    I

    I

    crash down to the ground,

    turn my

    BACK/KCAB/BACK/KCAB

    to the

    W

    A

    T

    E

    R

    and pray for strength to remain
    STANDING.

    -- Kevin

    (I was inspired by your shape poem, Mary Lee. But my poem here did not come out the way I wanted due to Blog formatting. It collapsed my lines, etc. So, I did create a screenshot of how I wanted it to look.)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dogtrax/8634523572/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kevin,
      Very clever. Both you and Mary Lee managed to make the shape of the poem really serve as part of the message! Fun!

      Delete
  3. Neptune's might bicep!!! LOVE

    ReplyDelete
  4. That Neptune line closes it beautifully, Mary Lee. Can you imagine doing this? I get a little nervous when a big wave knocks me off my feet! Terrific to see your poem too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Flatlander that I am, I have had very little experience with the ocean. I am just awed by the size and power of it. NO, I can't imagine doing this!!

      Delete
    2. I love the Neptune line too, Mary Lee. I hope you will revise this, definitely a keeper!

      Delete
  5. I love the shape of your poem and the mmm and sss sounds like a wave. I've never seen waves this big. Quite frightening, if you ask me.
    This photo lends itself to concrete poetry. Kevin, love the movement in yours.

    ReplyDelete
  6. OK, I told you I would write poems every day. But today it just wasn't happening. Here are two very bad surfing poems.

    Bad Surfing Poem #1
    It takes
    a lot of brave
    to fling oneself
    on the mercy
    of those
    enormous
    rolling
    rushing
    body- crashing
    waves.

    CAW

    ******************
    "Bad Surfing Poem #2"

    Ride a wave,
    That's my fave!

    Wanna hang ten?
    Just tell me when.

    Gotta straddle
    Then you paddle.

    The perfect time
    You must divine.

    Have to wait
    But can't be late.

    From belly to knees
    Then stand up please.

    To find your balance
    Can be a challenge.

    Hit your stride
    And ake a ride.

    To the shore
    Then back for more.

    Ride a wave?
    Must be brave!
    (or maybe a little stupid!)

    CAW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I refuse to call them "very bad" poems in the post. Here's the thing about a poem a day -- some poems are better than others. No apologies needed. That's part of the joy...when you get one that just...SHINES.

      Delete
  7. Whoops- supposed to be
    Hit your stride
    Then take a ride.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am an elementary education major, currently taking a children's literature course. These poems are awesome for teaching children that poetry can be anything they want it to be. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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