My Poetry School students did so well with this exercise I invented, I thought I'd share it as a prompt for National Poetry Month.
Thinking of one event you'd like to write about--it needn't but could be personal (or historical, etc.), write a poem consisting only of questions, maximum 20 lines. Indeed, it could just be one question extended over a number of lines.
I know what gave me the idea for this exercise. Years ago, Donald Justice published a poem, "Twenty Questions," in Seneca Review, and I wrote a poem in response, "Twenty Answers," published later in the same magazine. The catch, if that's the right word, is that my answers were also questions.
If you try this approach, I'd be glad to hear of your experience with it.
Thinking of one event you'd like to write about--it needn't but could be personal (or historical, etc.), write a poem consisting only of questions, maximum 20 lines. Indeed, it could just be one question extended over a number of lines.
I know what gave me the idea for this exercise. Years ago, Donald Justice published a poem, "Twenty Questions," in Seneca Review, and I wrote a poem in response, "Twenty Answers," published later in the same magazine. The catch, if that's the right word, is that my answers were also questions.
If you try this approach, I'd be glad to hear of your experience with it.
Thank you again Carrie. Because it would be impossible for you to be deluged by 150 odd poems every day and because we do not trust ourselves not to cheat, some friends on your list and i are sending our daily poems to each other which i think will prove to be a very good idea. So far so good, second day. Hm....a question poem, good prompt.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea Carrie. Now just off to pick an event...
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