Slice of Life March Challenge. No. 24.
Poetry Friday : March 24, 2017.
Five Minute Friday : March 24, 2017.
I read Lynne’s Song of Sunshine inspired by Langston Hughes’ April Rain Song, and I was inspired to try to follow the model to write a poem (#PoetryFriday) with the noun embrace (#FiveMinuteFriday).
Your Embrace
Let your embrace speak hope into despair
Let your embrace kindle warmth where love is cold
Let your embrace comfort mourning hearts
Your embrace gives strength to the weak
Your embrace spreads freedom and peace
Your embrace makes joy overflow
I cling to your embrace
© 2017 Alice Nine
Then I decided to try a few lines with embrace as a verb.
Embraced
You embraced me with your smile
You embraced me with your eyes
You embraced me with your words
and I embrace you in my arms.
© 2017 Alice Nine
Five Minute Friday offered the word embrace as a quick write prompt. For five minutes I wrote a quick write, a free write, a stream of consciousness. Here it is in all its roughness, in pen and paper — tools I prefer for a free write.
I mention Embrace by Billy Collins in my quick write. Here it is.
Embrace
You know the parlor trick.
wrap your arms around your own body
and from the back it looks like
someone is embracing you
her hands grasping your shirt
her fingernails teasing your neck
from the front it is another story
you never looked so alone
your crossed elbows and screwy grin
you could be waiting for a tailor
to fit you with a straight jacket
one that would hold you really tight.
-Billy Collins
Writing about my writing
Titles of my poems.
Did you notice that one title uses embrace as a noun and the other uses it as a verb?
Observations of my free write.
I notice when the intensity of my thinking increases I have slips in spelling, I begin listing. Also, I began with positive ideas, then suggest the negative, and finally ended with consideration of the motive behind an embrace … and that would be another topic to free write.
Catherine at Reading to the Core is hosting
the Poetry Friday Roundup today.
Join us there! Thank you, Catherine!
Poetry Friday Schedule: 2017 January – June.
Poetry Friday Guidelines
More about Poetry Friday
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Thank you Kate Motaung for hosting.
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Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for hosting
2017 Slice of Life Story Challenge
What a rich post, Alice! I love both of your poems, especially “your embrace makes joy overflow.” I also enjoyed reading your quick write. I always learn so much when others share their process. Thank you!
When I finished this post, the tangible impact of the word made me thing that maybe I should have chosen “embrace” for my OLW. 🙂
I am thrilled that you tried out the scaffold fromthe Langston Hughes mentor poem and explored the word embrace so effectively and beautifully. I was inspired! Brava!
Thank you, Lynne. I’ve been reading your posts and enjoying them… not always commenting. 🙂
Wow! So many directions and connections flowing from just one word. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by, Kay! 🙂
Alice, I am always intrigued by your process. Thanks so much for always being willing to share with us!
Thank you, Kiesha. I, too, enjoy when someone shares their thinking, the process, the backstory to a piece.
Lovely poetic explorations, Alice – thank you for the thoughtful, behind-the-scenes look! (& I love that “Pencils fly” mantra!)
🙂 We had a mantra for each “stage” of writing that helped us remember what we were wanting to accomplish. When doing the work of revision, it was “Ears listen” so we would not think about mechanical errors. I began using it when I realized I had to face the student, close my eyes, and just listen to get past all the mistakes my teacher-eyes saw on the paper. Then the work of editing became “Eyes look.”
Hugs!!
🙂 and a hug back!
I agree with Bridget, this is a great prompt. Thank you for sharing your process and prompts. I was fascinated by yur observations of your poem development. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you for this. It is important to remember- one word is enough to get started. The preliminary quick write is a good idea, too, for those “i’m stuck” times.
I find quick writing (5 minutes) is a powerful practice to do regularly, and rarely do I use it as a brainstorming activity. I did today because I was participating in #FiveMinuteFriday (which is a free writing challenge). Sometime I should share my procedures; they work well with students, even young ones.
These are so great! Beautiful!
🙂
More fabulous prompts to try! Thank you for sharing your writing exercises and the results, Alice. I am inspired. =)
I’m glad you stopped by, Bridget. 🙂
Your poetry speaks gently of the power of an embrace. So well done! And so much thought has gone into your writing today. Great slice!
Thanks, Jenan. 🙂
Good for you for trying – that’s the way to get those writing juices going.
Thanks for coming by, Tara. 🙂
When ideas start flowing spelling is secondary to getting those thought down on paper. I would always tell my students not to get hung up on spelling, that can be fixed at a later time.
Definitely! I tell students “Write as if there isn’t a single rule in the whole wide world. Make your pencil fly until it’s all on paper.” Our mantra for drafting: “Pencils fly.”
Thank you for every aspect of your post, especially your poetry. I’m looking for a word with which to try this–I’m sure one will come to me.
You really should try it; it’s quite fun to see the meaning and use of a single word unfold. If you chose a OLW, use it. Or if not, use mine — rejoice.