Today’s new word: perfidy n. 1. deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery. 2. an act or instance of faithlessness or treachery. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write an elegy of your own, one in which the abstraction of sadness is communicated not through abstract words, but physical detail. This prompt is quite timely.Continue reading “P is for perfidy- Poem: Little Bee”
Category Archives: challenges
O is for ostracon – Poem: I Am a Piece
Today’s new word: ostracon n. a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ostraca refer to sherds or even small pieces of stone that have writing scratched into them. Usually these are considered to have been broken off before the writing was added;Continue reading “O is for ostracon – Poem: I Am a Piece”
N is for nyctalopia and nympholepsy – Poem: Catch and Release
Today’s new word: nyctalopia n. night blindness. nympholepsy n. 1. an ecstasy supposed by the ancients to be inspired by nymphs. 2. a frenzy of emotion, as for something unattainable. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write a poem that uses the form of a list to defamiliarize the mundane. Writer’s Digest April PAD (poem aContinue reading “N is for nyctalopia and nympholepsy – Poem: Catch and Release”
M is for maypop- Poem: Seer
Today’s new word: maypop n. 1. the edible fruit of the passionflower, Passiflora incarnata, of the southern U.S. 2. the plant itself. 3. South Midland and Southern U.S. May apple. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write your own dramatic monologue. It doesn’t have to be quite as serious as Browning or Shakespeare, of course, butContinue reading “M is for maypop- Poem: Seer”
Fun with homonyms – Poem: Washington & The Planner Experiment April Week Three
National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write a poem that incorporates homophones, homographs, and homonyms, or otherwise makes productive use of English’s ridiculously complex spelling rules and opportunities for mis-hearings and mis-readings. Writer’s Digest April PAD (poem a day) challenge: Pick a state (or province, territory, etc.), make it the title of your poem, and then,Continue reading “Fun with homonyms – Poem: Washington & The Planner Experiment April Week Three”
L is for lucubration- Poem: Not Alone
Today’s new word: lucubration n. 1. laborious work, study, thought, etc., especially at night. 2. the result of such activity, as a learned speech or dissertation. Often lucubrations. 3. any literary effort, especially of a pretentious or solemn nature. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write a poem about something mysterious and spooky! Writer’s Digest AprilContinue reading “L is for lucubration- Poem: Not Alone”
K is for kayfabe-Poem: The Art of Kayfabe
Today’s new word: kayfabe n. 1. (in professional wrestling) the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write a poem about a dull thing that you own, and why (and how) you love it. Alternatively, what would it mean to you to give away or destroyContinue reading “K is for kayfabe-Poem: The Art of Kayfabe”
J is for jequirity bean and jumbies- Poem: Origins
Today’s new word: jequirity bean (Abrus precatorius) n. 1. the poisonous scarlet and black seed of the rosary pea often used for beads jumbie n. a type of mythological spirit or demon in the folklore of some Caribbean countries National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write a poem of origin. Where are you from? Not justContinue reading “J is for jequirity bean and jumbies- Poem: Origins”
I is for ipseity- Poem: Whatever It Is
Today’s new word: ipseity n. selfhood; individual identity. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write a poem that starts from a regional phrase, particularly one to describe a weather phenomenon. Writer’s Digest April PAD (poem a day) challenge: Write a lone poem. Perhaps the poem is about a solitary wanderer or person who just prefers to goContinue reading “I is for ipseity- Poem: Whatever It Is”
H is for horripilation- Poem: Things that are love/ Things that are not love
Today’s new word: horripilation n. a bristling of the hair on the skin from cold, fear, etc.; goose bumps. National Poetry Writing Month prompt: Write your own Sei Shonagon-style list of “things.” The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon Writer’s Digest April PAD (poem a day) challenge: Write a love poem. All you need is love.Continue reading “H is for horripilation- Poem: Things that are love/ Things that are not love”
Experience Writing 