Seconds (Writing 101, A Poem A Day)

Posted on by

Writing 101, A Poem A Day: Day 4: Seconds
Poetry & Photography

“Life moves very fast. It rushes from Heaven to Hell in a matter of seconds.” – Paulo Coelho

A new life sees the world for the first time. Simultaneously, another life takes its final breath.

A passenger that was supposed to board a plane was one second late. Hours later, the plane went missing, the passenger saved.

Unimportant as it may seem, a split second can change our lives in ways we can never imagine. So today, write about the basic unit of time, seconds. Reflect on those few seconds when a loved one was in a life-and-death situation. Relive the few seconds when you held your eldest child for the first time. Recount those seconds when you were waiting for big news that was about to change your life.

 

seconds-3

“Even if it turns out that time travel is impossible, it is important that we understand why it is impossible” Stephen Hawking

Seconds

Heart beating
Time is running out
Only a few seconds left
For the ultimate request
Using a different route
Feels like cheating

Finally reaching
My own hideout
No time for rest
Only doing my best
No time for tryout
Parameter breaching

Safely in my blue box
Punching the clock
Time starts moving
Seconds removing
Going backwards
Against standards

They said
It couldn’t be done
But did I bet
And know I am gone
Back in time
Trying to find
…My future

seconds-2   seconds-1

Sleepy Kitty (Writing 101, A Poem A Day)

Posted on by

Writing 101, A Poem A Day: Day 3: Sleep
Poetry & Photography

Sleep: a world where our thoughts rule.

A place where reality is overshadowed by dreams.

A time when we transport our soul from the real world to the virtual.

For some, the hours we spend asleep, alone and in peace, are the best of the entire day; for others, whether haunted by nightmares or unable to fall asleep in the first place, not so much.

It’s time to think deeply about sleep. Dive into the pool of night and let whatever it is you find there take poetic form. (I hope this prompt doesn’t make an insomniac out of you!)

118

“Sleepy Kitty
Happy Kitty
Purr, purr, purr”

Sleepy Kitty

Happy with my kitty
So I wrote this little ditty
Why don’t you sing along
To the tune of this familiar song

Soft kitty, warm kitty
Purring on my lap
Sleepy kitty, happy kitty
Why don’t I too take a nap

My little ball of fur
Listening to you purr
Life is kind of a blur
But this is how I prefer

118

Reflections, Two

Posted on by

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day 2: Reflections
Poetry & Photography

On water, in puddles, in glass, in mirrors – reflections can clarify, blur reality, or fracture it altogether. They can serve up surreal images or a perspective that’s unexpected. Whether it’s street light-reflected raindrops or the sky distorted in a half-melted patch of ice, reflections are nature’s funhouse mirrors.

Reflections are not limited to non-living objects. Our bodies reflect our internal health and our clothes reflect our lifestyle. We also reflect internally upon our world, our physical state, or on ideas bouncing around inside our skulls.

Clear or distorted, in your poem today tell us something about the reflections you see — in the world or in yourself.

reflections-2

“Style is a reflection of your attitude and your personality” Shawn Ashmore

Reflections, Two

Through the looking glass
Reflections from present and past
Mystified images mirrored
In your mind’s eye forever

reflections-1

Reflections, One

Posted on by

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day 2: Reflections
Poetry & Photography

On water, in puddles, in glass, in mirrors – reflections can clarify, blur reality, or fracture it altogether. They can serve up surreal images or a perspective that’s unexpected. Whether it’s street light-reflected raindrops or the sky distorted in a half-melted patch of ice, reflections are nature’s funhouse mirrors.

Reflections are not limited to non-living objects. Our bodies reflect our internal health and our clothes reflect our lifestyle. We also reflect internally upon our world, our physical state, or on ideas bouncing around inside our skulls.

Clear or distorted, in your poem today tell us something about the reflections you see — in the world or in yourself.

reflections-6

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection” Winston Churchill

Reflections, One

Reflections on the walls
Reflections on the windows
The sunsets and sunrises
Reflected on each surface

reflections-4

Magic (Part Two for Writing 101 Poetry)

Posted on by

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day One: Magic
Poetry & Photography

Magic-Quotes2

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work” Colin Powell

Magic

Like a flick
Of the light switch
Like scratching
A really bad itch
I had started writing
Once more
Just like that
Just like magic
I found my muse
And I did it

mac-1

 

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day One: Magic, Part One

Posted on by

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day One: Magic
Poetry & Photography

 

“Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace” Eugene O’Neill

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day One: Magic

Day 1: Magic

It’s the end of the year. Nature is already entering its revolution phase: hibernation in the Northern Hemisphere, burning heat in the Southern. It’s the magic of life. Like Mother Nature, you too can give your life a new beginning.

What magic have you accomplished in the past year? Be it small or grand, it’s worth celebrating in a poem!

You can write about something you did that made you feel young again, or maybe about that difficult undertaking you finally completed. (I, for example, mastered French lemon meringue pie; as we say here, “it wasn’t cake.”) You might also take inspiration from a dream that came true, or from a difficult situation resolved in a fairytale-like ending. Of course, everyday magic (or even failed magic) works too!

Bio: Frédérique (a.k.a. La duchesse d’Érat) lives and writes in Lyon, France. She started her blog hoping to connect with an audience and ended up sharing every aspect of her writing life (stories, accounts, tips, pictures of her cat and of her tiny tired laptop) in both French and English.

Frédérique is a regular Daily Prompter, Blogging U. course junkie, and an avid NaNoWriMo participant since 2010. Cooking is how she procrastinates. You can also find her on Twitter @laduchessederat.

Magic-Quotes1

Writing 101, Day Eighteen, Compose a series of anecdotes

Posted on by

Writing 101, Day Eighteen, Compose a series of anecdotes
Part One

 anecdote

“I’m not funny in person. I mean I’m really not. I’m one of those people who always screw up anecdotes” Bill Bryson

Writing 101, Day Eighteen, Compose a series of anecdotes

 

The spectrum of moods you can create with this format is extremely wide. You might aim for a warm, lighthearted vibe, like a travel blogger channeling her love of the road through a string of portraits of the people who took her on as a hitchhiker. Or tackle a serious, tough issue like discrimination through the fragmented lens of anecdotal storytelling, as shown in Teri Carter’s sobering piece enumerating the instances of racism she’d encountered in her own family.

Not sure how to approach this assignment? Here are some ideas:

* Tell a story composed of scenes in each of which you eat your favorite dish, or enjoy your signature drink.
* Build a narrative of your own personal growth (or your attempts at achieving it) by evoking some of your past birthday parties.
* Write a post in which each section begins with the phrase “You may never believe this.”
* Recount the same anecdote several times, but do it from a different POV, style, or genre each time, so that each retelling exposes something new in your tale.
* Other examples include “Twelve Ways of Looking at Water” (common element: water), “The Bride Was Gone” (common setting: wedding), and “The Yellow Bus” (common thing: yellow bus).

Go to:
Anecdote Time

anecdote-quotes-2

Anecdote Time

Posted on by

Writing 101, Day Eighteen, Compose a series of anecdotes
Part Two

Whats-the-difference

“As we grow older, our bodies get shorter and our anecdotes longer” Robert Quillen

Anecdote Time

Never judge a book by its cover. A paperback can be just as entertaining as hardcover.

If you want to dwell in the past, buy yourself a time machine.

You have to learn how to walk before you can run. I found out that the hard way after my hip-surgery.

Looking into a mirror is like… Well, you obviously need to take a selfie!

Time, time, precious time, where have you gone? Don’t tell me, you lost your watch again?

In my youth, the grass was always greener, food tasted better and life was much happier… Then we woke up and put the dog out to pee.

Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes… Be damned sure they are the same size as your own ones!

Today, I woke up, the day was stormy, the skies were gray, my mind felt dull... Well, you can’t always expect to be in the tropics, now can you Dearie?

Don’t do as I do, do as I say! Apparently, you can get away with murder?

People who are smart, beautiful and talented… Really piss me off!

Writing 101, Day Seventeen, A map as your muse

Posted on by

Writing 101, Day Seventeen, A map as your muse

write

“I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book” Roald Dahl,

Writing 101, Day Seventeen, A map as your muse

But the truth of the matter is, there are more maps in the world than anyone can count. Every person draws a map that shows themselves at the center.

— By Catherynne M. Valente, The Boy Who Lost Fairyland

With maps, we tell tales about ourselves and the places we come from, that we miss, that we’ve reshaped in our minds. We use maps to identify and explore locations and points in between, to track movements, and to make sense of our lives — past and present.

Today, let a map be your muse. Select an area anywhere in the world on Google Maps (or your preferred online map tool), or a section on a paper map, and use this as inspiration for your post.

Some ideas:

* Tell us about your connection to a place.
* Pen a poem inspired by the area’s topography.
* Write a piece of memoir in the form of directions from point A to point B, in which each item reveals something about you or the area, like in Anna Fonte’s “How to Get There.”
* Use this geographic map as a model for a mental and more imaginary map, like this map of the lyrical essay from Nina Gaby.
* Switch to Street View and write a story based on what you see.
* Write an essay set in this location, like Dinty Moore’s Google Maps piece, “Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge.”
* If you don’t want to include a map, you can approach the assignment without one, like this personal essay by Maggie Messitt.
* If possible, include a photograph of your paper map, a screenshot of the online map, or an embedded Google Map in your post

write 2

Go To:
“X” marks the Spot

map 2

“X” marks the Spot

Posted on by

Writing 101, Day Seventeen, A map as your muse

map 1

“Gold is a treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise” Christopher Columbus

“X” marks the Spot

Looking for the pirate’s treasure
Nothing really can measure
The excitement and pleasure
And the feelings of pressure

An adventure for a lifetime
A tale before bedtime
A passage through time

When you finally reach
That one specific beach
And the day you siege
It is time to do as you preach

The treasure you found
Was right on the ground
What was once lost
Is now once more found

If you want to know
Come on, I will show
Your mind it will blow
But let’s take it slow

Maybe you were blind
But, look and you shall find
Finally without a strife
Only with, the purpose of life

After all
The X always marks the spot!

map 2