Off the Wall Poetry Prompts:

Weird Ways to Find a Poem2014 Youth Writing Conference Poetry Presentation

Off the Wall Poetry Prompts:Weird Ways to Find a Poem

2014 OWP Youth Writing Conference Presentation

“It’s impossible to teach anyone to write a poem. But we can set up circumstances in which poems are likely to happen…Playing with words, we can get to the place where poems come from. We can write and make discoveries about who we are and who we might become….”--Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge

Purpose:

• Set up circumstances to make poems happen.•Play with words.•Make discoveries about

ourselves through our poems.

Non-purpose

To critique our poems or feel like we have to write an amazing poem. We will be happy with the messing around and thrilled if we write one great line.

Goals:

Experiment with some odd and off the wall poetry prompts to see if we can take our poetry to new places.Introduce Zentangling as a way to illustrate poetry.

Making Metaphor

ADJECTIVE

scrambled

empty

withered

sour

Create three columns. Write adjectives in the first column.

Making Metaphor

ADJECTIVE CONCRETE NOUN

scrambled outlet

empty doghouse

withered medicine

sour hook

Write concrete nouns in the second column. Add several of your own.

Making Metaphor

ADJECTIVE CONCRETE NOUN ABSTRACT NOUN

scrambled outlet sadness

empty doghouse grief

withered medicine apology

sour hook hope

In the third column, write abstract nouns.

Making Metaphor

ADJECTIVE CONCRETE NOUN ABSTRACT NOUN

scrambled outlet sadness

empty doghouse grief

withered medicine apology

sour hook hope

Choose one word from each column and insert the word of between the second and third words to create a line for a poem.

“the empty doghouse of apology”

Vivid Verbs

Fold paper in half. On the left fold, list ten or more common nouns.

lilacshorsemustachecatmusclesdinosaurseed

Vivid Verbs

On the right fold, without referring to the list on the left, list ten or more verbs that describe actions by people in a selected occupation.

sautéchopminceslicebroilboilmarinate

Vivid Verbs

Unfold the two lists and combine the nouns and verbs to see what happens.lilacshorsemustachecatmusclesdinosaurseed

sautéchopminceslicebroilboilmarinate

The fiddles boiled the air with their music.The lilacs sliced the sky into purple.

Somehow This Works

1. Three colors2. Something you rarely, if ever, tell anyone else3. Three questions you would ask if they were the last things you could ever

say4. An aphorism (“A stitch in time saves nine.”)5. Three slant rhymes (shared consonants) long/thing moon/mine6. Three things people have said to you in the last 24 hours7. A recent dream8. Think of the last extreme pain you have endured. If it were an animal,

what would it be?

Five Lines: A Parts of Speech Poem

1. Write a noun of your choice2. Write two adjectives joined by and to describe the noun3. Write a verb and an adverb to describe this noun in action4. Start this line with like or as followed by a comparison5. Start the final line with if only followed by a wish

A Fantasy

1. A mechanical device lawn mower2. One-word metaphor and a participle a shark devouring its prey3. An absolute phrase to show what it’s doing teeth slicing its way4. A prepositional phrase to show location through oceans of green,5. Another participle describing its actions attacking prey unseen6. A prepositional phrase for a conclusion with mindless devotion

Copy/Change PoemsImitate the following poems by retaining the underlined words or word parts, using no punctuation and using similar line breaks.

This Is Just to Say

I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox

and whichyou were probably savingfor breakfast

Forgive methey were deliciousso sweet and so cold

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much dependsupon

a red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the whitechickens

Poetry Reading

Illustrate a Poem with Zentangling

Zentangle a Frame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJ9SpSukeQ

Goals:

Experiment with some odd and off the wall poetry prompts to see if we can take our poetry to new places.Introduce Zentangling as a way to illustrate poetry.

• How to Doodle• I was a child poet. And a bad one.• Twelve-year-old slam poet• The Giving Tree