Day 30 2023 ~ Eleven Line Autobiographical Poem for #NationalPoetryMonth and 30 poems in 30 days

Wow!! Well, this is it!! The last day of Poetry Month! Some amazing poems have been written and shared. OK, so for our last day, let’s do an 11-line autobiographical poem. This one is pretty easy ~ it’s a “fill in the blanks” style poem. It’s also a chance to let people know a bit more about you. However, if doing that publicly makes you uncomfortable, you can always use a fictional character’s traits to fill in the blanks . . . and create a poem that way, particularly if you are a writer; you can create a poem about one of your characters. Either way, it’s just one more poetic form to explore.

I hope y’all have had a great time this month and come back next year!!

Here’s how to do this poem:

Just fill in the blanks and then go back and delete everything that is underlined with a yellow highlight, center what’s left, and you have your autobiographical poem. Cheers!!

“Eleven-Line Autobiographical Poem”

line 1 Your first name

line 2 Four character traits

line 3 Sibling of

line 4 Lover of

line 5 Who feels

line 6 Who needs

line 7 Who gives

line 8 Who fears

line 9 Who would like to see

line 10 Resident of

line 11 your last name

 

Here is mine – first I filled in the blanks and then I deleted the parts underlined/highlighted in yellow and then I centered the poem. Cheers!!

line 1 your first name Stephanie

line 2 four character traits Compassionate, creative, joyful, grateful

line 3 Sibling of Camille

line 4 Lover of life, family, country, and the Lord

line 5 Who feels happiest surrounded by family

line 6 Who needs love and understanding

line 7 Who gives freely of herself to help where she’s needed

line 8 Who fears she may not have done enough

line 9 Who would like to see everyone treated with kindness

line 10 resident of the universe

line 11 your last name Abney

 

Stephanie

Compassionate, creative, joyful, grateful

Sibling of Camille

Lover of life, family, country, and the Lord

Who feels happiest surrounded by family

Who needs love and understanding

Who gives freely of herself to help where she’s needed

Who fears she may not have done enough

Who would like to see everyone treated with kindness

Resident of the universe

Abney

 

Your turn!! Cheers!!

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

Day 29 2023 ~ Wishing Poems for #NationalPoetryMonth “30 Poems in 30 Days”

There are many ways to write a “wishing poem.” Most people are familiar with the childhood chant:

 

Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have this wish I wish tonight.

 

Today is “World Wish Day” and “National Wish Day” in reference to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Our youngest son received a wish from Make-a-Wish when he was battling leukemia. He asked for a “freestanding woodworking workshop in the backyard with electricity and power tools.” No one had ever wished for that before but his wish granters found a way. He spent many happy hours in his workshop making all sorts of wood creations before he succumbed to his cancer.

The day Make-A-Wish presented BJ with his woodworking workshop - they invited the neighborhood kids over and had refreshments, etc.

  Inside BJ's workshop

World Wish Day

Since there is no one set way to write a “wish poem” I’m just going to provide you with several links to examples of wish poems and let you pick and choose whatever works for you. Cheers!! (Sadly, tomorrow is our last day).

The most typical wish poetry begins each line actually with “I wish” until the very end and then you can create a concluding line or two – some people would consider this a “List Poem” and the jury is out on if it’s a “real” poem, but I say, why not? It expresses things the poet wishes (there’s our word!!) to share, so, it’s p-o-e-t-r-y!! Right?

 

Here’s a well-known example by Bob Perks: “I Wish You Enough”

 

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Goodbye.”

 

                 © Bob Perks

 

There is no particular “rhyme or reason” on how to create you WISHING POEM ~ just wish away!!

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

DAY 28 2023 – FREE CHOICE ~ #NationalPoetryMonth – 30 poems in 30 days

Y’all have been doing great!! Only two days left after this one ~ wow!!!! Today I thought you could choose any style of poetry we have done this year (or any other year) or just do a free-style poem of your own creation. And IF you can think of a fun new way to present it – do so. Add your own artwork or any way you can think of to highlight it. OR just write one up, and put it out there for others to see.

I thought I would share a few of mine that I created when I took a textile/fiber art class at the local community college during the pandemic. We started out in person but soon everything started to close down, including schools and we had to switch to online classes, which was very interesting. One project I did was to create my own fabric designs using color resist (tie-dye) and then print some of my poems directly onto the fabric (which is a technique I had to teach myself) but they turned out very cool. What can you think of? You can create a table design and print off your poem(s) to set next to it and take a photo or use clay or maybe bake something if it goes with your poem. Let your mind wander and see what you come up with.  And again, it can simply be your own poem(s) that you come up with. That takes a lot of creativity in and of itself. Cheers!!

Here ya’ go ~ (You can tell that most of these were written during the pandemic). 

 

 

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

DAY 27 2023 ~ How to write a Grammar Poem for #NationalPoetryMonth and 30 poems in 30 days

The teacher in me LOVES poems that deal with grammar – this one is a very easy and fun poetry form. It is simple but precise as it reinforces different aspects of grammar.

I thought for today, I’d TRY to be brief! Cheers!!

This grammar poetry form is five lines long. The specifics are as follows:

 

Directions:

Line 1. Write a noun for the subject (THIS serves as your TITLE as well)
Line 2. Write two adjectives joined by and to describe this noun
Line 3. Write a verb and an adverb to describe this noun in action
Line 4. Start it with like or as followed by a comparison
Line 5. Start it with if only followed by a wish

Remember: Most adverbs tell you how, where, or when something is done, and MANY (but certainly not all) adverbs end in “ly.” [quickly, carefully, early, happily, etc.] In other words, they describe the manner, place, or time of an action. In fact, here’s a link about adverbs if you are unsure. Some may surprise you: ADVERBS        

 

Here are two EXAMPLES I wrote about 10 years ago:

 

Some of my “grammar poems”

Writer's block
Infuriating and debilitating
Slowing me down temporarily
Like grease clogging up a drain
If only I had a very large plunger!

                © 2014 Stephanie Abney

 

My kitty
Entertaining and curious
Laying on my keyboard lazily
Like the Queen of Sheba
If only she would nap someplace else

            © 2014 Stephanie Abney 

 

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

Day 26 2023 ~ “Brevette Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

We’ve been working hard so how about writing some Brevette Poems?

So this LOOKS simple – THREE WORDS? Yeah, but it can be tricky ~ The Brevette ~ check it out!! It will definitely be tricky for me because I struggle with brevity! No titles needed.  

ONLY THREE WORDS? Yikes!!

There are a FEW particulars to this poetry form created by Emily Romano. Here’s a little grammar for you – I know you love it – this poem consists of TWO NOUNS & a VERB:

LINE 1: a subject (noun)

LINE 2: a verb (the verb has a space between each letter:  v e r b)

LINE 3: an object (noun)

They need to STAY in that exact order and yeah, there is ONE MORE THING!! In order for the verb to show an ongoing action, it is spaced out, letter by letter.

Whether or not you include a title is up to you, but otherwise, there is NO punctuation, and all words are lower case ~

THREE WORDS – don’t be adding “helping verbs” or “articles” – that’s cheating. Coming up with a subject and an object for the nouns is surprisingly difficult. Seriously, this is trickier than it seems. So, here are a couple of examples, some better than others:

REMEMBER TO ADD A SPACE IN THE MIDDLE LINE FOR YOUR VERB

Example #1: (no title)

rainbow
r a d i a t e s
spectrum

      © 2007 Emily Romano

 

Example #2:

patience
u n t a n g l e s
knots

© 2018 Stephanie Abney

Example #3:

dog
s m e l l s
escapes

      © 2017 Stephanie Abney

 

Example #4:

dreams
c o m e
true

© 2018 Stephanie Abney

 

Example #5:

eyes
l e a k
tears

      © 2017 Stephanie Abney

 

Example #6:

dreams
f o l l o w
passion

      © 2017 Stephanie Abney

 

 

*** PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

Day 25 - 2023 How to Write a “Lantern Poem” for #NationalPoetryMonth “30 poems in 30 days”

 

OK, let’s do a simple little Japanese poetry form called a "Lantern Poem." When centered, the shape of this little poem resembles a Japanese lantern.

It is a five-line poem with very specific requirements. Please note that each line has very particular guidelines in what the word(s) should be describing and then also note the number of syllables per line. These poems do not have titles – the first line is basically the title. The first line is always a noun, with lines 2-4 describing that noun with 2, 3, then 4 syllables, and the LAST line ends with ONE syllable that is a SYNONYM for the noun in line one, as follows:

 

The Pattern is:

 

Line 1: noun (one syllable)

Line 2: describe the noun (two syllables)

Line 3: describe the noun (three syllables

Line 4: describe the noun (four syllables)

Line 5: synonym for noun in line one (one syllable)

 

Need some help coming up with synonyms? Thesaurus ~ Synonyms

 

  Examples of Lantern Poems:  

        Trust
       Faithful
    Always there
  Can depend on
          You

                                   © 2014 Stephanie Abney

 

 

Rest
Slumber
Forty Winks
Restorative
Sleep

 

© 2016 Stephanie Abney

 
      Love
   Husband
  Companion
  Eternal love
        Jim
                        © 2020 Stephanie Abney

 

 

      Art
     Style
    Emotions
Broadens my view
       Gift
  
         © 2023 Stephanie Abney
 

Now it’s YOUR TURN!! 

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

Day 24 2023 ~ Book Spine Poetry for #NationalPoetryMonth and “30 Poems in 30 Days”

Today is the day!!! If you have been following along you know that I mentioned we would be doing this super fun poetry form today, Monday! So, this is an intriguing way to “create” or, actually, “find” a poem by arranging and rearranging a stack of books horizontally that show the title on the book spine into something clever that might be a “poem.” Just like creating any poetry, you get to decide if it will happy or sad, serious or funny, or whatever.

Simply start perusing the titles on your bookshelves and pull out some that have possibilities and start stacking them up to see what you might discover. This seems to be a favorite poetry form. It’s pretty fun. When you come up with a short stack of books with titles that lend themselves to being a poem of sorts, snap a pic, and post it for today’s entries and please also type up the words, line by line (title by title) so it looks like a poem as some book spines are hard to read. See the examples below. Thanks! Have Fun!! Cheers.

No fair adding extra words, articles (a, the . . .), etc. Use ONLY the title words from your book spines!!

Ready? … here we go!!!

 

Giant Steps

A Man, A Can, A Plan

Feeding a Giant

Big in Japan

Raw Power

           My dear sisters
           Become who you were born to be
           Unstoppable
           Great shall be your joy.

If you need more inspiration - here is a link from the “School Library Journal” where you can browse through several years of photos of book spine poetry for some inspiration if you need ideas:

“Book Spine Poem Gallery” ~ You will find a search page with numerous years of book spine poetry examples to check out.

Here are a few more examples I came up with in years past: 

Never Give Up!
The Fun Never Ends
Toxic Relief
You Can Do It!

 

   One Windy Day
   Curious George Flies a Kite
   Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
   Long Ride Home

 

 

Excuse Me
There’s an Owl in the Shower
You Can Get Over It
Once Upon a Summer

 

 

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

Day 23 2023 ~ “Rhyming Poems” with an ‘A-B-A-B rhyme scheme’ for “30 Poems in 30 Days” and #NationalPoetryMonth

OK, there’s only one week of Poetry Month left ~ so for those of you who LOVE rhyming poems ~ this is your lucky day! There are NUMEROUS patterns to rhyming poems, the use of end rhymes where the last sound of the end word in one line of poetry rhymes with the last sound of the end word in another line of poetry.

Here are a couple of FREE resources you can use to find rhyming words – just type in the word in the box, click, and poof ~ a rhyming word appears:

Rhyming Dictionary  

Rhyme Zone 

And if you want to do a deep dive into rhyming, I suggest this website: Study Smarter - Rhymes (pop-ups on here will want you to pay for a membership – just click somewhere else on the page and they should go away. Or click on the X in the upper right corner of that type of pop-up. You do not need to pay to read this page ~ and just keep scrolling until you can go no further – lots of info here). Or, just keep reading here and do the simple rhyming scheme we are doing today.

And if you’re a crazy person and you REALLY need to know all about rhymes – go here, but try not to get lost . . . SO many rhyming details:

Examples of Rhyme

Today we are going to keep things pretty simple and we will use the most common rhyming scheme:

a – b – a – b

This is where the words at the end of the first and third lines rhyme and the words at the end of the second and fourth line rhyme.

You should also try to keep the meters of lines ‘a’ the same as each other and the meters of line ‘b’ the same as each other. This can be done by counting syllables.

Here’s an example of a rhyming poem with an A-B-A-B scheme written by Louisa May Alcott (it’s in the Public Domain – so I can use it here).

To One Who Teaches Me
    by Louisa May Alcott ^©

To one who teaches me                 (A) [6 syllables]
The sweetness and the beauty       (B) [7syllables]
Of doing faithfully                         (A) [6 syllables]
And cheerfully my duty."                (B) [7syllables]
          

 

And here’s one that I wrote ~ just for fun:

In this little 4-line example I made up, you can see the end words in the first and third lines rhyme and they both lines have 5 beats (5 syllables). The end words in the second and fourth lines rhyme and both lines have 6 beats (6 syllables).

 

I went to the store                     (A) [5 syllables]
To buy a loaf of bread.               (B) [6 syllables]
I found something more              (A) [5 syllables]
“So typical,” I said.                    (B) [6 syllables]
                 

          © Stephanie Abney 2011

           (Seems silly to copyright such a simple little sample verse but there you have it)

 

Here’s one I dashed off this morning ~ just a silly little “slice of life” poem. The older Jim and I get, the more cute and funny little routines we develop. He has a single sister, whom we adore, and one or two nights a week she’ll come over. We’ll have some dinner and then we play games. We laugh and laugh and in doing so, our bond increases and so this little rhyming poem came to mind:

 

We play a game of cards,          (A) [6 syllables]
Jim, his sister, and me.             (B) [6 syllables]
With laughter by the yards,       (A) [6 syllables]
It’s just as things should be.      (B) [6 syllables]

          © Stephanie Abney 2023

Here’s your handy dandy syllable counter if you need it:
Syllable Counter

You can just do four lines or you can create a longer poem by making several stanzas of four lines each, always rhyming lines one and three as well as lines two and four.

Also, note that with more than one verse, oftentimes the very last stanza can vary, or not, but all previous stanzas should follow the pattern.

*** Just a heads up: for tomorrow, spine poetry – making rhymes out of the titles found on the spines of books. This is always a fun one so be scanning your bookcases. Cheers!!

OK, off you go – rhyme away!!

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

Day 22 2023 ~ “Nonet Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

 

This is one of my all-time FAVORITE poetry forms: NONET POEM!! I use it every year. I hope you enjoy creating Nonet poems as well.

Basically, the “Nonet poem” is based on the number 9. I first tried writing one of these for the 2014 Poetry Challenge and the two poems that resulted are two of my favorite and so I continue to use them as examples, not that I haven’t written newer Nonet poems, but I love these and the pictures I found to go with them, so . . . if you’ve been around, you have seen these before and if not, get set for lots of FUN!!!!!

A Nonet Poem is based on NINE, in more ways than one ~ it has nine lines and the FIRST LINE has NINE syllables ~ but there are a few more details to know. Here is how you do this poem:

When I looked up the word “nonet” in the dictionary I discovered it stood for 9 musical performers or 9 instruments – and the poem has a pattern that has 9 lines – the first line has 9 syllables, and each line thereafter has one less syllable, ending with the last line only having ONE syllable. The number of words does not matter, ONLY the number of syllables so it actually provides you with some flexibility. Intriguing, right?

Here is a “look” at this pattern:

* * * * * * * * * (9 syllables)

* * * * * * * * (8 syllables)

* * * * * * * (7 syllables)

* * * * * * (6 syllables)

* * * * * (5 syllables)

* * * * (4 syllables)

* * * (3 syllables)

* * (2 syllables)

* (1 syllable)

 

It can be about ANYTHING as long as the SYLLABLE COUNTS ARE CORRECT, so PLEASE count them so you can do it correctly.

 

Here is your handy, dandy Syllable Counter

And here are the first two I ever wrote for this poetry form and they remain my favorites:

 

Made chocolate chip cookies tonight

One taste before I go to bed

One bite follows another

I forgot what I said

I’m ready to stop

Well, maybe not

Just one more

Then to . . .

Bed!!

          © 2014 Stephanie Abney

 

“Grandma, may we have a sleepover?”

My precious grandkids ask again.

“We promise to obey you.”

They give a hopeful look.

“We won’t talk in bed.”

That’s what they said.

“We love you.”

I said,

“Yes!”

           © 2014 Stephanie Abney

 

OKAY, your turn – GO!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 (1st photo from Pixabay - free use / 2nd photo courtesy of Stephanie Abney)