Weekend Assignment #212 – Celebrating Poetry

The Weekend Assignment is posted each Friday at Outpost Mâvarin; a roundup of responses goes up the following Thursday, so if you’d like to join in, you’ve still got some time. Karen says: Don’t worry if you don’t get your entry in by the end of the weekend. It’s called the Weekend Assignment because John Scalzi originally designed it to give folks something to write on weekends, but times have changed since then. Now the meme is launched on Thursday nights / Friday mornings, just a little later than Scalzi used to post it, and you have a whole week to respond. Still, I for one am grateful if you don’t all wait until the last minute!

Weekend Assignment #212: It’s National Poetry Month in the United States, but poetry itself is a worldwide phenomenon, existing in many styles. Let’s celebrate the form. How? By writing a poem, of course! It can be silly or serious, haiku, limerick, rhymed verse, blank verse, free verse, two lines long or fifty, or anything in between. All I ask is that it be a new, original poem, not something you wrote in high school and trot out occasionally.

Extra Credit: Do you have a favorite poet?

(Note: This wasn’t the original Weekend Assignment topic. I had started working on that one before this went up, and will post it later this week.)

Poetry. I’m sorry to say it, but poetry is one form of literature that just doesn’t grab me. Perhaps it’s to be blamed on all that time with Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, and Edgar Allan Poe in my American Literature classes, or perhaps not, but I can safely say that I don’t seek it out for recreational reading. I much prefer a narrative style, and I think that well-chosen prose can often be quite poetic itself.

I really only enjoy poetry in a couple of forms – humorous verse, and song lyrics. Based on that, I would have to agree with Karen’s choice of Dr. Seuss as my favorite poet, sharing the honors with Lennon and McCartney.

I don’t recall ever writing a poem that wasn’t for an assignment, and the following is no exception. The title was suggested by my husband, and I hope that you enjoy it. Writing it was easier than I expected, but I doubt I’ll do it again any time soon.

The Blogger’s Lament
Sometimes, when one’s writing a blog,

One might find oneself in a fog.

The ideas just don’t come,

Or they do, but seem dumb…
That’s a good time to go walk the dog.

Do you enjoy poetry? Do you ever write it? Do I have to promise you that I won’t do it again? (I’m OK with that, really…)

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9 comments

  1. Well, you know my answer about poetry. You did a good job, it wasn’t so painful, was it?

    I think Karen might be putting the original assignment up next weekend. I’m not sure though.

    Hope you don’t get called for jury duty.

  2. Mike – It wasn’t that painful only because it was just one five-line verse.

    I’m halfway through the day at the courthouse and haven’t been called out to a courtroom yet…

    Karen – I’ll actually be posting a second poem tomorrow; my sister decided to join in. She’s actually good at poetry.

    And I’ve written my “bookish” assignment already, so I’m all set for next weekend!

  3. I read a book the end of last year that was written in verse and I was leery about it as a result. Still, I gave it a shot and really enjoyed it. Otherwise, I tend not to seek out poetry very often for pleasure reading. I’ve tried my hand at writing poetry, but I’m not very good at it.

  4. Literary Feline – Same here on both counts, Wendy, but the second one should be obvious by now. 🙂

    I think I remember your review of that book; it’s an intriguing concept, but I’m not sure I would get into it very much myself.

  5. I wonder if it would have been easier if Karen said to write a song? You should keep writing limericks. I liked that one.

  6. Kiva – For me, writing a song would not have been easier. The lyrics would be difficult, and the music even more so.

    Thanks – it was actually more fun to write that limerick than I expected. I may try it again…