Monday, January 28, 2008

"poem." free-for-all!

it's week #4 in our virtual poetry group cycle, and as week #4's will go, this one is tame. find a poem online that reminds you -- in any way -- of mary oliver's "cold poem." it could connect via imagery, meaning, style, etc. it can even be another one of your own. go to the comments and link up for us.

next week, we'll start this all over again, with february's week one introducing us to a new poem!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

poem away!

Now's the time to poem! From now until next Sunday, we invite you to post the links to your own cold poems here in our comments section. Then, sit back, grab a hot drink (or a cold one, if you prefer) and enjoy your fellow poets' work!

We would like to offer a big, hearty Thank You! to everyone for joining us in this new venture. Stay tuned for some poetic free-for-all next Sunday. Then, Sunday, February 3, stop back for a new poem/poet to read & discuss!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

poem. prompt based on "cold poem"

we had so many terrific comments in the discussion of "cold poem" (we can keep it going, by the way!). it is so amazing how much time everyone spent considering the piece and sharing their interpretations and observations. we're really moved by it! thank you.

now it's time for us to do some writing of our own.

read "cold poem" again.

take something out of what it stirs up in you and write your own poem. maybe it's simple: it makes you think literally about bears or winter. how does the cold affect you? or maybe it's more of an analogy. maybe you respond by asking yourself what strips you down to bare bones? what do you need to survive? how do you survive? in the dialogue about the poem, we talked about turning inward, stark reality, hunger, fear, loneliness, devouring.

take a week and give it a shot. when we post again next week (on or about january 20), we'll ask you to share what you wrote. in the comments section of that post, you can publish a free write, draft or finished piece, or you can publish a permalink to something on your own blog.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Cold Poem by Mary Oliver: Our 1st poem. poem

Here is a link to the first poem up for discussion:
Cold Poem

welcome to poem.

Welcome to poem. a virtual poetry group. jillypoet & carolee, poets, moms, artists, have tried for years to gather our poet friends together for weekly or bi-weekly poetry meetings, to no avail. Everyone has such busy lives. Being two resourceful Northern girls (born and raised on the far east coast where life is tough and women are tougher), we decided to create our own poetry writing/discussion group, right here in the blogosphere.

That's how poem. will work--just like a weekly poetry group, only we have decided to space things out just a bit to accomodate all of our busy lives.

Week one:
At the beginning of every month we will post a link to a poem by a well-known or lesser-known poet. Read and re-read the poem. Take notes. Read it aloud. Make copies and pass them out to friends, family and strangers! Join us all week in discussing the poem. What worked for you, what didn't. Words you liked. Questions you have. A virtual classroom, you might say.

Week two:
We will post a prompt related to the poem.

Week three:
Participants can post the link to their response to the prompt for comment & critique.

Week four:
Week four is a free week. Stop by for surprises.

At the beginning of the next month, we'll do it all over again with a new and amazing poem!

We hope you will join us!