W-W-W-W-W Poem

It has been a long time since I have reviewed different ways to write poems, so I've been wondering about helps since I plan to "practice" some poetry writing next month. Then, would you believe it? I was keeping the grandchildren today, and the fourth grader brought home poems he had been writing to different formats. Some of the formats I had heard of before such as Haiku. One I was not familiar with was the W-W-W-W-W Poem. I'm sure you can guess that the W's stand for--yes, one could answer the questions Who-What-When-Where-Why to form a poem. The poems should be five lines long. The poem should tell a story or give a strong picture of someone or something. Each line should answer one of the "w" questions in the same order. When you read the poem, it should sound like two sentences put together.

Example:

"A Visit"
WHO: A college friend
WHAT: visited
WHEN: last Monday
WHERE: in my home.
WHY: She just couldn't stay away.

By the way, the idea came from www2.redmondk12.com. (I think.)

Nana

Submitted for mcj by Solard...

It's a humpty dumpty fence - a wall fence
I've been intrigued with it these days
Looking out the sunporch windows
It is held together, the mountain rocks
With red mortar - a standout scene
And I picture humpty dumpty sitting there
Watching the cars and trucks go by
Until one day he turned too quickly
And lost his balance and fell
Being an egg or egghead
And needing glue and reconstruction
We all took turns trying to match
His parts - just like a puzzle
Well, (deep subject) one piece was
Missing when we finished
And we hunted everywheree
In all the grass and under the rocks
Where bugs hide
But the missing piece has never
Been found
So humpty dumpty won't sit on the wall
Without that piece to balance him.

Can you find it?

prose poem by mcj

April Poetry Challenge

I am enjoying the Poetry Challenge again this year. It's great to develop the discipline of working on a new idea each day, even if I sometimes have to post them later. I am also enjoying the companionship of several other writers in the challenge.

You can find the prompts at Poetic Asides, and you can enjoy the poems that are posted by clicking on the comments link under each prompt.

You can read poems from our group or post your own on our new Pens & Pages Poems .

Here is one I wrote about writing, and what has been written:


Silence Overflowing

Papers bound together with a wire
waiting for ink to give them meaning.
Pens are river channels of the mind
leaving marks in layer after layer,
like fossils caught in leaves of slate.

Walls overflow with ideas
sandwiched inside cloth and boards--
fibers smeared with ink.
Little bits of other's lives
touch my mind across the gaps of miles and time.

I speak with silent marks on empty pages,
and listen to pages full of marks that make no sound.



There is one more week to National Poetry Month. Plenty of time to jump in and write a poem if you haven't already.