A chance to know.
Find me
in that thick air.
Part the grey clouds.
Grab my hand
and see.
..........
Words can be slippery.
Denise came over tonight, and we tried out the Magnetic Poetry Game that JR and Jen gave me for Christmas.
The game works like this: a player draws a subject card to determine what her poem should be about, and she draws a challenge card that creates rules like write the poem in exactly 15 words. The player then has two minutes to compose a poem from the selection of three hundred or so words on the magnetic board. Points are added by word count and levels of challenge.
It was really interesting to see how our two writing styles affected our performance. Denise could glance over the sea of words and string together a beautiful, relevant poem. I had significantly more trouble. I found that I could quickly create a poem on topic, but I used the words in my head instead of the terms on the board. I’d get stuck on that poetic idea, and I'd spend my time looking for magnetic words that were not actually there. With few exceptions, my two minutes ended when I had two or three phrases among ten uncompleted thoughts. It was very frustrating, but I’m sure that it was a good exercise for me. The process really helped me think about how I compose when I write.
..........
Dan posted another segment of the documentary from our trip to east Africa. This piece tells about the partnership between the Sudanese ministry to widows and my friend Karin’s community group at Imago Dei.
in that thick air.
Part the grey clouds.
Grab my hand
and see.
..........
Words can be slippery.
Denise came over tonight, and we tried out the Magnetic Poetry Game that JR and Jen gave me for Christmas.
The game works like this: a player draws a subject card to determine what her poem should be about, and she draws a challenge card that creates rules like write the poem in exactly 15 words. The player then has two minutes to compose a poem from the selection of three hundred or so words on the magnetic board. Points are added by word count and levels of challenge.
It was really interesting to see how our two writing styles affected our performance. Denise could glance over the sea of words and string together a beautiful, relevant poem. I had significantly more trouble. I found that I could quickly create a poem on topic, but I used the words in my head instead of the terms on the board. I’d get stuck on that poetic idea, and I'd spend my time looking for magnetic words that were not actually there. With few exceptions, my two minutes ended when I had two or three phrases among ten uncompleted thoughts. It was very frustrating, but I’m sure that it was a good exercise for me. The process really helped me think about how I compose when I write.
..........
Dan posted another segment of the documentary from our trip to east Africa. This piece tells about the partnership between the Sudanese ministry to widows and my friend Karin’s community group at Imago Dei.
posted by Erin 11:24 PM
5 Comments:
Reading your posting I could really feel the frustration of not finding the words. I've never heard about a "poetry game" before. Sounds challenging!
Erin, what is the name of the game? I'm interested.
I wouldn't go so far as to use the word "relevant".
And we all know one of your sentences has more foresight and thought in it than, let's see, I don't know, an entire freaking paragraph I tunelessly assemble.
Sander expressed interest. You should bring it into the 'hood.
NB- It was challenging, but we had a lot of fun playing it.
Heather- It is actually just called "Magnetic Poetry: The Game." Creative, huh?
Dot- That's kind of you to say, but don't devalue your skills on my behalf. I'll bring it. I bet Sander would excel.
Erin, I realized that two seconds after I hit "Login and Publish". Thanks!
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