Post It Note Poetry 2017 Part 2

Curating the next instalment of Post It Note Poetry. There’s a few more days left of the month so I’ll see how I go.

Stranger

Words

Dyptych 1

Dyptych 2

A Kite’s Construction

Misinterpretation 

Untitled

Collaboration

Sand

Post It Note Poetry 2017

Post It Note Poetry began in 2013. It began as a dare. Since then, each February you will find people grabbing a pile of Post It Notes, a pen and permission to write, scribble, opine, wield, and bleed poetry. 

You can find this year’s start up on Sean Wright’s blog HERE. Sean is a brilliant poet.

I haven’t been up to date this year but here are my current offerings. Please excuse the dodgy images as the camera on my phone is cactus and dirty. Maybe I should run it through a few filters and declare it “arty”.

Follow the hashtag #pinp17 on Twitter or Instagram. See you there.

Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 4 – The End

Welcome to the end of the official month of Post It Note Poetry (don’t stop writing Post It Note Poetry; I won’t be stopping, only slowing down the production) but its time has come to an end for this year.

28 days of poetry. 28 poems. 1099 words (of questionable merit). In reviewing the poems I wrote, I am proud of many of them. Others have the potential to be developed or refined further. Some should be consigned to the rubbish bin. However, the point of this month was to simply write, and with permission to write badly, so I wrote. 

And now we have come to the last weekly recap. You can find the other weekly recaps here:

Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 1
Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 2
Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 3

At the end of last week’s recap I set myself a challenge to remix my own poems for the final week of Post It Note Poetry. I would take a single line from the poem and use it as the opening line of a new poem. Perhaps not so much a remix as an inspiration. Consequently it has opened up new ideas for next year with found poetry, other remixes and collaborations.

I found myself censoring lines, or thinking which lines might be good for the next day. It was a distraction from the poem at hand but I found the “OFF” switch to allow me to finish the poem. It may be easier to take the line from someone else’s poem because there is not the built in expectation of having to write something worthwhile. Maybe next year I’ll have another remix week where I borrow from other participants’ poems.

The poems are presented here in chronological order so you can see the progression, unlike previous weeks where they have been posted in reverse chronological order.

Thanks for coming along for the ride of Post It Note Poetry. It will be back again next year. I will be writing more Post It Notes poems from time to time. Be sure to check my tumblr, Post It Notes and Poetry, for posts and poetry updates.

Do you have any favourites? Leave yours in the comments.

Post It Note Poetry 2015 Recap Week 3

How have you been going this week? Have you had a chance to write something?

Here is this week’s recap of my Post It Note Poetry. You can also see the recaps for Week 1 and Week 2.

They are posted in reverse order (Sunday 22 Feb – Monday 9 Feb) and I’ve added in the inspiration behind each poem. 

This week involved a lot of trawling through my notebook and pilfering half written ideas.

This poem was sparked by a random song lyric on the radio this morning on my way to playing drums at church this morning. 

This poem came out of a line in my notebook about ourselves being a minotaur, a hybrid of the things we have created, and putting ourselves in a maze we created. 

Another line from my notebook, sparked by one time when I was filling the ice cube tray. Sometimes I fill it cube by cube; other times I cascade the water until it is full. What does that say about my character?

No one remembers milk bars anymore; they are a relic of the past. I love watching the patterns made my shadows. Notebooks for the win for ideas.

Getting my wordy geek on. Finishing off a poem I was going to write last year (at about this time) as a longer exploration. Instead, the brevity worked better.

Another notebook find. I’m not happy with the end section of this poem; it is inconsistent with the first part. 

I do not remember how this one came about as it was not an idea I took from my notebook. A photograph is, for me, a snapshot of one moment, one experience. It serves as a reminder of what was, but doesn’t speak of what will be.

Final Note

For the last week of the official Post It Note Poetry season, I thought I’d go for a remix week. I will take a line from the previous day’s poem as the basis for the next poem. Starting Monday I will write a new poem, and Tuesday will be the first remix.

Post It Note Poetry 2015 Recap Week 2

This week I did not follow a theme for titles or content; I let the ideas sprout where they were sown. I might do a week of another theme or a week of found poetry. Haven’t decided yet. Or I might scatter some more seeds and see what comes out of the compost heap.

You can catch up on Week 1 here.

They are posted in reverse order (Sunday 15 – Sunday 8 February)

 

Which poem strikes a chord with you and why?

 

Post It Note Poetry 2015 Recap Week 1

It is the end of the first week of #postitnotepoetry.

I have collated here the first seven poems. This series of poems began after I heard a song titled, “Things To Do In Winter” and it inspired the idea of a loosely linked thematic suite.

Instead of seasons, I chose days of the week. Each day of the week was prefaced with an idea. In my notebook I hastily scribbled down a list of potential ideas and throughout the course of the week amended, deleted or built upon the idea for the day. 

Some poems were easier to write, others took longer to compost and come to fruition. I was surprised at the thematic darkness of some of the poems as it was not the initial intention; only in the repeated readings did the layers of darker interpretation emerge.

It made me wonder whether I was subconsciously channeling a darker theme, or purging the darkness within. I think that’s another blog post/poem in itself.

If you want to join in the fun of #postitnotepoetry, grab a pen, a wad of Post It Notes and write. Take a photo it and upload it to twitter with the hashtag #postitnotepoetry

Post It Note Poetry 2015

It has begun!

I am collating all my poems to a separate page, Post It Note Poetry 2015.

Drop in each day for a new poem. The new poem will be posted at the top of the page each day.

Here is today’s poem.

Post It Note Poetry – Permission To Write (Badly)

February marks the beginning of Post It Note Poetry month. It began 3 years ago as a challenge between myself and my writing partner at the time, Jodi Cleghorn – a month of bad poetry, written on a Post It Note.

You can find my collection of Post It Note Poetry over on tumblr as well as some other poetry including blackout/erasure poetry. 

My first Post It Note poem written on February 1, 2013.

I will be posting a new poem daily in February #postitnotepoetry and will also curate the poems here each week.

But here’s the challenge: why don’t you have a go? Grab a packet of Post It Notes (any colour will do) and write a poem each day. Post it to twitter and include the hashtag. Include me too (@revhappiness) so I can see what’s going on.

If you can’t do it every day, no stress. Do what you can. Don’t censor. Write with both heart and mind.

Sunday marks the First of February and a month of writing poetry on Post It Notes. Have at it!

Blackout Poetry – Another Questionable Attempt

 

Between us
the bond of
periods of separation
and
a box of dominoes
toying 
with 
the anchor
we did not begin that game of
placid staring
The day 
was a benign unstained
mist
Only the 
brooding
somber minute
angered by the
curved and imperceptible
heat
a change
more profound
unruffled dignity
that comes and departs in the
abiding memories. Indeed nothing’s
easier
than to evoke
its unceasing

After yesterday’s modicum of success with blackout poetry, I tried my hand at another (need to do something creative at the moment while I get my head back into shape to tackle some significant writing projects in January).

This page comes from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” I studied this text in high school last century and thoroughly enjoyed it. Admitting at the time I didn’t quite understand the colonialism and inherent racism, it still holds as a powerful metaphor. Tie it with Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” and you have a teenager’s existential orgasm. 

So, with that in mind, I wanted explored the idea of relationships through the text.

It’s a diversion from writing Post It Note Poetry (and a couple of other major works in progress) but I posit that flogging someone else’s idea to pursue something creative is better than nothing. Blackout, or erasure, poetry makes you look at words, their order and the meaning created. It opens your mind to see other possibilities, limited as it is by the choice of text, to create something new.

I encourage you to try it yourself. Or buy a colouring book and pencils. Do something to stimulate your brain. 

Blackout Poetry – An Attempt of Questionable Merit

 

I have loved Austin Kleon’s work (@austinkleon) and I own his book, Steal Like An Artist (It’s fabulous. Get a copy). I follow his tumblr and love reading his work.

So I decided to give it a go. Armed with my iPad, a digital copy of Moby Dick and Notability, I ripped into the first page of Herman Melville’s tome. 

What does it mean? I. Have. Absolutely. No. Idea. I like how it sounds. And I’ll be adding this to the collection of poems I have on tumblr (even if it’s not a Post It Note).