Writing Prompts: In Memoriam

mykuworld in memoriam board

Michael Jackson

From the outside, peering
through the veil, there
seemed a blend of deep
sadness & great joys.

In Memoriam

Your death means much to
one who never touched your
white gloved hand caressing
hearts with heady song.

Farah Fawcett

Farah Fawcett portrayed
women who struggled;
imprisoned by sexism,
she set them & us free.

Tapping memories can lead to poetry or prose. You can use them to write about what was real to you, and you can turn your memories into memories of your characters in fiction. This week, three very famous performers died. Ed McMahon's and Farah Fawcett's deaths were anticipated, Michael Jackson's was sudden and surprising. All three contributed to our world through the media.

Today, I am most struck by Farah Fawcett's life, and her dying time. As one of Charlie's Angels, she chose to act in the role of a strong woman who worked, and had men and women in her life as close friends. It was very unusual- a feminist role in many ways. Her film career also included complex female roles. She used her fame to fight for women's safety. She also publicized her fight with cancer, helping uncounted others to face their illnesses, and supporting research. She lived well.

If Farah Fawcett's story resonates with you, go read the blogs and comments from her fans. Take notes about how people feel, read her bio and film history on IMDB, and listen to people talk about her. Start a list of what you know and of questions you would like answered - the things you can't find. See if that leads you to a poem. Some poems are lists, sometimes the list is enhanced with adjectives and adverbs, sometimes, the story takes a longer, larger poetic form.

Michael Jackson's story is so complex it may seem hard to begin to write, but do the same thing. Explore how others feel and take note of the words they use to express those feelings. Listen to his music on pandora or youtube. Make those lists again. You may need to write several poems that touch on different aspects of who he was. One long poem may be way to complex. One way to tell if you need a different poem or a different verse is when you can't make a statement in your poem work - just doesn't go together right. This usually means you are trying to say too much in one sentence or one poem. Simplify.

Today, what you write may be to honor the dead, and to connect to others who also feel the loss. One day, you might use the knowledge and work to create fictional characters who may either be like those you memorialize, or may share your memories.

mykuworld In Memoriam

Katherine A Minden ©2009

Competitions for Your Poetry - Walt Whitman Award

The Walt Whitman Award is posted on poetry.org.

The award is for a first book of poetry of at least 40 pages. The book will receive publication of at least 500 copies. There is a cash prize of $5000, and a one-month residency at the Vermont Studio Center, and incredibly beautiful studio in Johnson, Vermont.

Submission is between 9/15/2009 and 11/15/2009. Entry fee is $25.00.

I know at least two poets who are going to get their manuscripts together to enter - join us!!

Revolution by Steven Joseph Bruening

revolution!


let not the cry of common man go unheard

or the history of the oppressed be ignored and interred

so speak all you sons and daughters of emerson, pope and whitman

speak with passion and power the battle hymn of everyman ---

REVOLUTION!


let not that crimson tide of cruelty and vengeful hate

go unchallenged without words of eloquent and fiery debate

so speak all you sons and daughters of byron, keats and shelley

speak out loud words of freedom, justice, liberty and equality ---

REVOLUTION!


if there be but only one word that you write

you children of a legendary poetic birthright

let it be written by your collective and universal hand

and let it resound and forever echo in this vast and dismal land ---

REVOLUTION!

Competitions for Your Writing

Here's a fun one that Writer's Digest sent a lead out on today:

Horticulture
The topic is "Garden Verse." The submission is a poem of up to 40 lines. There are three prizes of up to $250. Deadline is September 1, 2009. There is an entry fee of $15 for the first poem $10 for each succeeding poem.

The point of entering competitions isn't to win, although that's a nice side affect. The point is to practice writing for different purposes, and to get inot the swing of getting your writing out there.

Social Myku - Small Poems of Support

Iran's Fate

Brave ones lead, take
risks, demonstrate-
change Iran's future, don't
affirm tyranny's her fate.

Iranian Women

Women in Iran do not have
equal voice or rights
"alloho akbar" they cry,
God protect days & nights.

Woman's Will

Deny not woman's will,
don't try to still her song,
She gathers her Irani
sisters to right this wrong!

Iran 3 on mykuworld


Fast for Darfur

Rabbi Saperstein fasts
for suffering in Darfur,
thousands displaced from
homes, hungry to the core.

Children Cry!

Humanitarian aid in the
Sudan is bounded by
government foolishness,
still the children cry!

Darfur on mykuworld

Abuse of Power

On the U.N. Human Rights
Council, Brazil tries
to limit oversight of
abuse of women- unwise!!

Latin America on mykuworld

Take a Stand!

In all our wealth & bounty,
children sleep at night
with hunger in tiny bellies
take a stand, make it right!

These United States

A multitude of us are
without jobs, lack
homes, eat little-
in these United States!

Underground Economics

Services offered include
anything that pays cash-
taxes come after food &
rent in the underground.

Local Public Library..

In Ohio and Virginia the
folks are up-in-arms,
cutting funds to libraries
will do our children harm.

Reading & Writing

Libraries & schools helped
helped us to read,
we're writing now, too,
look at each twitter feed!

Clime's They Are A'Changing

Gather round people, let's
get the news straight,
stop carbon pollution
before it's too late.

These United States on mykuworld

Writing Prompts: Poverty

Poverty of material needs, or poverty of the soul, are traditional areas for poetic exploration. When it reaches out to the world, giving voice to the voiceless, and succor to the hopeless, then we are humbled even as we serve the greater good.

I lived in Brasil for a year and drew on my memories for this myku:

Na Favela, Rio de Janeiro

Rio's shanty towns, shacks
perched precariously;
pain's litany; children cry
amongst the litter & poverty.

For this one, I started with Amnesty International's site and went clicking from there to find the images and words I wanted to use to frame this myku about a place I have never been:

Nairobi's Slums

Hunger & fear are slow
death, Kenya's bane,
the slums of Nairobi
are misery and pain.

Join me at mykuworld.

Writing Prompts: Illness 2

Fatigue is a part of so many immune system disorders. Our bodies are fighting to be well, and our minds can barely stand the disorientation fatigue brings. Time passes by and we wonder what happened while we were out of it. I often think about what I used to be like and ask whether it could have been reality. Did I ever once walk and ride bikes, sing and dance, even perform on a stage? Another lifetime, or a dream...

Myku are such short poems that perhaps even those with severe fatigue can join us in giving voice to our lives on mykuworld.


Fatigue Sets In

When fatigue sets in-
time passes uncounted,
leaden- my hands & feet,
my head heavy in a fog.

Once upon a Dream

Once upon a dream I ran
to you, strong & bold;
now, I only touch your
hand, too soon grown old.


mykuworld