Identity Poem after THE CREATIVITY PROJECT, edited by Colby Sharp

<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />--> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Op4gAciH8i..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="750" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Op4gAciH8i..." width="132" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jama at <a href="https://jamarattigan.com/">Ja... Alphabet Soup</a> for what's sure to be a delicious Roundup!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"> I'm in this week with a look at <a href="https://www.mrcolbysharp.com/creativi... CREATIVITY PROJECT, edited by Colby Sharp</a>. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">If you haven't seen it yet, it's a book that's kind of like an inspiration game... one children's book writer or illustrator sending a prompt to another children's book writer or illustrator. I was particularly drawn to the illustrative parts. In fact, probably </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RI_k-0w7Gq..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RI_k-0w7Gq..." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lisa Brown's response</td></tr></tbody></table> my most favorite response is by <a href="http://www.americanchickens.com/"... Brown</a> to this prompt by <a href="http://laurelsnyder.com/">Laurel Snyder</a>:<br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>“Try to think of an abstract idea. For instance, you might choose “joy” or “hunger” or “stupidity.” Now imagine that abstraction as a character It can look like a person, an animal, or a creature of your own invention. Once you've got the character in your head, set it in motion. Make it DO something. “Joy” might ride a bicycle “Hunger” might go to the movies. “Stupidity” might dig a hole Tell me the story of what happens.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IgEUyh-lu9..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IgEUyh-lu9..." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Javaka Steptoe's response</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Another one I loved was also visual -- this one by <a href="http://www.javaka.com/">Javaka Steptoe</a> in response to this prompt by <a href="http://www.katyeh.com/DEFAULT.html&qu... Yeh</a>:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>“You have a brand new audio translation app on your phone. Just as you click on it for the first time, your dog starts barking. And words begin to appear on the screen...</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The book also includes prompts in the back, though one could use any of the prompts (or responses) to generate new work. Here are a few examples of some of my favorite prompts included:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.margaritaengle.com/"&... Engle</a>:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>hummingbird frenzy</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>each whir of wings helps me feel</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>earthbound and dazzled</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.gracelin.com/">Grace Lin:</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>You have just met a girl named Hanrui. In Chinese, her name means “a bud just ready to bloom.”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">*<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet... Shihab Nye</a>:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>Write a list of ten things you are NOT (not an astronaut, a perfectionist, a wool spinner, a butterfly, a name-caller). Then pick your favorite lines and develop, or embellish, them, adding metaphors, more description, whatever you like.</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">*Because I love "identity" writing prompts -- and am constantly looking for new ones since working with readers of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Can-Touch-Your... I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?</a> -- this is the one I decided to tackle right away!</div><br /><br /><b>Here's my quick list of <i>nots</i>:</b><br /><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />--> <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a veterinarian</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a complainer</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not an athlete</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a procrastinator</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not the mother of a daughter</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a party person</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a tv-watcher</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a camper</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a church-goer</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a social-media junkie</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">not a coffee drinker</div><br /><br /><b>And here's my poem:</b><br /><b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-it1UNsF2yv..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1138" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-it1UNsF2yv..." width="283" /></a></div><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FAzUDr4QPS..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FAzUDr4QPS..." width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scrapbook page from our tour<br />of an olive tree farm<br />in Napa Valley (2006)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>My Name is Peace</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">No coffee for me;</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I drink tea.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Not bubbly or bouncy;</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I like to sit quietly.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">No time for complaining –</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I find it draining.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">No procrastinating –</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">what's the point of waiting?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Not fragile or feathery; </div><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />--> <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">more like a knotted olive tree.</div><br /><i>- Irene Latham</i><br /><i><br /></i>Some notes about the poem: "Irene" actually means peace -- and of course the olive tree is a symbol of peace.<br />I struggled a while with a descriptor for the olive tree, and when I found "knotted" it felt like a miracle... another "not" for the poem!<br />It's interesting to me that I ended up starting my poem with the last item on my list. It makes me wonder what my poem might have been if I'd written 20 or 30 things on my list instead... how deep might I have gone into my identity? Something to try another day!<br /><br />Won't you give it a try as well?