W3 Prompt #24: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Intro

Dear friends,

Welcome to our W³ Poetry Prompt, which goes live on Wednesdays at The Skeptic’s Kaddish.

You may click here for a fuller explanation of W³; but here’s the ‘tldr’ version:

Part I

The main ingredient of W³ is a weekly poem written by a Poet of the Week (PoW), which participants respond to in verse.

Part II

The second ingredient is a writing guideline (or two) provided by the PoW. Guidelines may include, but are not limited to: word counts, poetic forms, inclusion of specific words, and use of particular poetic devices.

Part III

After four days, when the prompt closes, the PoW shall select one participant’s poem as the W³ prompt for the following week, and its author becomes the next PoW.

Simple enough, right?

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Okie dokie ~ Let’s do this thing!

I. The prompt poem:

A poem by Lesley Scoble

The White beach Hut guards its secrets 
of long summer days 
Locked away treasures of shells 
and castaways 
a Precious hoard of summer things 
Suntan oil and flotation rings. 
Buckets and spades, mugs and tea 
A private place Beside the sea 

The sun-Bleached porch is where I sit 
a Solitude of sea-sound Inside of it. 
I gaze above in a Haze of blue— 
At circling Doves (they’re gulls) And think of you. 
My Loves (truly) 
It’s true— 

II. Lesley’s prompt guidelines (2 options)

Option #1: Write a ‘Minute Poem’

• Narrative poetry—Tell a story in real time of a minute;  
• A 12 line poem comprised of 3 quatrains (3 stanzas of 4 lines); 
• Syllabic: The first line of each stanza has 8 syllables. The following 3 lines in each stanza have 4 syllables; 
• Rhyming: aabb ccdd eeff; 
• Poem illustrates an event in real time of 60 seconds;
• A light hearted form of poetry that suits humorous verse. 

Option #2: Write a Shakespearean Sonnet using iambic pentameter

• Tips for writing a Shakespearean Sonnet can be found here.

III. Submit: Click on ‘Mr. Linky’ below

In order to participate and share a poem, open up this blog post, outside of the WordPress reader. At the bottom, just below these words, you will see a small rectangular graphic with the words ‘Mr Linky’. Click on that to submit.

Submissions are open for 4 days, until Sunday, October 16, 10:00 AM (GMT+3)

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Last week’s W³ poem

This week’s W³ prompt poem (above), composed by Lesley, was written in response to last week’s W³ prompt poem, which Steven wrote:

‘In Praise of What is Private’ by Steven S. Wallace

Were I to say what truly mattered
Upon whose winds my hopes are scattered
My voice I would lift up in praising
The ever clever turn of phrasing
That speaks in riddled kabuki notes
Smiles, shakes hands and counts the votes
At all times cultivating ease
Starting scenes that only please

Behind the glint of twinkling eyes
Refrigerates an icy prize
That privacy has sealed up tight
You — my circling satellite
Secrets on the midnight ceiling 
Vaulted locked never revealing
This my love — what truly mattered
My shell facade has just been shattered