Posts Tagged ‘Creativity’

Witless Limerick (Limerick-Off Monday)

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

It’s Limerick-Off time, once again. And that means I write a limerick, and you write your own, using the same first line. Then you post your limerick here and, if you’re a Facebook user, on Facebook too.

The best submission will be crowned Limerick Of The Week. (Here’s last week’s Limerick Of The Week Winner plus the Honorable Mentions.)

How will your poems be judged? By meter, rhyme, and cleverness. (If you’re feeling a bit fuzzy about limerick writing rules, you can find some helpful resources listed here.)

I’ll announce the Limerick of the Week Winner right before I post next week’s Limerick-Off. So that gives you a full week to submit your clever, polished verse.

I hope you’ll join me in writing a limerick with this first line:

A man who was lacking in wit…

or

A gal who was lacking in wit…

Here’s mine:

Witless Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A man who was lacking in wit
Bought a magnetized poetry kit.
Penning poor verse galore,
He wrote more — what a bore!
And ignored those who begged him to quit.

Please feel free to write your own limerick using the same first line and post it in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity on my Facebook Limerick-Off post.

To receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please send me an email requesting the alerts. You’ll find my email address on the upper right sidebar, in the “Author” section just below my Limerick-Offs button. Thanks!

Tanka Tuesday

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

I took a break from limerick writing to write this pair of tanka:

When haiku won’t do,
when thoughts defy compression
and can’t be contained
in seventeen syllables,
give thanks to plus-sized tanka.

********

Some art inspires
tears, joy, admiration, love.
Some awakens thought.
And some makes one want to ask:
“Whatever were you thinking?”

********

Untitled Limerick

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Why is this limerick untitled? Because Thursday Think Tank has prompted us to write an untitled poem. Writing without a title frees up our creative juices … at least that’s the theory:

Untitled Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

To title a verse can be hard —
A challenge for most ev’ry bard.
But a title-less work
Can drive me berserk.
It feels jarring and fake-avant-garde.

Creative Keys

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Creative Keys (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

When you’re whipping your verse into shape
And are caught in a verse-challenged scrape,
The delete key is handy.
Assisted by brandy,
And last, but not least, try escape.

(Prompted to escape)

Minding My Haiku

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

Just a single spark —
all you need to fire up
imagination.

*****

Blaming messenger
heralds avoidance when you
can’t bear the message.

*****

Some thorny problems
can’t be solved by deep thinking
and just need deep sleep.

*****

(Prompts used in this post: making fire from We Write Poems, messenger from Sunday Scribblings, and thorn from Weekend Wordsmith)

Mental Haiku Duet

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Left brain or right brain —
Which am I? The one, I fear,
that can’t remember.

*****

Creative options
seem nearly unlimited —
overwhelmed, I freeze.

*****

(The 2nd haiku was prompted by Writer’s Island’s unlimited and Sunday Scribblings’ nearly.)

Writing Humor Isn’t Funny

Monday, March 14th, 2011

We Write Poems has an against the grain prompt which asks how (or if) we manage to write when we just aren’t feeling creative. My three-verse limerick explains all … sort of:

To write humor when not in the mood
Takes a major adjustment of ‘tude.
If I’m still uninspired,
I tell me, “You’re fired,”
Or pretend I’m about to be sued.

Okay, none of this stuff’s really true.
When I’m blocked, I don’t know what to do.
So I shower or walk,
Read the news, turn on talk,
Absorb info, inviting a cue.

At long last something starts to take hold,
And a concept begins to unfold,
As I play with the news
Which teases my muse
In my quest for some comedy gold.

(You can find more of my writers block humor here.)

Haunted By Haiku

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

Warning to those here for their daily dose of “funny.” Most of these aren’t. Sorry!

My passionate hunt
for humor in the mundane—
a chastening quest.

*****

Vulgar temptation
haunts, tantalizes, prevails—
beats dainty retreat.

*****

Passionate and raw
feelings too painful to root
escape on breached wings.

*****

Integrity fights
a war against temptation—
battles to a draw.

*****

A thought tempts, glimmers,
says “explore me,” then wings off—
never to return.

*****

Marching to the beat
of your own drum may work best
in solo parades.

*****

To those who ask me
how I remember my verse—
that’s what blogs are for.

*****

Thanks to these prompts for their inspiration: Carry On Tuesday, Haiku Heights, Haiku Wednesday, LoL Prompts, One Single Impression, Poetic Asides, Sunday Scribblings, and Three Word Wednesday.

Clichéd Limerick

Monday, March 7th, 2011

I’m playing with clichés today:

Clichéd Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I try to think outside the box,
But sometimes those boxes have locks.
And to break myself free
With creative esprit,
I have to be crazy like fox.

UPDATE: Happy Cliché Day, November 3rd!

Itching To Write A Limerick

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

When I heard that the February 27th prompt over at One Single Impression is vellicate, I knew I was in trouble. Why? Cuz I had no idea what it meant and how it’s pronounced. And even after I’d Googled the damn word, it still didn’t feel assimilated. Plus it just didn’t tickle my funny bone.

But though I was irritated by its unfamiliarity, I was itching to write a limerick. So here it is:

Itching To Write A Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Often poetry prompts can enrich.
But they sometimes can be quite a bitch.
Sunday’s vellicate prompt
On my brain cells has stomped.
The mere thought of that word makes me twitch.

Writerly Verse (Limerick-Off Monday)

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Once again, it’s Limerick-Off time. And that means I write a limerick, and you write your own, using the same first line. Then you post your limerick here and, if you’re a Facebook user, on Facebook too.

So I hope you’ll join me in writing a limerick with this first line:

A woman was trying to write. …

or

A fellow was trying to write. …

Here’s mine. (It’s a three-verse limerick, but a standard one-verse limerick is fine, of course.)

Writerly Verse
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A woman was trying to write.
Ev’ry sentence and phrase was a fight.
She hated each line.
Too much whine. (Too much wine?)
And decided to call it a night.

She started again the next day.
But her muse seemed to be on delay.
So she showered and walked.
Inspiration still balked.
Though agnostic, she started to pray.

She returned to her screen with a curse.
Started typing for better or worse.
Tried to block her left brain,
Or her right, or the twain.
Then punched keys till at last she found verse.

Please feel free to write your own limerick using the same first line and post it in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity in my Facebook Limerick-Off post.

To receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please send me an email requesting the alerts. You’ll find my email address on the upper right sidebar, in the “Author” section just below my Limerick-Offs button. Thanks!

Sheer Madness: My Non-Existent Book (Limerick)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Over the years I’ve written enough humor columns, limericks, and sundry light verse to fill two or three collections. And one of these days I may even get my act together, stop procrastinating and self-publish at least one of them. I mention this because Big Tent Poetry’s latest prompt urges us to come up with a name for a future book and then write a title poem for that non-existent book.

Yes, I know this is Sheer Madness, which is also the title of my non-existent humor collection:

Sheer Madness
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I’m hoping to publish a book
With an excellent concept and hook.
It’s title? Sheer Madness,
Reviewed please sans badness,
Sold on paper and Kindle and Nook.

Epiphany (Tanka)

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

Epiphany (Tanka)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

My muse teases me,
Awaiting epiphanies
That never arrive.
So I must go it alone,
Writing until I’m amused.

(Note: Tanka is five line Japanese poetry which pre-dates haiku and whose syllabic form is 5-7-5-7-7. I usually think of it as haiku plus two more 7 syllable lines. My Epiphany Tanka was inspired by the Writers Island epiphany prompt.)

What A Drag!

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Needless to say, I wrote this limerick while running around doing sundry chores:

What A Drag!
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A woman who’s dragging a cart
Has some errands to run. Where to start?
The cleaners and grocer —
Too bad they’re not closer.
How she longs to stay home and make art.

Creative Verse

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

I hope you’ll join me in writing a limerick with this first line:

A creative young woman named Ro…

Here’s mine:

Creative Verse
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A creative young woman named Ro
Snagged a role in an Off-Broadway show.
She could sing, dance, write verse,
Paint and bake, but her curse
Was she never could raise any dough.

Please feel free to write your own limerick using the same first line and post it in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity in my Limerick-Offs.

My Twitter Motto (Haiku)

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Aim for brilliant
In just one-forty characters.
Settle for inane.

Twitter Tweet Verse (Limerick & Haiku Prompt)

Friday, October 10th, 2008

I sure hope many of you use (or at least are familiar with) Twitter.  Because Twitter is today’s limerick and haiku topic.  First, my limerick:

Twitter Jitters
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I really don’t mean to sound bitter,
But it’s hard to fit humor on Twitter.
Posting  tweets so damn short
Is a challenging sport,
Cuz there’s no time for laughs — just a titter.

And now my Twitter haiku (senryu):

My tweets on Twitter:
Memories, links, mutterings.
Fragments of a life.

As you might have guessed, I use Twitter.  If you’d like to, you can follow my Twitter Tweets here.

But now, of course, it’s your turn. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write some verse about Twitter. When you’ve posted your poem(s), please return here and add a direct link to your themed poetry, using Mr. Linky.

Limerick and Haiku Prompts Participants

1. Elephant Small 2. Nickers and Ink 3. Winnie the poohi

UPDATE: Mr. Linky is now closed, but you can still add links to your verse about Twitter in the Comments. And if you’d like to participate in a new poetry prompt, you can always find my latest one here.