Time is running out if you wish to join in for the month of July in the A and I Bilingual Poetry Challenge (running each month until October). Linkbacks to contributors will be posted next week. Leave a comment here, and tag your post as per instructions, to be included in the July roundup.
The prompt for July is:
Turn on the radio to any channel.
Write a poem inspired by the first thing you hear
(lyrics to a song, a commercial, etc.)
For the Afrikaans version of the Poetry Challenge, please visit Ineke at scrapydo2.wordpress.com
Full instructions on joining in with the Poetry Challenge, look here
Write a poem inspired by the first thing you hear (lyrics to a song, a commercial, etc.)
Post it to your blog, prior to July 26, and include the Tag A and I Poetry Challenge, so that Amanda and I, (the hosts) can find your poem and comment.
Leave a comment on this post to indicate your interest in participation.
The A and I Poetry Writing Challenge has been running for several months and the poetic community grows each month.
Read my Submission in my follow up post, tomorrow, together with links to the Poetry participants from the month of June, but first here are some Poetry Writing Tips:
Don’t overdo prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs.
Use action verbs, not “to be” verbs
Help the reader interact with the poem.
Help the reader relate by focusing on particular objects, not generalizing a type of object (whether the object is physical, mental, or spiritual).
Find unusual subject matter — a teapot, a shelf, a wall
Keep a notebook with you at all times so you can write whenever (and wherever) inspiration strikes.
Sometimes it is a scratching secret, wanting out, wanting to be in the world but held back by fear. Either way there is something about the act of sharing with the world, however big or small that world might be, that completes the creative process.
If you want to capture a feeling that you experienced, then you don’t need these tips. Just write whatever feels right. Only you experienced the feeling that you want to express, so only you will know whether your poem succeeds.
Bale Drome vra dat ons stapskoene aantrek en wys waarheen die stap lei.
2006
Die jaar 2006 het baie draaie met my geloop. Alles het begin met-
My besoek aan Bertus, my seun, wat in 2005 na Nieu Zealand getrek het. Net met sy tas is hy weg uit Suid Afrika om nie weer terug te gaan nie.
Ek het die geleentheid gehad om in 2006 in Nieu Zealand te gaan kuier en uit te vind hoe die lewe daar is. Ook om natuurlik te gaan kyk hoe dit met my kind gaan!
1 Februarie 2006
Jan Smuts Lughawe- Oliver thambo vandag
Daar gaat ek.
Na 18 ure se vlieg land die vliegtuig in Sydney, Australië. Dan twee ure se wag vir aansluiting na Wellington, Nieu Zealand se hoofstad. Ek land net voor twaalf die aand.
Die volgende oggend was ek gedaan!
Wellington met sy hawe, The Bee Hive – parlementsgebou, Te Papa – “ons huis” museum, en heuwels.
Ons gaan kuier by Stella, nou Bertus se vrou
se ouers in Cambridge.
Dit is n agt ure se ry vanaf Wellington tot in Cambridge.
Ons stop
Kapiti kus en Kapiti Eiland.
Foxton omtrent 170 km verder-
De Molen
wat steeds koring maal vir broodbak.
Ook n geskiedkundige vlas fabriek waar
toue gemaak word.
Oorspronklike maalklip
Flax- vlas
Taupo meer.
Karapiri meer naby Hamelton.
Lake Karapiro
The Castle.
Welbekende Huka Waterval.
Huka waterfal
Huka Waterfal
Sommer nog baie mooi dinge.
Braai n vleisie!
Nie kole nie!
Klink n laaste glasie voordat ek die nag terug vlieg.
Daar gaat ek weer terug.
Wellington, Sydney en Johannesburg.
Ek kan steeds nie glo dat ek in so n pragtige land bly nie. Van hierdie besoek af het daar nog baie reise plaasgevind.
Hoop almal het die stukkie land geniet. Tot n volgende keer!
Hierdie week se uitdaging word aangebied deur travel460 van die blog Bali Drome. Die uitdaging open om 12:00 op Donderdag 3 Mei.
Om die inskrywings van verskillende bloggers in die Lê-Jou-Eier uitdaging te geniet of om self ‘n blog wat jy geskryf het aan te heg by hierdie skakel, klik op die InLinkz skakel net onder die paddatjie:
Vir die reëls van hierdie uitdaging, om raad te kry oor hoe om deel te neem en om elke week se aankondiging van die nuwe onderwerp te sien, besoek die volgende skakel by Dis Ekke. Onder hierdie kategorie, kyk na die blogposts Lê-Jou-Eier: Reëls (2017-08-22) en Lê-Jou-Eier: Hoe neem ek deel? (2017-08-22).
The fruit matures in autumn and is green, and about the size and shape of an egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour. The flesh is juicy. The fruit drops when ripe, but can be picked from the tree before to prevent bruising. Feijoa fruit have a distinctive smell. The chemical methyl benzoate smells strongly of feijoas and the aroma of the fruit is caused mostly by this and other closely related chemicals.
here is a fun challenge. I hope you will all try it. I’ve never written any poetry myself. I think it is going to be a lot of fun.
A dear blog-friend suggested that we do it together. Read how Amanda explains everything.
I am also going to do this in Afrikaans. So liewe Afrikaanse Ouens laat ons bietjie plesierig wees en digterlik raak.
Writing poetry is something everyone can do, because you can’t really ever get it wrong.
Poetry is just your own thoughts down on paper, so how can that be wrong?
Poetry writing can be a great way to express deep-seated emotions in a constructive way, helping us to process their inner meanings and significance. Then again, your poetry might just be a little bit of fun. Rhyming poetry is an example of this.
I have my reasons for running this challenge. The first poetry challenge I ever joined was hosted by Andrea Heiberg, a teacher friend in Denmark and her colleague in America and involved an Adult and Child poetry writing challenge which you can still find here.
There were around six groups participating, from all over the world. It was a lot of fun to see what each couple came up, with each week, as well as how they improved throughout the course of the challenge. It was definitely a learning experience for all.
Sadly, Andrea Heiberg passed away last year from Cancer and I know that she would have been absolutely thrilled to see me instigating a new Poetry challenge. So, first and foremost, this poetry challenge honours her as a writer. Secondly, because it is fun to write and it builds a community. I hope it will inspire you to join in.
When will the Challenge start?
The Poetry challenge is open to everyone, from complete beginners to advanced writers, and will run from March to October in 2018.
You can write in any language, it certainly doesn’t have to be in English.
Ineke will post the challenge in Afrikaans on her blog, so if that language suits you better, visit her here. See instructions on joining below.
How the Poetry Challenge Works
On the first week of each month, Ineke and I will publish a challenge post which asks you to write a poem based on the prompt supplied, or your own idea. We will include links to helpful sites and tips for poetry writing. There will be a poetry prompt for each month that the challenge runs.
Remember, you do not have to use this prompt, at all. The prompt is only there if you feel you want a topic to work from, or you find it hard to come up with an initial idea.
Ineke and I have created the above logo for the Poetry Challenge and you are very welcome to paste this onto your blog post or sidebar, so that others can also find out about the challenge, if you so wish.
Join the Challenge!
The challenge will commence in March and run for six months.
One post and one prompt per month.
Join in for one or all months, as you like.
Instructions :–
Sign up by leaving a comment here so we know you are interested in participating.
Ineke and I will post a poetry prompt and writing tips and links, around 1st day of each month. You might need to follow our blogs so that the posts show up in your WP reader.
Using the monthly Poetry prompt supplied, or your own idea, write a post with a poem, either fun or serious.,
So that we can see when you post for the poetry challenge, don’t forget to include a link or pingback to scrapydo2.wordpress.com and Amanda’s blog, Something to Ponder About and the tag A and I Poetry Challenge.
Include the Poetry Challenge badge in your post, if you so wish. (optional)
Leave a comment at Ineke’s blog, scrapydo2.wordpress.com and Amanda’s blog, Something to Ponder About, with a link to your blog post on the Poetry challenge post for that month. If you do this, others can find their way to your challenge post and join in the community too.
That is it!
Oh and have fun writing!!
N.B. Ineke and I will post link backs to the blogs who have joined in with the challenge in the poetry challenge post in the following month, so that you can all find each other’s blog posts and build a new poet’s community!!
Here is an initial link that you might find useful if you are looking for rhyming words.
A language arts reference tool and comprehensive search engine for words. Includes the functions of a rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, and spelling checker, as well as …
You can’t fight nature. If mother nature decides to go this way humans can’t go against it.
We, as humans keep on trying to change natures way without thinking about the consequences. My piece of writing happened in 2016. After the few horrific days, I’ve written it down as follows:
Earthquake
13/11/2016 and after
Sunday morning 10:30 am, I reported at Plateau School. Yearly Gala! I was responsible for the bouncing castle, 11-1 o’clock. It rained, stopped, drizzled and a bit of sunshine during those two hours.
The afternoon my children dropped in for a cup of tea. My border came home just after seven.
Sunday evening(13/11/2016) after a busy day, I went off to bed at about 10:30 not knowing what the night would bring two hours later.
I woke up just after 12 o’clock. My bed was swaying, Trompie, my dog, picked up his head. I felt the bed moving and the walls shaking. It sounded as if the house was going to collapse. Then Trompie gave a fierce bark. Earthquake! We jumped out of bed. I did not switch on the light and told Trompie to get out of the way. He kept close to me. I stood in the passage waiting for the worst.The shaking subsided. I decided to go to the bathroom because nature was calling.
It kept on rolling underneath. We went back to bed. Then my border came out of his room. He got a message from his wife in Christchurch asking how he was. He told me that it had been the worst quake he had experienced.
We went back to bed. The whole night aftershocks kept on rolling underneath. One of my pot plants had tumbled to the floor, and my books on my bookshelf moved and nearly tumbled down.
Monday morning my alarm went off. I did my usual morning rituals. My border told me that he could not go into Wellington. The news on the radio said that no trains were running and the roads into Wellington were closed down.
Just after seven, I received a call that there would be no Before School Care but the school would be open. I told the secretary that I would anyway go in case some parents had not received the message.
It is about ten minutes drive to school from my home. I arrived just before 7:30 am. At 7:45 am a board member came to check the building. He brought his two young children with him. While he checked the school, I kept an eye on the two boys. Then a parent turned up with his little girl. He had not read the message about Before school care being closed. I told him it would be okay; I would look after her and keep her safe.
Teachers started to arrive just before eight.
I went home at 8:15. Aftershocks kept coming and going. I went back to After School Care in the afternoon. There were twelve children till about 4.30 that afternoon.
Tuesday morning I went back for Before School care. It was wet; heavy torrential rain kept pouring down. I was so tired and did not feel up to going back for the afternoon session. Lucky for me the school called, I did not need to come because most children were picked up before lunchtime. Everybody was warned about the oncoming bad weather. The rain caused havoc with flooding and causing slips on the roads. Wellington was cut off. In the meantime, more earthquakes kept on coming and going. Two strong quakes shook us at 1.15 and 1.30 pm.
Now it is Wednesday evening, we survived another exciting day of tremors and a bit of dry weather. I am happy to say that I am well but tired. Looking after children and keeping them all safe and content for the last three days was very stressful.
I still remember my best childhood gift. A sleeping doll with a soft green dress!
She was so beautiful I could not keep my eyes from her. When I held her in my arms, like a baby, she would close her eyes. Then when I kept her upright, she would look at me with bright blue glassy doll’s eyes. She also had long curly golden nylon hair.
In 1952 my family moved to South Africa from the Netherlands. It was at the beginning of February when the journey started. My 6th birthday was going to be on the ship!
Next door to our home lived two sisters who, to me as a nearly six-year-old, looked very old. They were friends of my parents. A day before our departure they came over and told me that they had a present for me because they won’t see me on my birthday later in February. I opened my present, and guess what? In the box, all dressed up was this most beautiful doll. Her body was soft, and her head, hands and parts of her legs were made from porcelain. Her face was beautifully painted and then those glassy blue eyes! I will never forget her eyes. She even had on some white shoes and socks.
I loved this doll so much. I never liked to give it to my sisters to play with. A year or two later one of my sisters played with it outside. She forgot to bring it in and the early morning dew ruined my lovely doll’s face. She was never the beauty again.
