Friday, August 19, 2022

Friday Writings #40: Lists in Ink


photo by Thomas Bormans, on Unsplash

I like lists. I enjoy making them. I find the process of listing things (and, when I’m lucky, crossing them out) rather therapeutic. How do you feel about lists and list-making?

Well, I hope you don’t mind lists too much. In fact, I hope you and your muse can delight in them. Because for today’s optional prompt, I wish you to write poetry or prose that includes a list—of things you love, of things you hate, of things you want, of things you’ve lost, of people you miss… of anything you wish.

“Sick”, by Shel Silverstein

 “I cannot go to school today,”
said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
a gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I’m going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox…”

Read the complete poem here (you might love the ending as much as I do).

 Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

 “What more easily explained and natural? With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word ‘intellectual,’ of course, became the swear word it deserved to be.”


If
the list making prompt isn’t for you, share any piece of poetry or prose you prefer. New or old, fiction or nonfiction, short or longish (prose pieces should be 369 words or fewer). Share the direct link to your post. One link per participant, please. After you share your words, visit other poets and storytellers, read their contributions, let them know how their words make you feel.

next week, Rommy will ask us to write from the point of view of a television character from a show we like.

25 comments:

  1. Ha, that To Do list you start with might be mine! 'Make coffee' and 'Drink coffee' are always what immediately follow my waking up.

    I enjoyed your Silverstein and Bradbury quotes, too.

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  2. Hi Magaly — please permit me today to take us on a sojourn into the wilds. Be careful, the terrain is challenging. 🙂✌🏼❤️

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  3. Synchronicity. I just saw this yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHf9iJR-al0

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  4. Good day, Poets & Storytellers!

    List poems are fun. They are great to do when you are stuck and your muse went on holiday. Then when you are done with it, it's actually quite good. I am posting one that I wrote a long time ago.

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    Replies
    1. You know, I never thought about lists poems in that way. But you're so right!

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    2. I wonder if that's why Wallace Stevens wrote his 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird'.

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    3. 😁 I doubt so. I think he wrote it with a strong direction of how the poem will look and feel.

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  5. Hi Magaly! I came across your prompt earlier today and couldn't resist taking part. Not sure I've nailed the list poem form but I thought I'd give it a go. Thanks for the inspiration! :-)

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  6. I just came across this prompt. I have a list poem, sorta.... Thanks!

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  7. A few lists within my poem - its been a long time - I had a move from NC to MI so I've been busy. Thank you for this challenge!

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  8. loved the "sick" poem
    Kids would be like that - Also I liked the ending, I was expecting the
    one that always get told to me, a 22 year teacher + more, mostly
    teaching or training my whole working life.
    The end they tell me, "I can't go to school today." "You have to go,
    you're the teacher." :)
    ..

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  9. Mr. Linky left town without me. Here's mine: https://purplepeninportland.com/2022/08/22/enlightenment/

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    Replies
    1. Mr. Linky and Blogger keep on acting up. Sigh.

      I've added your link!

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  10. I've liked that poem since "Where the Sidewalk Ends" was a new book; thank you for sharing it.

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    Replies
    1. I've only known of it for a few months, but already love it. It's such good fun to read.

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