Friday Writings #174: Two Equally Yummy Options

Greetings, dear poets and storytellers. How are things in your bit of the world? My corner of New York City is currently being blessed with lovely spring weather. Which means excellent opportunities for gardening and for exercising outside. Two wonderfully delicious choices, don’t you think?

With that in mind, for today’s optional prompt, I invite you to consider a time you had to decide between two equally yummy options.

Add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant, please. 369 words maximum (excluding title), for prose and for poetry. You may share new or old pieces of poetry or prose. You may write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Do visit other poets and storytellers. Read their contributions. Share your feels about their word.

 next week, we will invite you to be inspired by the idea of storms, literal or metaphorical.

photo by Henley Design Studio, on Unsplash
(Because you should get the chance to stick your face in your cake and eat it, too. Or something like that *cough*)

Friday Writings #173: Youth Has No Age

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Back in my twenties, I was always annoyed about how young I looked for my age. At almost 53, it bothers me less. Though sometimes I think the real secret to being perceived as being younger than I actually am is that I (not so) occasionally (and often quite obviously) indulge in things that make me feel young. Cloud gazing. Being delighted with the first butterfly of spring. Dancing to modern pop music with gleeful abandon. Being curious about what happens if I try something different, like getting a haircut with a new stylist. I think she did a great job.

So for this week's optional prompt, I would like you to consider the phrase "youth has no age". I'm taking prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Just remember to keep your contributions to 369 words or fewer and one post per person, please.

Next week's optional prompt will ask you to consider a time you had to decide between two equally yummy options.

Friday Writings #172: Prose, Poetry, or Both At Once?

 

 

Dear Word Weavers, we are officially poets and storytellers (according to the name of this community). Most of us choose to share poems most of the time, and many of those poems do tell stories, but the option to work in prose is always there too. 

What if we combine the two?

What is prose and what is poetry? Some people think they are different things, even that they are opposites. Well we all know, don't we, that prose is that stuff where the lines go right to the end of the page, lol. Whereas poetry is broken up into shorter lines and separated into stanzas rather than paragraphs. Also, we think of poetry as having 'heightened language'.

I have sometimes complimented particular writers by telling them their prose is 'pure poetry'. But when people praise one of my poems by commenting on what excellent prose it is, I feel offended and have to remind myself they don't mean it how I think it sounds,  they've just got the terminology confused. Then again, I have been known to disparage some of my own poems as being 'too prosey'. So it seems the boundaries can blur, at least in our minds.

Perhaps the distinction is really between prose and verse, and poetry might occur in either? 

 

 

Here are some definitions from the web: 

Prose:

Language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing.

Writing that does not follow a meter or rhyme scheme. It's writing that follows standard grammatical rules and communicates ideas in a linear, logical order. Prose writing includes works of fiction and nonfiction.

The term for any sustained wodge of text that doesn't have a consistent rhythm. Poetry or verse is different: verse has a set rhythm (or meter), and it looks distinctive on the page as the lines are usually shorter than prose. 

Verse:

Speech or writing distinguished from ordinary language by its distinctive patterning of sounds and especially by its rhythm.

A part of a song that typically occurs in a series, precedes the chorus, and follows any introduction.

Poetry:

A type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader's imagination or emotions. The poet does this by carefully choosing and arranging language for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. Some poems, such as nursery rhymes, are simple and humorous.

Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature. 

The difference between prose and poetry:

Prose is writing that uses ordinary sentences to tell a story or state facts. These sentences are logically arranged. Poetry is a more fluid type of writing that can use different sentence lengths and arrangements on the page. Lines of poetry often comprise syllables each with a regular rhythm pattern. 

 

Just to complicate matters further, there are these things called prose poems. Furthermore, some people use the term prose poetry to describe free verse. (I believe that's a misunderstanding: they are distinct forms.)

Wikipedia says: 

Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning.

That'll do me, as a definition. I'm quite clear in my own mind as to when I'm writing a prose poem specifically. It is always intentional. Here is one.  

There are also pieces of prose which can be described as 'poetic prose'. That's harder to distinguish, and on the web it's often confused with prose poetry. But this lovely article makes it very clear. (You have to log in to read the lot, but just the opening few sentences will give it to you.) I always think the opening chapter of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a beautiful example of poetic prose.

Your optional prompt this week is to create a prose poem, or if you prefer, a piece of poetic prose. (As the prompts are always optional, we'll accept non-hybrid poems or prose pieces too.) Label them if you like, but I'm betting we can probably tell the difference.

The usual guidelines: 369 words maximum, excluding title and notes; one post per person; and it can be new or old.

Next week, we will invite you to find inspiration in the idea that “Youth has no age.”

Friday Writings #171: Firsts and Lasts

 

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Firsts and lasts come in all sizes. For instance examples of big ones are my first day at a new job or the last time my dearly departed, winter-loving corgi Kit got to enjoy the snow. Some small ones include the first time my new(ish) corgi Jelly Bean walked into the living room without giving the ceiling fan a side eye (she's a strange dog) and the last time I shall have sakura mochi this spring (I'm hoping my tea teacher makes them all April long).

I should probably try making them myself.

Whether they are big or small, firsts and lasts have a way of making us pay attention to time. And if we slow down just enough to feel their weight, they add a lot of richness to our lives. 

So for this week's optional prompt, I invite you to write about firsts and/or lasts of any size. I'm accepting poetry and prose, fiction and non fiction. Just be sure to keep it to 369 words or fewer and one post per person please.

Your optional prompt for next week will be to write a prose poem, or if you prefer, a piece of poetic prose.