Welcome to the poetry workshop for summer 2009!  Please read the instructions in "author guidance", grab a mug of tea or coffee and join us!

Here is a poem I wrote to start us off:

Summer’s Boy

Salutations from the tipy-top top
of the tallest tree on our tiny farm!
Up here I can mimic crow calls or chicken clucks
and nobody cares but the circling
vulture with his ugly red neck
and a puzzled expression in his beady eyes.

My toes wiggle free on bark
and I can tell you why—not my fault!
Eeking oozeful vengeance
the bog did claim my shoes
and my socks received holes
from sticks and rocks and pokey things
and so my feet are naked feet
and dirty too, at that.

And my feet aren’t the only troops in trouble.
The bog and the sun have formed a treaty 
and determined to ruin all. 
My neck is red as a stop sign 
and my face feels like hot coals
without the dream of marshmallows
to inspire my poor burning nose.

And still the battle comes on other fronts.
Bur bushes are contriving plants
and plot evil plans to paint my shirt—  
my poor clean shirt—with prickly  
painful catching burs.  It is rather  
brown-grey in patches now instead of blue  
and mummy won’t be pleased.

But mummys are never pleased  
when children ruin things 
and I know that really I shouldn’t. 
But sometimes everyone is against me—  
field and sky and dirt and twigs. 
And brave little me must boldly walk the land 
in fun and mud and tangled sticks 
until the sun lowers his guard 
and my tummy calls me home.

So I’ll come down from my tree now, 
down from the very tippy top. 
And tomorrow I will find my shoes 
and mend my socks and pry the burs all out. 
Or maybe mummy will, 
because mummys are so very good 
at fixing things like that.

RATE THIS CHAPTER!

Author guidance for This poem

Well, the summer is over, and so is this particular workshop. Please do not post any more poems here. Do continue reading and critiquing them, though.

Don't be sad though---there's a new poetry workshop for this fall:

http://www.protagonize.com/story/poetry-workshop-fall-2009


OLD INSTRUCTIONS (still applicable for critiquing poems):
Please read these instructions before contributing.

Welcome to the poetry workshop. We meet in a lovely little coffee shop and there is quiet music in the air and artwork on the walls and you get a discount on your choice of hot drink. So, pull up a chair to the table and join in the workshop!

This is a place for anyone interested in experimenting with and improving their poetry. You also have to be prepared to give constructive (that means helpful/useful) criticism to other authors writing and be willing to receive criticism on your own writing.

Before posting a poem you MUST write at least one useful comment critique for another author’s poem. Please try to pick a poem that not too many people have critiqued yet—so that everybody gets feedback! You are always welcome to write feedback for more than one poem—if fact, you don’t have to write a poem to give feedback! Also, do carefully consider, then rate the poems. And, if the poet changes their poem according to criticism, try to remember to go back and re-evaluate the grade you gave them.

Note: all forms of poetry are acceptable but please avoid mature content.


Remember when you critique to always include something positive along with the suggestions for improvement. If you aren’t sure where to start with you critique, give some thought to the following five questions:

1. Is the poem a unified whole?

2. Does the structure of the poem work effectively with the words to create a good poem? If the poem has a strong visual aspect—is it effective?

3. Are there any particular words or phrases that stand out to you? Anything that doesn’t fit in or fits in particularly well? Do you think any of these could be changed or improved?

4. If there is a rhyming scheme and or meter, do they work? Do they seem forced anywhere?

5. Does the poem pass the ‘so what?’ test for you? This might mean that you have enjoyed an 'unspoken' message in the poem.


So there you go! I hope you’ll choose to jump in and share a poem (or two or ten) and some thoughts and suggestions. None of us are experts in this, so your thoughts count too.

The poems are editable and we’d love to see if you have edited your poem in response to a reader’s reaction. If you place your newest drafts at the top of your post and older drafts below, that would be good.

In expectation and with a sip of mint tea and an excited grin,
FogCat

updated Sep 22 '09 by FogCat