On January 29, I invited everyone to join me for a month-long project, writing in response to sounds (the original post is here). This is the third time I've celebrated my February birthday with a daily project that gives back to the writing community.
In 2013, I sent original postcard poems to 44 friends. Last year, Author Amok turned into a poetic version of a Color Run, with poets doused in all the shades of the rainbow for writing inspiration.
And for 2015, we wrote to the sounds of music, bird calls, reptiles, theremins, outer space, trains, even a stairwell. I know some of you were skeptical about writing in response to a non-visual prompt, but this month's poems have been amazing.
Let's talk statistics.
During the 28 days of sound poems, this is what we created:
177 original poems by
14 poets about
28 sounds
The poems have covered such topics as mythology, history, war, childhood, rock concerts and reptiles. We've had a huge variety of forms and experiments, from pantoums to illustrated poems.
The most-written-about sounds were:
Stairwell (Day 19, 8 poems)
Reptiles (Day 20, 9 Poems)
Chinese Music (Day 21, 9 poems)
Heavy Metal (Day 23, 9 poems)
Least popular were:
Bubbling Cauldron (Day 9, 4 poems)
Fireworks (Day 10, 3 poems)
It's interesting to me that my two favorite days -- because of the rich responses sent in -- were Stairwell and Chinese Music. Why is that interesting? Both sounds evoked places. (P.S. I am a geek, so the Outer Space poems were my third favorite.)
Huge thanks to this whole community, whether you contributed one poem, wrote every day, or cheered the poets on with your comments. I’ve got some prizes for you...
As promised, I am a Gargoyle literary journal spoken word CD to the top contributor. And that is...
**Charles Waters, who sent in 31 poems!**
And (surprise!) I have a second Gargoyle CD for our other high-flyer...
**Patricia VanAmburg, with 24 poems!**
Congratulations to both of you on a great month of writing.
Once again, I'm sending vintage postcards -- they make great writing prompts -- to our other frequent contributors:
Once again, I'm sending vintage postcards -- they make great writing prompts -- to our other frequent contributors:
Thanks also to Matt Forrest Esenwine, Buffy Silverman, Karin Fisher-Golton, Heidi Mordhorst, Michelle H. Barnes, Carol Varsalona, Donna Smith, and Robyn Hood Black. Each of these fine poets shared a poem or two this month. And to everyone who wrote alongside and posted on his or her own blog, or in the privacy of a notebook -- I'm glad you joined us.
Would you like to go back and revisit all the sounds of our project?
Click on the day to hear the sound prompt.
Click on the description of the sound to read the poems.
I hope you find something to inspire your own writing.
Read Water Wheel Poems by Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, and Charles Waters.
Read Angel Chimes Poems by Diane Mayr, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, and Charles Waters.
Read Knife Sharpening Poems by Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Charles Waters, and Patricia VanAmburg.
Read Thunderstorm Poems by Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Patricia VanAmburg, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, and Charles Waters.
Read Ballet poems by Diane Mayr, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Patricia VanAmburg, and Charles Waters.
Read Theremin Poems by Matt Forrest Esenwine, Charles Waters, Patricia VanAmburg, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Laura Shovan, and Buffy Silverman.
Read Endangered Sounds poems by Patricia VanAmburg, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, and Charles Waters.
Read Sound of Waves Poems by Patricia VanAmburg, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, and Charles Waters.
Read Bubbling Cauldron Poems by Diane Mayr, Charles Waters, Laura Shovan, and Buffy Silverman.
Read Fireworks Poems by Charles Waters, Diane Mayr, and Laura Shovan.
Read Classic Typewriter Sound Poems by Patricia VanAmburg, Diane Mayr, Charles Waters, Mike Ratcliffe, and Laura Shovan.
Read Mockingbird Poems by Linda Baie, Mike Ratcliffe, Laura Shovan, Charles Waters, and Margaret Simon.
Read Cape Eagle Owl Call Poems by Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, Laura Shovan, and Diane Mayr.
Male Woodcock Mating Call Poems by Diane Mayr, Patricia VanAmburg, Mike Ratcliffe, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, and Charles Waters.
Read Santa Fe Church Bells Poems by Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Diane Mayr, Laura Shovan, and Charles Waters.
Read Quaking Aspen Poems by Diane Mayr, Charles Waters, Laura Shovan, Patricia VanAmburg, Mike Ratcliffe, Linda Baie, and Karin Fisher-Golton.
Tuesday, February 17 -- new poem!
Read Laughing Child Poems by Charles Waters, Diane Mayr, Laura Shovan, Michael Ratcliffe, Linda Baie, Margaret Simon, and Heidi Mordhorst.
Read Mysterious Space Sound Poems by Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, Mike Ratcliffe, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, and Margaret Simon.
Read Museum Stairwell Poems by Linda Baie, Mike Ratcliffe, Laura Shovan, Charles Waters, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Patricia VanAmburg, and Karin Fisher-Golton.
Friday, February 20 -- new poems!
Read Reptile Poems by Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Mike Ratcliffe, Donna Smith, Robyn Hood Black, Buffy Silverman, and Charles Waters.
Read Traditional Chinese Music Poems by Diane Mayr, Mike Ratcliffe, Laura Shovan, Robyn Hood Black, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Carol Varsalona, Charles Waters, and Margaret Simon.
Read Footsteps in Snow Poems by Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, and Mike Ratcliffe.
Read Heavy Metal Poems by Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, Mike Ratcliffe, Heidi Mordhorst, and Carol Varsalona.
Read Sea Turtle Poems by Laura Shovan, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, and Karin Fisher-Golton.
Read Ugandan Panpipe Poems by Laura Shovan, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, and Mike Ratcliffe.
Read Train Sound Poems by Laura Shovan, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, Mike Ratcliffe, and Karin Fisher-Golton
Read Cracking Lava Poems by Laura Shovan, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, and Mike Ratcliffe.
Read Fox Poems by Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, and Mike Ratcliffe.
Before you know it, National Poetry Month will be here. Time for another project. I’ll announce the project and put out a call for guest bloggers soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the 2015 NPM poster:
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