Play Time

A couple of years ago the husband gave me a magnetic poetry kit for Chanukah. I highly recommend buying one of these gems–there’s a treasure chest of delicious words inside, and it’s great fun to arrange them and try to make sense or nonsense.

The daughter pulled out the magnets several days ago, on the first night of Chanukah. She decided she wanted a constraint, and wrote an acrostic in honor of her favorite member of the family–our dog Dakota. This turned out to be more of a challenge than you might imagine, sorting through the limited words that started with each letter (it turns out there is only one word beginning with K) and then trying to string together something poetic. But she rose to the challenge:

I did not give myself any difficult rules, and strung together the following:

Of course, I look at it now and start editing. Maybe the first three lines on their own? But I like “ferocious women never bring you coffee….” That sounds like a line that belongs in a short story, one that I will never write. Help yourself–that’s the beauty of having all these words in one place.

The husband photographed some past creations before I pulled them down (a warning…rust forms underneath the magnets, making little pits on the refrigerator door. I now know that it’s best to put paper underneath.) Apparently the daughter has a thing for self-imposed rules (and dogs.) She wrote this one with the constraint that words other than prepositions/articles/pronouns had to contain the letter g:

And I have a thing for coffee:

Wishing you some poetry fever for the new year. And be sure to visit Donna at Mainely Write for this year’s final poetry friday roundup!

20 thoughts on “Play Time

  1. I missed this last month, but love all the poems you and your daughter created. Your lines “kiss you soul/with poetry fever” is my favorite (and good advice!). As others have said, now I have to find my set. I had a magnetic poetry app on my old phone, but haven’t added it on my new one. I’ll have to fix that today, and maybe take up Donna’s challenge.

  2. These were so much fun to read, Buffy. Your daughter’s poem with the “G” constraint — wow, didn’t that add a lot of music and sound echoes to the poem? I’ll have to try that exercise. Happy New Year!

  3. Playtime sounds like fun time in your household, Buffy. Ferocious women line struck me right away as an amazing thought and to the think it all started with a game. Happy New Year 2017.

  4. Yes, I’m inspired too–where IS that original magnetic poetry kit? (We once hosted a party where a bunch of 20-somethings sat around in a London flat and drank, ate and made poems all night.) I have a kids’ version, a French version, and a naughty GLBTQ version. Must get busy…and thinking *why* ferocious women never bring you coffee!

  5. Magnetic poetry is so much fun! My in-laws have a set, and their fridge is always decorated with choice poetry celebrating two of their favourite things – good food, and good wine. 🙂

    Have a happy, poetey- filled new year!

  6. You’ve inspired me to pull out my set of magnetic poetry (which doesn’t have the same words as yours but they’ll have to do). I must say “warm caramel pie / dark coffee…” sound mighty good right now (after my self-imposed austere diet after the Christmas festivities. Happy New Year!

  7. Buffy, this looks like so much fun! I love your play time. This past school year I took several poems from books in my library and put each word on a magnet strip. I put them out on the library tables for kids to play with. When the words are all mixed up…..you can create new poems. It’s fun. You are such a word girl. I wish you time to linger long with beautiful words this coming year.

  8. Like the other ferocious lady commentators, I too, was taken by the coffee line! Looks like you all had fun! Happy New Year!

  9. Hi Buffy! Yes, I love the magnetic poetry tiles as well! ferocious women never bring you coffee! HA!
    Have a great new year and I’m hoping for poetry fever! Best, BJ

  10. I always have my magnetic words on the refrigerator! (white finish isn’t as prone to rust). The constraints of the words themselves is quite a challenge sometimes all in itself! I want to get more so I can have a better selection. I love the way your daughter finagled “ardent”. I really LOVE “ferocious women who never bring you coffee”! I am SO using it – (though not in the novel it should be the opening line for) I’ll flesh it out and explain in TOMORROW’s blog!

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