MONDAY PROMPT/ August 9
This week’s prompt, by guest maestro Cynthia Short
Many of us live lives acquiring — or attempting to divest ourselves of — possessions. From the cars we drive, and the antique bowls our grandmas gave us, to the house we once loved but now need to sell … often possessions help define our lives.
This week’s prompt is to think of something you possess. What are your feelings about this possession? Do you possess it, or does it possess you?
Some of the things I possess, but that haven’t yet made it on the page as a poem include: a scar, my mother’s laugh, and old suitcase that I traveled with extensively. Mementos of an important part of my life, an old photo of relatives that died before I was born, a horrible gift that I must display because I love the person who gave it to me … you get the idea: most any thing in our physical worlds are possessions that might just have an impact on our lives.
About our guest maestro
Every once in a while we’ll be sharing prompts offered by some of you, our circus-goers. (Thanks for your generosity!)
This week’s prompt is from Cynthia Short, who blogs at A Piece of Mind. Cynthia grew up in the small Arizona town she still calls home. Wife, mother and now grandmother, she spends her time running her own business and enjoying the desert around her. Writing poetry is one way she feeds her incessant need for creativity, enables her to use her wild imagination and keeps herself sane!
How prompts work under the Big Tent
We post prompts on Mondays, and you have all week to write your poems, based on our fabulous prompt or any other inspiration. Come back on Friday when you will find a “Come One, Come All” post where you can use the comments section to 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety.
You’ll have all day Friday (and all weekend!) to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.
Some hints
Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.
Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is with RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address: https://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.
Hint: Since we’re a new site, and you’re new to it, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)
Circus etiquette
We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics:
Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it.
Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps
I have written a poem I would like to share. This is my first time on this website so please feel free to have a look around my blog. I hope you enjoy. Thanks, Kristie
Hi Kristie. We link poems starting Fridays and go through the weekend. Take a look at the tabs under our header to learn more.
Deb, Thank you so much. I just realized that. I will link it this Friday if that is alright. I love this site!! So happy I found you. Thanks, Kristie
Oh, yes, please do. And welcome to the Big Tent!
[...] Big Tent prompt this week was ‘possessions’. I did write something which isn’t very [...]
[...] Written for: https://bigtentpoetry.org/2010/08/monday-prompt-august-9/ [...]
[...] a bit. It still doesn’t feel finished yet, but I am posting it anyway as it seems to fit this week’s Big Tent prompt to write about a possession. Gentle critique is welcome – [...]
[...] notes: Cynthia Short’s prompt over at Big Tent Poetry is to write about your feelings about possessions. Which got me thinking hard, because stuff is [...]
[...] Your Voice August 14, 2010 by lazylinerazmattazz Your Voice (for Big Tent Poetry) [...]
[...] week's prompt from Big Tent Poetry was pretty difficult for me. "This week’s prompt is to think of something you possess. [...]
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2009/02/301a-second-chance.html
Hope this brings a tear to your eye!
I possess rationalism.
http://herbalyette.blogspot.com/2010/06/knights-of-rationalism.html
Hi Herb. Welcome to the Tent. We post our poems in the “Come One, Come All” post following the prompt.
You should probably read our About, How To Join the Circus, and Ring #1 tabs for more information about how the site works. We’re glad to have to join in the poetry!