As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, I always warm up with a writing prompt before I get to the current essay I’m working on. We did this in Santa Fe over the summer, and for one of them our mentor gave us this prompt: Write for five minutes using only one syllable words.
Here’s what I came up with:
My kid can skip. She skips with glee. To watch her skip makes me glad. I hope she skips now where she is. At the zoo and not with me. She’s with J. With her dad. I bet he skips with her at the zoo. I bet H skips with her, too. I bet they skip from the fish down the hill to the ice-cream stand at the zoo.
That’s some literary genius right there, no? Want to try? In the comments below, write one or two sentences using only one syllable words. The most creative wins their choice of one of the journals in my Etsy shop.
I will try. I will try hard. I will try the hardest. Oops.
Well done.
What a fun prompt! I love it!
This day rode in with no light, but now the sun is bright and bold in the sky; the leaves here shift and change tone as it lifts through gray clouds, from green to gold to red to burnt brown they will slip and drift and then fall. Fall. The time of year I hunt for fruit sweet for pie or sauce and squash for soup or porch steps. The time of year I walk with my kids in light that dims down quick; we are caught off guard when night rolls in and still we play, crunch down the path, a leaf here and there on the breeze, down down down to earth. Now, the sun is gone, the light is gone, too, and you, my three loved ones, must snooze, the light of the fall moon will keep you safe.
🙂
Go on, girl!
wait, is sarah an author? that doesn’t count. 🙂 and, valerie, that made me laugh. i know i have lots of two syllable words in here, but i’m at work and there are these people waiting without clothes on to be seen by me (which is not nearly as exciting as it sounds), so i think i should do that first. i’ll be back though. one syllable at a time.
She sure is! You would LOVE her essays and poems, Alison. I’ll send you her blog link, too.
Go take care of those naked folk. I have a feeling they’ll inspire you to come back and write a l’il something.
I totally think I’m going to win.
You’re a cheater. 🙂
And I would have put a little more effort in, but we’re packing and driving to Illionois today, so my creative juices are sort of stressed out right now. Good luck to those of you more talented than I am!
FUN! Have fun in Peanut. I mean, Walnut. Almond? Cashew?
You know I’m kidding!!
I don’t think we will even be in Walnut. So there, smarty-pants.
If you say you’ll be in Chicago, I’ll kick you in the pants.
Nope, Princeton. My pants are safe.
For now.
What to do, what to do? So much on my list. I should do this… I should do that… Breathe. A still voice says, “Make your choice out of love.” So I do.
Oh, oh!!! It’s gettin’ competitive now! This is great, Shannon! And readers, make sure to stop by Shannon’s new blog, “Presence and Prose.” You’ll be quite satisfied with her words.
Leave for Chi-town I do now. Fresh fall leaves, chilled walks in light of the moon, Gold Coast place to stay. Who can beat that, child of that place…?
“Child of that place.” I love that.
Have fun!
I love this prompt, and I love to see what words are found. Some of the best words have just one you-know-what. (Cheat?) Thank you for this. I’ll share!
Ha! Nah, that’s not cheating. I used Jesse’s and Harper’s initials in my post. 🙂
my day: woke at five — spouse woke up to run. he’s nuts. back to sleep for me. woke at six — kids are up for good. they’re nuts too. in the best ways. off to work. cup of joe for the drive.
work starts:
i have a cold…i need a pap…i have blood in my stool… are these lice? (ick!)… i have too much stress for me to cope… i feel sad… i’m too old for this… my head hurts… i am fat… i need help. please help.
work ends:
i am worn out. i love my job but it’s hard. and then back home to my loves who fill me up for the next day.
One day somebody’s going to say, “Wait, she’s an author, right? That’s not fair.” You’re all e.e.cummings, girl. He was a physician, wasn’t he?
How bright, The light I stand in-
It falls on my toes; a splash it goes
And sways on sails of red,
And white,
And green.
I reach towards it; sky slips through my palms
And dips down large pink vines.
I gaze up to dome of blue and ask day moon-
What am I to be?
A short time I sit; eyes fixed on a tiny gold bird.
A quick breeze and I am brought back to bright sails
Of sky, and vines; a splash on my toes
How bright, The light I stand in.
This is a good lesson in illustrating that one syllable words hold just as much power as multi-syllable words. I didn’t even look to see whether they all were one syllable because I was lost in the poem. Thanks for sharing, Mary!
Wow, I LOVE this poem!!!
Thank you so much! 🙂
This is so gorgeous! The title evokes an 18th century hymn. The whole poem is just drenched with light. Brightened my day. 🙂
this is really more for h and h than for you, but from naomi when i told her about this:
burp fart poop poop pee butt fart poop butt fart poop. pee. poop. done.
i should’ve never indulged her on that because she’s running around singing, “let’s fart, let’s fart. let’s have a fart party.” i’m sending her your way.
I’m thinking of letting Hadley and Harper be the judges and I KNOW this one will be the main contender. They will roar when they read this.
I choose all of you to win!
It’ll be a tough decision, that’s for sure!
Dog on my lap. Wine in my hand. It’s a good night. To think. To dream. To just BE.
This sounds like a great evening. And well deserved, because I know how hard you work!
What will be. You and I. Day and night. Hand Hold. Him and Her. Said and Wed. Him and her. Kids are ours. Step by Step. Year to Year. Love, Love.
I love this and I love you two! 🙂
red, orange, green, brown are
the taste of fall in my mouth
so sweet, tart, soft, crisp
Now I want an apple. Or pumpkin pie. Nice!