Hello all!
I have another afternoon of unexpected company (young nieces and nephew), so I will make today’s NaPoWriMo assignment short and sweet. In fact, I’ll give you a couple to choose from.
These can be found in The Poet’s Companion, under “Simile and Metaphor” (pp. 102-103 for the exercises).
- Describe an activity—cleaning the house, painting a picture, bathing a child, dancing, cooking a meal—which could serve as a metaphor for your life, for how you are in the world.
- Write a brief seven-to-ten line poem with an abstract title: Loneliness, Fear, Desire, Ecstasy, Greed, Suffering, Pleasure. Make the poem a metaphor for the title, without using the abstraction in the poem.
- Write a “negative simile” poem. “It wasn’t like __________ or __________ . . . “
Today for me included a doctor’s appointment, too! I hope not to be under a time crunch (or otherwise socially obligated) tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the prompts!
➡ IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM:
If you’re looking for inspiration, here’s Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors”:
I’m a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising.
Money’s new-minted in this fat purse.
I’m a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I’ve eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there’s no getting off.