Poetry Fishbowl Open!

[ysabetwordsmith]

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED.  I am done writing!  \o/  Thank you all for your support and inspiration.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open!  Today's theme is "nature."  I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

I'm aiming for two things here: These are intended to be one-shot poems, NOT series installments, so I expect most or all of them to be sub-epics.  This is a chance for those of you who aren't as fond of the series to request things that stand alone, and for those of you without deep pockets to enjoy more modestly priced shopping opportunities.  It's also a perfect time to prompt for short poetic forms.  I'm hoping to keep this to one day's writing, so I can work on my backlog of projects. Technically we have slots open for new epics, but LiveJournal is still malfunctioning and won't let me edit the open epic posts.  I'll let you know when that changes.

If you're not sure what to do with the theme, I recommend plugging it into your favorite search engine and looking for photos or articles that you like.  You're also encouraged to prompt for things in your locale, which should make for a nice variety, since I have fans from around the world.


What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?

Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.

In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "nature."  I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.


Cyberfunded Creativity

I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:

1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.

2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated. 



3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).

0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.

4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here.  See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"

5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network.  Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall.  Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl.  If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published.  If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.


Additional Notes

1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."

2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function.  (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.)  These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.

3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity.  While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category.  Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those.  I've also posted a list of other donor perks there.  I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.

4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.


Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "nature." I'll be soliciting ideas for  amous naturalists, country folks, city folks who don't like getting nature on them, explorers, people who love wilderness activities, kids running wild, landmarks, habitat types, mountains, forests, rivers, oceans, caves, gardening for wildlife, birdwatching, cloudwatching, stargazing, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, other outdoor activities, native flora and fauna, natural sciences, cultural tidbits based on nature, Paganism and other nature religions, raw materials, nature crafts, and poetic forms in particular. But anything is welcome, really. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco which covers most common and many obscure forms.

I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation.)  The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.

Comments

lots for you to work with!

[alexseanchai]

Spirits of nature—of fire, earth, water, and air, of trees and mountains and rivers.

Great-Grandmother Gaia, also known as Mother Earth.

Cadair Idris, legend and all.

Mountain.

Forest.

River.

Ocean.

Storm clouds.

Partly cloudy.

Forest fire.

Campfire.

Night sky.

Lightning.

I am fond of villanelles, sonnets, terza rima, and rondeaus.

Re: lots for you to work with!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I turned five of your one-word prompts into the sestina "Biospheric Conditions," which is all about the connections between seemingly different things. The flavor is almost scientific liturgy, except it gets kind of lascivious in parts.

Yes, I write sestinas for fun. Yes, I know I'm weird. I have a linguistic coprocessor in my brain, it needs toys or it gets bored and starts dismantling the language.

39 lines, Buy It Now = $15

Re: lots for you to work with!

[redsixwing]

Wisteria. (You're good at seasonal words/kigo, so here's a favorite.)

Conflagration of Dragons - did one of the Six shape trees, before the Fall? What do the dragons make of that? (Ash, probably. But what else?)

The power of sunlight. Anyone who can stand under starlight can survive the sun's gaze; it's just a matter of perspective.

Nature from micro to macro. Science pr0n. Science prawn!

Edit: This.

Re: lots for you to work with!

[ysabetwordsmith]

See "Still Growing Strong," thumbnailed elsewhere. I started out aiming for a villanelle but the two strong lines had different end sounds, so I made a new form instead.

Re: lots for you to work with!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Regarding Cadair Idris, see below thumbnail for "The Might of the Mountain's Crown."

[technoshaman]

Kelly and Dale, winter fun. Tanka verses.

Heron and Mallory, a comforting moment. Sonnet.

(aaaand, the only other short serious form I know is a villanelle, and I am not that evil...)

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

See "Still Growing Strong," thumbnailed elsewhere. I started out aiming for a villanelle but the two strong lines had different end sounds, so I made a new form instead.

Also, I don't think of the villanelle as evil. I know most people hate it, but it's one of my favorite forms. Sestina is another. Yes, I'm weird. But it makes for good poetry.

Try these...

[ng_moonmoth]

I'd enjoy reading a romantic poem about someone who sets out to Bend Nature To Their Will, and winds up finding out how much of themself gets bent by nature in the process of reaching an accommodation.

If you're feeling like something more in the action-adventure line, orcas kill sharks. Some debate as to whether it's because large marine mammals are food sources for both, or just because the orcas want to prove they're the baddest animals in the ocean, but they're apparently very good at it.

Re: Try these...

[redsixwing]

Seconded. Romancing Mother Nature would be a really cool endpoint for that first prompt.

Re: Try these...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your prompt about romancing nature inspired the poem "Into a Relationship," which is written in unrhymed quatrains. Thoughts on romance and nature reflect each other. Yes, I wrote pr0n for demisexual naturalists. Have fun with that.

40 lines, Buy It Now = $15

[(Anonymous)]

I would love to read about adaptations nature has when humans try to come in and take over. The bats under the Austin bridge come to mind, as do city crows.http://www.batcon.org/index.php/our-work/regions/usa-canada/protect-mega-populations/cab-intro
- readera

[stardreamer]

This made me think about the way cliff swallows have been expanding from their base range in the desert mesas of the American Southwest across the rest of the country... by colonizing Interstate overpasses. We have some near our house in Houston, and they're lovely to watch.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

This inspired the free-verse poem "Fantastic Adaptations." It explores four species and their clever appropriation of human resources.

41 lines, Buy It Now = $20

[mama_kestrel]

A cat's eye view of playing tag with her human, using all the wonderful things in the yard to dodge - shrubbery, underbrush, large clumps of grass, lilacs, multiflora roses - laughing with her tail every time she gets into yet another green sweet-smelling inaccessible-to-the-big-clumsy-human space.

Nature always balances her accounts. If the weather-witch doesn't let the snow fall, the uninsulated ground freezes too deep and the spring floods that result lead to wading birds in farmers' fields.

Winter as a gestation period rather than a desolation.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your winter prompt inspired today's freebie, "Not a Desolation."

[kellan_the_tabby]

Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him.

Thus making walking trees basically inevitable. Any sort of villain in Macbeth's place. There's a wide selection to choose from.

[ng_moonmoth]

Triffids!

[capri0mni]

I seem to recall you also asked for "local places" prompts.

So I'd like to introduce you to The Great Dismal Swamp: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dismal_Swamp (so named because the tannin in the oak trees' shed leaves has dyed the water the color of dark tea).

[corvi]

Thank you for introducing me (and other random passerby) to the Great Dismal Swamp! It is excellent.

Nature

[librarygeek]

Ocean and beaches

Blizzards

New Jersey's Pine Barrens are the Southern part of the state - aren't barren, lots of water, iron ore in chunks throughout the swamps, and we have our own Devil. The Jersey Devil is the monster in the Woods, with a caveat that he's known for going after bragging idiots... Also, the other residents of the area are known as Pineys, and are proud of it! http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/history/devil/

http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html

Here's another good website for Weird and nature in NJ. http://weirdnj.com

Atlantic City is close enough to Leeds Point, the legendary home of Mother Leeds that we could give directions.

Yes, I miss home, and the Devil I knew, can you tell?

Re: Nature

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your prompt about the Pine Barrens inspired the free-verse poem "Not So Black." It looks at the history and hints of the Jersey Devil.

20 lines, Buy It Now = $10

nature ideas

[daisiesrockalot]

(not my pictures but)
https://travelandtell.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/abq.jpg with "it's not dead, it's home" or "where's east? can't you see the mountains?" (Albuquerque thing, we've got the east mountains and i'm pretty sure it's how most kids learn how to tell directions :P )

http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/wp-content/16/newMexico_7643.jpg "you're going to need some space if you want to launch that rocket" (and the occasional fun of nature 'reclaiming' model rockets that you never see again)

even with all the roads, wild raspberries still grow

backpacking or camping and finally not being able to hear anything mechanical

the scent of ponderosa pine

Re: nature ideas

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your raspberry prompt inspired the poem "Still Growing Strong." I started out wanting to write a villanelle about the persistence of nature despite human interference, and a villanelle requires two strong lines to use as refrains. Then I realized that the ones you furnished had different end sounds. So I made a new form, and the price is doubled since posting the poem will need to include a description of the form as well. I'm calling it a villanova.


19 lines + new form Buy It Now = $20

[stardreamer]

Walking along the beach at night, with a full moon and a high wind sending clouds scudding across the sky and waves lashing at the sand. A wolf howls in the distance, and there might or might not be the hoot of an owl somewhat nearer.

Curled up safe and cozy in your own space while a heavy storm or blizzard rages outside. Blanket, book, hot drink, other sources of comfort. May be a solo scene or with a loved one.

All the different colors of lilacs.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your lilac prompt inspired the free-verse poem "The Smell of Purple." It's a bit of synaesthesia about color, smell, and symbolism.

23 lines, Buy It Now = $10

Locale Prompts

[nsfwords]

Shared on FB and Wordpress.

- Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's UP. http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?type=SPRK&id=428

- Fierce Nature. Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, hungry predators, angry prey, volcanoes, earthquakes

- Subtle Nature. Fog, caverns, massive underground aquifers, the humongous fungus: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-largest-organism-is-fungus/

- Nature Dieties.

Re: Locale Prompts

[ysabetwordsmith]

See "A Forest at War," thumbnailed elsewhere.

[thnidu]

Boosted:
https://thnidu.dreamwidth.org/1581654.html
http://thnidu.livejournal.com/1697635.html

Short form: vembletroon (definition and example)

Nature: the current biggest (orange-haired and pea-brained) threat to it; or, more broadly, the trolls who want to tear down the mountain we all live on

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

I crammed all that into the vembletroon "The Secondhand Panjandrum." Tune in for personal insults, alternative facts, junk science, and pathetic politics.

Insulting Trump is like aiming at the broad side of a black hole. It is impossible to miss.

5 lines, Buy It Now = $5

[mdlbear]

Second nature.

Volcano.

A brook or small river winding through a forest.

Since you mentioned it, sestina.

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your first two prompts combined in "Second Nature."

[alatefeline]

Violets. I have vivid childhood memories of the bright purple color, the heart-shaped leaves, the cool softness of the petals, and the delight of forgoing for and eating edible wild blossoms and greens. I’ve transplanted wild violets of the common blue-purple and white varieties of the midwest into various gardens, and prefer them to cultivated pansies and violas, though I love those as well. They appear in lawns and out-of-the-way corners, green up early, and survive mowing, and in a cool shady damp place can spread to create carpets of flowers. I’d love to see what poetry you might be inspired to write by contemplating violets.

Any variation on one of these forms:
http://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/tag/irish/

Bird emoji! (Why not?)

Poem

[ysabetwordsmith]

Your flower prompt inspired the poem "Violet Surprises." It's basically a description of their colors in spring.

22 lines, Buy It Now = $10

Done for the night!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I actually finished writing to all the prompters. Yay. Yay. *goflopnow*

Re: Done for the night!

[alatefeline]

\o/