In trying to get back into writing, I’ve gone back through prompts saved for later. This one on creating a poetic charm bracelet, from Joseph Harker at naming constellations, was impossible to resist. In explaining his prompt, Joseph said:
Let’s think of the process this time as making a piece of jewelry, with beads and charms and dandies and things. . . . Here’s twenty little beads you can use:
childhood memory romantic encounter 2nd-biggest fear brush with death moment of frustration keeping a secret linguistic beauty writing a poem doing the impossible life goal emergency telling the future loved by family peace in nature feeling of foreboding discovering laughter coming home most hurtful words forgetting tears (invent your own) What you do with these is your own affair . . . my suggestion (which you can expand or contract, depending how complex you want to get) is to choose seven. So, for each of these little charms, you’re going to write a short snippet. . . . The final step, of course, is to string them all together with a unifying poetic chain.
Please visit Joseph’s post for the full description of the concept and process. He also has other charm prompts which should be explored.
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under a topaz moon
before tentative fingers
burned filigreed invitation to the nave
before deep droughts of tongue, lips, breathe
from across a chattering room
hearts whispered
like the crow who shattered a ball of light
one rabbit wandered darkness
gathering voices and songs
quarter and eighth notes, whole rests and clefs
composition on fallen leaves
scattering them into sunlight
centaur’s propensity
for hunting foolishness
driving away and away, late until
stubbornness spins in the grass
eyes and hearts bursting open
instead of closing forever on a median
she Sees my extended stay as a long slumber party
he calls just to sIng me his latest song
this one whiNes because he knows I’ll listen and smile
he’s willing to let Go because it’s best
when I visit, she smileS and then cries
love DEEPLY known
under Texas sky
spring is a dance
indigo graceful with cloud tips
waving at far distant azure
leaving cesious memories
bluebonnet youth
shhhh! please . . .
put down–phone/mouse/tablet
ask (don’t ask)
@ “the right time”
^_^ & When is that?
undisclosed
under a topaz moon
one rabbit wandered darkness
driving away and away, late until
he’s willing to let Go because it’s best
leaving cesious memories
undisclosed
Shiteki Na Usagi 
Wonderful post. Very interesting.
Marylin,
Thank you and welcome to my blog. I’ll happily return the visit soon.
This is one’s dream charm bracelet. Very lovely.
Raven,
Thank you, my dear. I enjoyed your recent prose, though reading was all I had time for. Keep up the writing. 🙂
Lyrical, pretty poetry, then you bust in with this stanza –
shhhh! please . . .
put down–phone/mouse/tablet
ask (don’t ask)
@ “the right time”
^_^ & When is that?
undisclosed
I love it! Mixing it up can sometimes be just he thing and right here it’s working great for me. The use of ellipsis, parenthesis, @, ampersand, forward-slashes, speech-marks and an emoticon in just five lines is almost genius touch.
Luke,
You make me smile. I don’t know about genius (though I like hearing the compliment), but I did like the punctuation experiment. I don’t make use of punctuation like that, which made it all the more challenging and fun. Thank you for reading and sharing.
ha, i like the rabbits…how you let them enter briefly in the beginning and then come back to them…the stanza of text speak actually jumped out at me…it was such a change….surreal bit of verse at moments with enough concrete images as well…each bit is rather like a charm…intriguing..
brian,
Thank you for visiting and reading. The rabbits were planned (easy to figure out if you took a look at Joseph’s detailed instruction). I’m always looking for ways to slip in a rabbit reference. I liked that punctuation stanza too (I think that’s the one you’re referring to). It does jar, and that may very well have been in the prompter’s plan. He’s clever that way. *smiling* So pleased you liked the charms. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I couldnt quite follow the technique but so many cool things going on here from deep drought of tongue to azure indigo blue bonnet, put down the tablet. K.
k,
I didn’t go into the explanation much (better to read it at Joseph’s site, but I chose the following charms: romantic encounter, life goal, brush with death, loved by family, coming home, and keeping a secret. The poem was made from lines of the previous poem, one of the challenges Joseph threw out. Glad you found things to like in it and thank you for reading. Happy holiday to you and yours
OOO so this is what is going on between the ears of the rabbit loitering beneath my bushes every night. Wow. Sweet stuff! That was one powerful carrot charm indeed. Guess I better leave some fresh brainfood next to the water dish. 🙂
47whitebuffalo,
*rabbit blushing* Thank for reading. I’ll try to keep up the writing, but until my laptop is fixed, the tablet is my only connection–makes for cramped typing and a lot more mistakes. Best of the holidays to you and yours
Wonderful dreamlike quality here, and I think you incorporated the charms cleverly. Love that the word “cesious” found its way in there. 🙂
Joseph,
Thank you for reading. I think they have some potential. I’d like to buff and polish them a bit after some time. I had a feeling you’d like that word, “cesious.” Best of the holidays to you, and I hope you get snow.
absolutely wonderful! I love the prompt and the ‘beads’ Yousei, what fun! I will never look at a piece of jewelry the same again, for they shall all be possible prompts, in all their glory! 🙂
Roxie,
I noticed one of the bead companies had already advertised that each bead had a story. I loved Joseph’s concept that each poem was bead. Happy you came by to share.
Like what you did with these…I thought some about the concept of a charm bracelet as the theme of a poem but have not done much with it yet…thanks for the reminder…now where did I put that notebook? 🙂
slpmartin,
I’d love to see what you design. Let me know when you have it down/post something. Check out Joseph’s if you want comparisons. Thank you for reading and smiling.