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© Kerry O’Connor |
Some of you may be familiar with my firefly jar of poetry, on Skywriting. Some may even recognize their writing in my jar, because it is crammed with extracts of poems and prose which have struck me as having the power to shine in the dark.
I added this quote just last week:
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And whatever I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good as belongs to you.
~Walt Whitman~
Recently, several of our Real Toad members sent me a selection of their photographs, for our Sunday Challenges, after I mentioned that this prompt might have to come to an end, and among them was this image from Kenia Cris. I was thrilled to see that I'm not the only one with such a jar.
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© Kenia Cris |
Thus, our weekend challenge is to write a poetic fragment, which could be printed out, or scribbled on a post-it, or torn from a notepad and preserved in a jar of words to live by, words not to be forgotten. This could be written in your favourite short form, or as a single quatrain. It may be as short as two lines of poetic thought (I have lately not pushed myself further than a couplet at a time for my Ghazal challenge.) or several lines of free verse. I will set the limit at 10 lines, but add that you may present us with a collection of such short pieces, because that's what firefly jars are all about. Feel free to use either image with your post, but I think it would be even nicer if you could take a quick pic of your poem on paper and share your fragment with us that way.
The Sunday Challenge is posted on Saturday at noon CST, to allow extra time for the creative process. Management reserves the right to remove any links which are unrelated to this challenge, but offers the invitation to share a poem of your choice on Open Link Monday.
Kerry
ReplyDeleteI just love this prompt
I bought house shaped tins
And filled them with quotes, poems and
Memories for others. I need my own tin or jar.
I had a journal filled with sentiments and lost it,
In a move. I hope the soul that found it was inspired.
Thank you for reminding me ; )
I cheated a little, using my Bottleneck poem for the Firefly Jar. Please forgive me. I am bottlenecked myself at the moment and am going offline to water the plants.
ReplyDeleteSo... we can have fragments from our old poems, poets we admire, and new fragments we think of today? Just want to clarify. I must tell you, I love the idea of a "firefly" jar of poetry.
ReplyDeleteThis challenge is for our own writing, but if you would like to add a favourite quote an as extra, that would be great.
ReplyDeleteHave to confess that I am a little out of my depth here as I never heard of a firefly jar.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that is slightly similar is the huge jar of dead plant labels, those that have long since been composted :-)
Let me know if my post is out of place.
Kerry! Love this idea...much fun, thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI'll be gone most of the day tomorrow but I hope to be around to catch up on the ones I miss.
:)
you showed me the oft forgotten words of Whitman, and made me think.
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^=
> < } } ( ° >
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terribly fun challenge Kerry! Very much enjoyed this one....viva la
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun challenge, Kerry.
ReplyDeletegreat inspiration...I tried ...don't know how good it is....but it is good to be here....
ReplyDeleteI used to write in a beautiful diary all my treasured poems & articles(whatever I felt) when I was a kid. But since I have started blogging I try N do the same on the PC itself. But this idea is so lovely. The authenticity will be immensely pleasurable. Thanks for the challenge... This is my first time submission. Thanks tc :)
ReplyDeleteBTW your blog has a lovely feel :)
Hi Kerry, this is such a wonderful challenge. I stepped outside to write and ended up leaving a fragment in my garden, can't wait to start peeling words and collecting them in a jar. Such a lovely idea. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteawwww your firefly jar pleases me so greatly, kerry. still. xoxo
ReplyDeletei'm behind but i'll try to get my shit together and respond to this one in a bit.
hey toads. i'm pretty fragmented by nature 'n' inclination, so this was a snap! somebody sat on my camera, though, and busted it, so i ain't got pix.
ReplyDeleteA special jar for poetic thoughts? I'm lucky if the peanut butter has its own jar in this house. Nobody in the place is organized, not my husband, not the dog, and least of all me, although I do try to impose some organization for all three of us, and fail.
ReplyDeleteAny poetic thoughts I might have will pass through my brain and out the other side before they're even noticed. Would love to participate in this prompt, Kerry. You and Kenia are impressive, but I'm not.
Luv, K
Very creative and rather delightful!
ReplyDeleteI love the prompt and the idea of a firefly jar. Thanks Kerry for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteMy "jar" is an old cigar box I've lugged all around the world. It has served various functions but now holds scribblings... more on process notes! Kerry, thanks, this was prompt was refreshing, like a bit of cleaning, and it also served to remind me the box is there for good reason... Peace, Amy
ReplyDeleteVery late here, so I also posted this on today's Open Link Monday.
ReplyDeleteDitto to what Margaret said! What a great project to tackle...thanks so much, Kerry!
ReplyDeleteHello Toads. Sometimes or more often I just read your poems and I comment. so if I don't have any offerings I just want to enjoy the poetic talents....:)
ReplyDelete