Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Words Count With Mama Zen

Image via Pinterest

Despite my yearly resolution not to make New Year's resolutions, this year I have resolved to learn how to use Twitter.  And you, dear Toads, are getting dragged along with me.

Today, we are writing Twitter poems.  Despite the techy name, a twitter poem is just a poem brief enough to fall at or below Twitter's tweet limit of 140 characters.  Sounds easy enough, right?   Here's an example by some guy named Billy Collins:
 
Twitter Poem
 
The poem creates a space.
It hides in a tent in a forest.
Making its own bed it falls asleep in the dark,
wakes up under a lamp or the sun. 

 --- from The New York Times Week in Review

You know, that guy may have a real future in poetry . . .

So, what do you think?  Are you ready to give it a try?  Your assignment is to write a poem of 140 characters or less.  Feel free to do as many as you want and even chain them together if you like; just make sure that each stanza is 140 characters or less.  Have fun!

Editorial Note:  There are lots of character count thingies online.  I like this one.

Boring Editorial Note: Billy Collins' "Twitter Poem" is reproduced under fair use for non-profit, educational purposes only.  No infringement of copyright is intended.

27 comments:

Vandana Sharma said...

wow! amazing theme" twitter"!

Fireblossom said...

I do not Tweet. But for you, I will do this terrible thing.

Lolamouse said...

Since you gave a shout out to one of my favorite poets, I'll give this a try for you!

Kerry O'Connor said...

I'm with FB on the conscious choice never to tweet a single character - but I do like the challenge of 140 characters (including the spaces) and if Mr Collins is a sport about it, who am I to be a naysayer?

hedgewitch said...

Sometimes, the fewer words, the better. I'm not tweeting mine, though. :_)

Pealogic said...

Not tweeting, but I shall have a go, as it's so challenging to write briefly

Marian said...

i'm on my way out for some work travel, maybe i can just link yinz to my twitter feed instead?
@runaway_tweets
joking, i'll write something, but i really am hitting the road. and that really is my hangout on the twitters.

Anonymous said...

I am a twit, though I don't tweet. But, what the hey, I tried one ~

Kenia Santos said...

I've written many twitter poems before.

I'll come around in a minute with some new stuff.

For the time being, Let me share a silly link for twitter poetry ideas?

http://twittermagnets.com/

Anonymous said...

Twitter Poetry.. I love it.. I do it everyday. Thanks for this challenge!

Unknown said...

I am a fan of the conciseness Twitter demands. Each word has value.

Susan said...

I don't know tweeting from nothin', but here is a tweet-length poem for you. Perhaps if you walked me through the steps? Can that be done in 140 characters?

Other Mary said...

Tweet, tweet.

So are we supposed to put these up on twitter too? I have an account but I don't actually know how to use it.

Maude Lynn said...

Thanks for playing, guys! I'm in the midst of a computer tragedy, but I'll be around as soon as I can.

Jim said...

Hi Mom Z. ~~ Before this post theme has run its course I might decide to open a Twitter account. I have been thinking of it, with perhaps just one 'friend', the Pope. He has inspirational and uplifting messages with his tweets.
..

Grandmother Mary said...

I liked the challenge even though I'm not a tweeter.

Margaret said...

My daughter has threatened me if I get on twitter - I told her I just might now. :)

Outlawyer said...

Hey MZ--my challenge was somewhat magnified by doing all on iPhone . How's that for modern-- ha? K. Manicddaily

Susie Clevenger said...

I am on the twittersphere...so I am familiar with limited character count. Thanks for the challenge MZ!!

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

love that twitter comic strip.
will have to pick up The New Yorker

gracias MamaZen

Kerry O'Connor said...

Wow! So many tweets!!

Thanks for a great challenge, MZ.

Unknown said...

Seems pretty challenging to write poem with so few words. Thanks for posting the challenge. I wish all of your fellow bloggers luck.

Sean said...

I must say that is the first tweet I have ever written. Thanks for the great opportunity! I just love writing these prompts :)

Kay L. Davies said...

I think I could do this. Not right this minute, but I'm already a day late, so an hour or more won't make much difference. Nice to be back in the Garden.
K

Ella said...

A sweet tweet Mama Zen! I think I can manage this one. Snowbound with cabin fever and noise-translation I am going nuts!

Anonymous said...

I love the constraints of the tweet! I had enough space to add a pic too.

said...

Ha ha. Maxine. Ya gotta love a poet like her. :)