Tangles & Tails: Tracey Kiff-Judson's Blog

Stuck Bumblebee Challenge

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Written by: Tracey Kiff-Judson
Category: Blog

Happy Poetry Friday! Want to know more? Check out: What in the World is Poetry Friday. Please visit the lovely Rose Cappelli for this week’s roundup at Imagine the Possibilities. Rose is sharing her April poetry project with tankas inspired by heaven and earth.

Today, I want to give a shout out to Joyce Uglow and Cynthia Mackey. Woohoo, yay, you guys! I had so much fun participating in their Stuck Bumblebee Poetry Challenge last week.

 

Joyce and Cindy offered a set of keyword prompts each day and invited everyone to join them in writing poetry. Participants could choose to include one or both words from the daily prompt. Below are my seven poems from the week that I would not have drafted without their inspiration. There were some great tips provided each day by poets and authors, including our own Irene Latham!

And a surprise bonus, I won a signed copy of the poetry collection If Pets Wrote Poems by Susan Johnston Taylor. Thank you, Susan!

 

Monday’s prompt: brea | snail

Crow Escargot

A slippery-footed
snail slithers,
compact,
world on back.
Stalk-eyes scan –
crow attack!

 

Tuesday’s prompt: climate | hibernate

Bat Hibernates

When skies thin to grey,
autumn’s gold well-spent,
and the wind blows
smoke and chill,
I flit to the hollow,
furl my wings,
and drift into dreams
of spring.

 

Wednesday’s prompt: extinct | giraffe

Giraffe’s Iatrophobia

“Sore neck?” said Doctor G.,
“Tonsillectomy!”

“Belly ache? Let’s see –
Appendectomy!”

“Runny nose? Dear me…
Of course, Rhinectomy!”

Soon I fear there’ll be
Nothinleftomy.

 

Thursday’s prompt: future | frozen

Seasons Change

Spring blossoms.
Summer shines.
Fall fades.
Winter nips –
frozen.

Spring clings.
Summer blaze-rages.
Fall falters.
Winter drips…
future?

 

Friday’s prompt: oozing | swooping

mud pot

grey brownie batter
oozing, bubbling, burping
earth’s slow cooker

(If you’d like to see a mud pot in action, check out this video: Bing Videos)

 

Saturday’s prompt: ecosystem | bumblebee

Birds and Bees

Tweedledee
Tumbledee
Tumblebee
Bumblebee

 

Sunday’s prompt: fossil | fox

Fox Appointment

Over hillcrest,
we meet
in the heather
of gloaming.

Your needle gaze
sizes my limbs.

Pricked ears
clock my heartbeat.

Twitchy nose
distills me
from the breeze.

We linger in a moment
of knowing.

HOOO!
Owl adjourns.

Until tomorrow.

 

Thank you to Joyce and Cindy for creating this fun and engaging challenge and for building the poetry community!

If you have a chance, check out Stuck by Joyce and Butterfly Sea and If a Bumblebee Lands on Your Toe by Cindy!

20 comments

  • Crow attack! Reminds me of hungry teenagers around a bag of chips. Ha! But the line I love is in 'Fox' distills from the breeze. That's awesome. Well done, Tracey. I could NOT keep up with all that was going on in April this year. A lovely problem to have. 
  • Tracey, thank you for the series of poems that are different yet unique in their rendering. The lines that make me ponder are: "We linger in a momentof knowing". I am interested in borrowing those lines for a poem with credit to you. Are you interested in adding one of your NPM poems for my Spring Seeds Grace April? I like how the bat dreams of springtime.
  • Tracey, these are magical. (I'm sorry I missed the invitation to participate; it looks like a fun challenge, though I guess I had another challenge enough for April.) The forms you picked are so fun and breezy. The words did bring out poems you wouldn't have otherwise written. I loved the "Giraffe's Iatrophobia" (new word for me), which is perhaps my favorite today, with the fear of "Nothinleftomy." The climate future is so powerful too with:"Spring clings.Summer blaze-rages.Fall falters.Winter drips…"
    Thanks for all the treats! I enjoyed seeing them all together here. 
    • Denise, thank you so much for your thoughtful comments! Full disclosure - I had to look up Iatrophobia too!
  • These are wonderful Tracey! I love your Giraffe’s Latrophobia, had me smiling through all and especially your last line, hope this poem finds a very wide audience, ☺️ thanks!
  • These were fun and delightful to read. Of course I liked the giraffe poem best (had to look up latrophobia), and also "mud pot" -- so vivid (the word "ooze" always gets my attention). "Fox Appointment" was special to me since we have resident foxes and an occasional owl nearby. You described an encounter perfectly. What wonderful prompts that brought out such a variety of responses.
    • The word ooze does demand attention, doesn't it? I am so happy that you have had similar fox encounters, Jama!
  • Oh, my! I love all of these. They are so fun! I especially like the one about the Giraffe and nothing being left! Well Done!
  • Wonderful, Tracey! I wasn't going to participate, but I stumbled into it and was inspired to join in. It was so much fun to see what words they came up with. And congratulations on winning Susan's book!
  • Given that I find myself deeply immersed in Autumn, Tracey, I readily identify with 'Hibernate' and its autumnal tones. It is wonderful to see the rich harvest of your wiriting time across such a relatively short duration and the diversity of topics explored. Such a rich vein of creativeness!

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