Twisted pair challenge

A while back I gave my global teacher community a challenged called Twisted Pair. It was to encourage them to write creatively and stretch the imagination. The rule was simple: Choose two characters from history and/or popular culture (they could be real or fictional) and write a short story about their meeting and what might possibly happen. 

Here's the same challenge for all you poets: Choose yourself two characters and write a short poem about their meeting. It could be the most unlikely characters you could possible think of: King Henry VIII and Donald Duck. John Wayne and Batman ... how about Marilyn Monroe and the Phantom of the Opera? 

Here's my example: 

Bela Meets Nancy

When Bela Lugosi meet Nancy Pelosi 
He ask for a dancy cos she take his fancy
Lugosi drink rosè and soon he proposi
"I'm happily married to Pauly", says Nancy 
Then Bela Lugosi begin to get antsy
The ring on her finger is something he can't see
He all lost for words like the magic man Teller
Cos Nancy don't fancy a fella called Bela

Steve Wheeler © 18 November, 2023

The poem doesn't have to rhyme, and neither do the names! In my example the names to rhyme, and I've exploited that feature. Tag you poem #TwistedPair and let's see what we can all come up with! You can share it below in the comments section, on any Facebook poetry group pages, or anywhere else on the web. Let's see how far we can spread this challenge! 

Steve Wheeler

Image from Wikimedia Commons

 

Poetry In The News Today!

The news today reflected a sweet high note for poets in the United States!

According to the Associated Press, the Academy Of American Poets announced contributions of $50000 each to 23 state and local poets all around the country from New Hampshire to Washington. This has been supported by various poetry initiatives from “poetry slam” workshops in South Carolina to Creative Writing programs in New Mexico. 

“The Academy of American Poets celebrates the unique position poets laureate occupy at state and local levels, elevating the possibilities poetry can bring to community conversations and reminding us that our national spirit can be nourished by the power of the written and spoken word,” Ricardo Maldonado, president and executive director of the poetry academy, said in a statement.

It seems dreams are not that far away for poets. Poetry foundations of many kinds offer brilliant wordsmiths an opportunity to take their voices to the next level with organizations such as the Poetry Foundation, Academy Of American Poets, Poetry Society Of America, Cave Canem Foundation, Montreal Canadian Poetry Prize,  Beyond Barouqe, and America Poetry Review. These are amongst the most popular in North America. There is also a Pulitzer Prize for poetry in the US as well.

In the UK, the Kings Gold Metal For Poetry shines as the gold standard for the best of the best. Finding an organization closest to you that you are comfortable with is as easy as typing in “poetry organizations” into your favorite search engines like Google , Bing, etc…

These are incredible awards to strive for, yet where does that leave poets that are on a steep ladder of most slippery steps?

Although the prospect of awards, cash prizes, and recognition is rather appealing to any artist, a humbling truth is that poetry is a slow going process… often taking a long time to even be noticed. 

That being said, social media and the internet have become game changers for many in poetry. Just being able to get your work out there makes all the difference in the world. 

Name recognition associated with posting on and commenting on poems associated with poetry groups also helps poets to get to know each other and encourage each other in many ways more valuable than money.

With the ability to reach so many people at once, and with the right amount of patience, fortitude, and talent, who knows what dreams may be able to be attained! 

Matt Elmore

https://apnews.com/article/poetry-academy-laureates-fellows-awards-118878bacdd75ee6c89ccf23aecb2a9f