This is the index page for my submissions this month. I will link some of the poems I wrote but didn’t publish here as well (i.e. only on Facebook.)
#SingPoWriMo 2016 – All Prompts to Date
Day 1:
Write a poem that includes the following four words Singapore, Poetry, Writing and Month.
Bonus Challenge: Your poem should not be about Singapore, Poetry, Writing, or Singapore Poetry Writing Month.
Day 2:
Today’s challenge is a sort of found poem, you are tasked to create your own personal scripture to live your life by, a poem which is made entirely of your favourite quotes and sayings.
It is inspired by this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet”
Bonus Challenge: Include a quote from somewhere other than literary of fiction and poems. Eg: An advertisement jingle, a company slogan, your phone bill.
Day 3:
Write a poem inspired by the last thing you put in your mouth. wink emoticon
Bonus Challenge:
Do not use the words sweet, salty, bitter, mouth, taste or tongue.
Day 4:
Write a poem inspired by a memorable character from a movie. Think about this on-screen persona. What are the most striking aspects of their style or physicality ? Try to make connections between specific details, like a certain way of speaking or their walk or a trademark line to create a poetic portrayal of this larger-than-life character.
Bonus Challenge:
Include a YouTube clip of this character. ***
WIP
Day 5:
Today, you are simply asked to write a poem that states the things you know to be true.
Bonus: Reference Donald Trump without calling him a name.
Day 6
The poet William Stafford said “I don’t want to write good poems. I want to write inevitable poems – to write the things I will write given who I am.”
What are the inevitable things you need to say given who you are? What is the poem waiting to happen? Write it today.
Bonus Challenge: Use every single letter of the alphabet.
WIP
Day 7
Samuel Beckett started his poem, “Zone”, with the line: “In the end, you are weary of this ancient world.”
Poetry can have a therapeutic effect, especially when one attends to craft elements after “bleeding” on the page.
Instead of a To-Do List for today, pen a LIST POEM documenting some things you dread.
Come up with at least THREE list items of “grievance” or “displeasure/disappointment/discontent”. Expand these items into larger tracts of text, and polish them off with craft techniques.
Bonus Challenge A: Don’t use the word “hate”.
Bonus Challenge B: Rename all real persons.
Bonus Challenge C: End on an upbeat note.
Day 8
1. Take out a blank sheet of paper.
2. Write a noun in the centre, and circle it.
3. Choose a word that offers a concrete image, like “sunflower seed” or “rope bridge”. Avoid abstractions like “beauty” or “freedom”.
4. Create a POETRY MIND MAP, by writing down at least SEVEN different words that you can think of from your chosen noun.
5. The further the association, the better.
6. Write a poem that features all of these words.
Bonus Challenge A: Think of FOURTEEN different words.
Bonus Challenge B: Make it a sonnet.
Bonus Challenge C: Avoid end rhymes.
WIP
Day 9:
Write an ASINGBOL, an obscure new form indigenous to Singapore, the way the pantoum is Malayan or the tanka is Japanese. It is the expedient poetic form created for our expedient society. It’s also essentially an “impossible” poem, befitting of our “impossible nation”.
Here are the structural requirements:
The ASINGBOL is composed of exactly 140 characters including spaces (right, take liberties with counting pauses or caesurae as characters). Written as a single clause, all the words are not capitalized, with the sentence always end-stopping on a period to emphasize its statement of exposition and assertion. The asingbol attempts the near impossible — to be completely literal, at the points of its making and its subsequent reading, devoid of irony or metaphor as if to make disappear the hyperbole altogether. It is written like a dictionary entry espousing a single definition. It is also incapable of being read as symbolic. It celebrates the text as pure object.
Example:
the asingbol is a dry lick, not peanut or lard or mere printed music – a canzone flying, face half-lit like a tiger bittern, limber barline.
Bonus Challenge A: Write at least three asingbols. Bonus Challenge B: Sequence these asingbols, so there’s a narrative thread. Bonus Challenge C: Tweet your asingbol/s.
Day 10:
Reading or writing a poem helps slow things down for people.
It lulls them into a more contemplative spirit, the way light slows down as it passes from air into glass.
Engaging with poetry can be a spiritual practice.
1. Write a journal entry of at least 100 words. 2. Make sure all the details are true. 3. Assign line breaks, so the text reads like free verse. 4. Insert at least FIVE details that are untrue or imagined. 5. Feel the thin line that exists between truth and fiction. 6. Title this “The Prayer Poem”.
Bonus Challenge: Include an epigraph.
The Prayer Poem
Day 11:
1. Take off your clothes (kidding). 2. Stand in front of a full-length mirror (kidding). 3. Take a selfie (kidding). 4. Dump your phone into the toilet (kidding). 5. Put your clothes back on. 6. Write a poem about the kinds of bodies you like and dislike.
Bonus Challenge A: Make a statement about body image. Bonus Challenge B: Use irony. Bonus Challenge C: Swap one or more pronouns (“I” to “you”, “she” to “he”, etc). Bonus Challenge D: Mention a waif or plus-size model. Or any kind of beauty standard (or, erm, Bryan Hawn).
Day 12:
“I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.” ~ Robert Frost
“Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire.” ~ Roland Barthes
“The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.” ~ Czeslaw Milosz
These are some of my favourite writerly quotes.
If you want to hear what some hugely famous writers have to say about the writing process, here’s a great resource on BrainPickings, where you can gain great insight from literary greats like Italo Calvino, Ernest Hemingway, Annie Dillard, Stephen King, David Foster Wallace, among many others:
As writers, we gift to the world our voices and our stories.
Yet, the life of a writer can be punishing. It can be isolating. There’s an eternal gap between the author and the page and the reader. There are multiple ways of reading and misreading a text (not a bad thing actually). Then, there is the terrible thing of rejection letters.
It is important to take care of the SELF as writers.
One way to take stock of our journey is to write an ARTIST STATEMENT.
If you could articulate your aesthetic or these creative impulses, what would you say?
How would you define this part of yourself that desires to write?
Say it in a POEM.
Automatic Bonus A: That you are already reading this. Automatic Bonus B: That you are already writing this. Automatic Bonus C: That the act of writing is a gift in and of itself.
Day 13:
Write a poem in the style of a Q&A. CHALLENGE / BONUS: Your poem consists entirely of questions, or answers.
Day 14:
Write a poem in the first person plural, i.e. “we”, with a minimum word count of 70. Contain this poem to a single, unbroken stanza with no line breaks, using at least one of the following words: LOOP, PURPLE, GLOBE, TASSEL, STAMPING.
CHALLENGE: Use all five words. KAMIKAZE CHALLENGE: “We Are Majulah” #SingPoWriMo2016Day14 #SingPoWriMo2016Prompt14
Day 15:
Write a poem in the form of a letter about your friend / neighbour / relative, addressed to any recipient of your choosing, disclosed or undisclosed, specific or non-specific. Do include at least two lines of dialogue.
BONUS: Your letter is to be sent to any newspaper or news website of your choosing.
Day 16:
Show us a photograph you have taken. Tell us what is happening. Or better yet—tell us something about your photograph that we can never know, simply by looking. Tell us in the form of an accompanying poem, in which text and image belong side by side, and inform one another’s reading.
Day 17
Write a poem describing the texture or feel of something without explicitly invoking the sense of touch. Rely upon your other four senses instead: sight, sound, taste, and smell.
CHALLENGE #1: There are no people in this poem. CHALLENGE #2: If there has to be somebody, this person is not your romantic or sexual partner—current, previous, or imaginary.
Day 18
Play dictionary. Write a poem that seeks to define or give meaning to one of the following words: ARBORESCENCE, DENOUEMENT, EPOCH, HARBINGER, SUPINE. Your chosen word should be the poem’s title.
SUPER MARIO MAKER BONUS: Invent your own word instead, in any language of your choosing. Tell us what it means.
Day 19
THE UPGRADER PROMPT
Find a poem in this group written by anyone else. Rewrite it in half the length. Remember to tag them and link the original piece. #bonus1 – Delete all their adverbs. #bonus2 – Delete all their adjectives. #bonus3 – Replace all their nouns with better ones (except pronouns like I, you, me, we, us, etc).
(mostly, if not all facebook links.)
Day 20 THE RIDDLER PROMPT
Write a poem that is a riddle. #bonus1 – the poem is either a liwuli or an empat perkataan (see comments for details, or google) #bonus2 – be the first to guess someone else’s riddle. #bonus3 – someone must correctly guess what your riddle is.
Day 21
THE FAMILY PROMPT
Write a poem in two stanzas of no more than six lines each – one stanza from the perspective of a sister, and one answering / contrasting / differing stanza from the perspective of a brother. The lines may be of any length.
Day 22
THE UNBROKEN POEM
Write an udaiyaathathu.
The udaiyaathathu is an ancient Southeast Asian form also known as “the unbroken chain”.
The first word of every line is repeated as the last word of the next line. At the end of the poem, the first word of the last line is also the last word of the first line of the poem.
#bonus1 – There should be one rhyming word inside every line of the poem, but it cannot be the last word. #bonus2 – There should be two different rhyming words inside every line of the poem, but they are both not the last word. #bonus3 – There should be three different rhyming words inside every line of the poem, but they are all not the last word.
Day 23
THE BLEACH PROMPT
Write a poem in three stanzas.
The first stanza is unreleased / sealed (ZANPAKUTO). It is written in the third person. You may not use adjectives, adverbs, similes or metaphors in this stanza.
The second stanza is the first release (SHIKAI). It is written in the first person.
The third stanza is the second release (BANKAI). It is in ALL CAPS and written in the second person.
#bonus1 – each stanza is increasingly long #bonus2 – each stanza is increasingly ridiculous #bonus3 – somebody dies in each stanza. (but they can come back to life at the end or like in the middle or whenever.)
MOJO JOJO INNER VOICE what a copout
Day 24
THE LAST TRAIN PROMPT
Write a poem about a specific MRT station.
Chope the MRT station in the comments section of this post before you start writing.
If someone has already choped it, you can’t use it.
If you chope a MRT station for too long without writing anything (like 6 hours or something) we might delete your comment.
If you run out of MRT stations use LRT stations.
#bonus1 – your favorite song is playing somewhere in the poem.
#bonus2 – a person is reading your favorite book somewhere in the poem.
#bonus3 – Singapore is being destroyed.
Final Draft
Bonus: Reply poem from Fann Sim:
Bonus: Reply poem from Fann Sim:
i’m away from home and
this brings me to be
nostalgic but free
and so much my mind can seei know the sights you’ve seen
the bookstore ran by a couple
the bakery that’s shifted twice.
there’s also the foodcourt
that’s undergone changes thricean Admiralty no where near the sea
is exactly the thought I harbour.
while i’m seas away from home
this ruffles the depths of my oceans
and anchors me so much more#fellownorthie
Day 25-30 Bonus Rules:
Two new rules for the final stretch — Days 25 to 30.
(i) Include the day’s sponsor (bottom of prompt post) in a meaningful way to earn a #ProductPlacementBonus
(ii) Those of you who complete ALL of this week’s prompts AND bonuses, will stand to receive an autographed copy of my new book, out mid-May from Math Paper Press. Add #LOOT to your week’s posts if you want to be considered for this.
Day 25 #PRIDE
Write a poem to or about your future self.
#HELLOWORLDBONUS – post the poem with a selfie on Instagram / Twitter + Facebook.
#GOODBYEWORLDBONUS – make your selfie poem an obituary, elegy or eulogy.
Day 26
Write a poem to seduce one of your parents.
#HomeIsWhereLoveIsBonus – Reference a location or address of family significance.
#BabyBonus- Involve another blood relative.
#dontjudgemeitsjustaprankbro
Day 27
Watch this video and write a poem in response:
#GourmetBonus – Incorporate your favourite food(s) in your poem. #DietBonus – Use no more than 120 words.
Day 28
Write a poem strongly disagreeing with a stated position or argument. Post your poem along with a link or reference to the source of your disagreement, if available.
#CivilWarBonus – Pick a #SingPoWriMo poem to disagree with. It can be your own.
#FightingWordsBonus – use a cuss word in an appropriate yet unconventional manner.
Day 29
~ ~ ~
Compose a poem consisting *entirely* of lines taken from other poems that have appeared in #SingPoWriMo (any year), with the following conditions:
(a) each line of your poem should be taken from a different poem, and should not be repeated.
(b) each line should be taken in full (i.e. not fragments nor partial phrases). If you’re borrowing from a prose poem, use one full sentence.
(c) cite the source poems, which may include your own, in the comments thread.
#TemplateBonus – Employ a form introduced in *any* SingPoWriMo to date (your moderators can give you a list and Twin Cinema is allowed as an honorary classical form), OR, if you can’t be bothered: Rhyme.
#EfficiencyBonus – use words of no more than 3 syllables.
Day 30
This is it folks, the last prompt of #SingPoWriMo2016. It’s been my delight to bring you a week of wicked prompts. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to compromise your immortal souls. Remember, poetry is a great way to spend all that free time in eternity. I will #SeeYouInHell where we will write#metadaisychains forever.
~ ~ ~
#SingPoWriMo2016Prompt30
#ENVY
+ + + + + +
Write a poem responding to or inspired by a specific single past poem from #SingPoWriMo that **isn’t** your own nor part of *any* previous response or daisy chain
+ + + + + +
Sounds simple enough? The fun is all in the #FinalBoss bonuses:
#GrassIsGreenerBONUS – Write from the POV of a different person than yourself.
#MorePlsBONUS – Your poem must be at least as long as the source poem.
#EvenMorePlsBONUS – Your poem is at least twice as long (in terms of word count) as the source poem.
#VocabularyBONUS – Use twice as many different words as the source poem. Synonyms count.
#ThinkDifferentBONUS – Other than articles, conjunctions and prepositions, do not use any words that appear in the source poem.
#MulticulturalBONUS – Use at least 2 different languages in your poem.
#CosmopolitanBONUS – Use 3 or more languages in your poem, including at least one that doesn’t use the Roman alphabet.
#PerformanceBONUS – Don’t cite the poem but have readers guess the source poem correctly.
#EvenBetterThanTheRealThingBONUS – Get more likes than your source poem.
#WinTheInternetBONUS – Get over 100 likes for your poem (or be the highest liked poem of the prompt, if nobody gets >100)
#CompletistBONUS – observe any three other bonuses you choose from#spwm2016
#KiasuBONUS – write a second poem
~ ~ ~
#Greed Reminder: Those of you who complete ALL of this week’s prompts AND bonuses, will stand to receive an autographed copy of my new book, out mid-May from Math Paper Press. Add #LOOT to your week’s posts if you want to be considered for this. (If you think you qualify, PM/Email me w your contact details after Sunday)
#ProductPlacement: For our sponsors tonight please welcome veteran small press ETHOS BOOKS. Incorporate any sort of reference to them/their work (should be easy since they are poetry publishers) to complete the #ProductPlacement bonus.
ugly stage 