poetry

There are 27 posts tagged poetry (this is page 1 of 5).

How to Be Someone’s Secret Admirer on Valentine’s Day

Could you… Should you… Be a Secret Admirer?

You might want to be a secret admirer because you like someone or you might do it to perk up someone who has been alone awhile or feels left out. Be careful, either way. It’s fun to have the mystery of a secret admirer but it can backfire. If you are sincerely liking someone, make sure the person you admire is worth the admiration. If you are trying to make someone else feel admired be sure they wont feel even worse if they find out the admirer was not really a romantic admirer.

Tips and Ideas for Secret Admirers

Pay attention to the stationary you write on. Pick out something nice from the store or… go to a hotel and ask if you can have a couple of pages and an envelope. You can send your letter on hotel letterhead and add to the mystery.

Penmanship counts. Write carefully, take the time to make your writing clear and easy to read – add a romantic embellishment if you can. If you print the letter choose a font with some curls and swirls, whatever seems kind of romantic to you.

Induce a few lines of poetry or write something yourself. You could note down the lyrics from a romantic song if you aren’t interested in poetry.

Draw a heart somewhere on the envelope at the least. If you have some drawing ability create a romantic design, something individual and one of a kind which will be special for the letter you send. It’s nice to have something you created yourself rather than the store bought card art and design.

The greeting should be personal, not impersonal. Direct your note to the person, by name. Don’t try to be mysterious when it comes to who you are writing to.

Don’t give yourself away. Keep your name and any details which could identify you out of the letter. As fun as it is to write a mystery letter, it’s just as fun to get one and have that mystery – at least for the day.

Begin in a complimentary way. Don’t start by telling them you thought they seemed lonely or you like fat girls/ guys or anything else even slightly negative or critical. Write about why you picked them to admire, secretly but be positive to make them feel admired. This also makes you seem far more sincere too.

While writing the letter itself, be specific. Don’t become timid now and write about pretty eyes. Describe the eyes – the eye colour, the way they crinkle when he/she laughs. Write about where you have seen them and what they were doing, not in a stalker way. Describe and be specific about what you liked, what draws you to them. Why are you attracted and what do you admire about them?

Overall, keep the letter short. Don’t start selling yourself and trying to make a romance in just one letter. A simple letter will keep you from getting into trouble by saying too much or taking it too far.

Most of all, when you write as a secret admirer your letter should not be about yourself. Make it a feel-good type of letter for the person you address it to. Avoid mentioning yourself or your interests so you can keep the mystery of the mysterious, unknown, secret admirer.

Sign the letter with flourish, a nom de plume. Create a made up name for yourself, something not a real name but something dramatic, mysterious and/ or romantic.

Think of something you can include, a small gift that fits in an envelope. Stickers are simple but not something everyone would care for. Think about things which can be mailed like a coupon for a store or a gift card giving a free hot chocolate, something like that would be pretty perfect.

Deliver the Valentine in a unique way. But make sure it isn’t lost, overlooked or ends up damaged like falling into a pile of snow when it blows off the door you taped it to.

Words for The Cat Came Back

Do you know the old song, The Cat Came Back? Written by Harry S. Miller, Christmas 1893.

I remember it as an old recording sung by a man with a deep voice and it was very haunting. People who went up in balloons never to be seen again. People exploding in mines in thousands of pieces, but the cat came back. It was one of those scary things you just seem to want more of, maybe to find out more, maybe to hear about survivors.

Turns out there are a lot of versions of the song. A lot of differences in the words. It’s a song anyone can add more verses to, because that’s how it has grown. I have found a good selection, some I remember from long ago and some new to me. You could (should) write more. Add to the legend of the cat that kept coming back.

Here are some of those I found, to inspire you:

The First Verse (Two Versions)

Now, old Mr. Johnson had troubles of his own.
He had a yellow cat that wouldn’t leave his home!
A special plan with deception as the key.
One little cat—how hard could it be?

Old Mr. Johnson had trouble all his own
He had a yellow cat that wouldn’t leave his home
He tried in every way to keep that cat away
Took him up to Canada and told him for to stay.

The Chorus

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner,
The cat came back, he just wouldn’t stay away.

Verses

Now the man around the corner swore he’d kill the cat on sight
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamites
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around
Ninety-seven pieces of the man is all they found.

Now the cat had company out in the back yard
Somebody threw a boot and they threw it awful hard
Hit the cat behind the ear ever so slight
And down came a brick and drove him out of sight but

Gave it to man going up in a balloon
Told him for to take it to the man on the Moon
The balloon came down about 90 miles away
Where he is now, I dare not say.

They gave it to a man going way out west
Told him for to take it to the one he loved the best
First, the train hit the curve, then it jumped the rail
Not a soul was left behind to tell the gruesome tale.

Away across the ocean he did send the cat at last
Vessel out alone today taking water fast
People all began to pray the boat began to toss
A great big gust of wind came by and every soul was lost.

On a telephone wire birds were sitting in a bunch
Saw them up there & said he’d have ’em for his lunch
Climbed softly up the pole until he reached the top
Put his foot upon the wire & it gave him quite a shock.

At last they found a way this cat to really fix
They put him in an orange crate on highway 66
Come a ten ton truck with a twenty ton load
Scattered pieces of that orange crate miles down the road.

So I put him in a box and I tied it up quite well.
I had some fellows help me and I paid them not to tell.
We put it in a boxcar, the west-bound 7:10
The train pulled away and was never seen again.

So I took him to the harbour and I put in on a ship.
I bid him bon voyage! for that oceanic trip!
The captain was obligin’ and glad to help us out
Tied him to the anchor so that there could be no doubt!

Some have an ending verse, like this. In some the cat lives and in others it doesn’t.

So Old Mr. Johnson’s story unfolds,
A tale about a cat and the story is old.
The reason why the cat just couldn’t stay away
There were seven little kittens meowing in the hay, so.

My Verses (not as haunting as I’d like, something to work on)

Tied the cat to a brick
thought that would do the trick
Threw it down an old dry well
The story he did not tell.

Sealed the cat in a specimen jar
left it in the trunk of an old car
The car went through the wreckers
but he found him playing checkers

 

London’s Transit Advice Poetry

transit poetry
via The crappy world of Transport for London’s advice poetry – Us Vs Th3m.

What would you write to turn ordinary transit etiquette into verse? Think of the last time you took a bus, street car, or whatever they call the public transportation where you live.

Don’t forget to thank the driver
of his safe driving you’re a survivor.

Just kidding. I actually enjoy taking the bus. Though it can be really, bitterly cold waiting between buses.

What Can Writers Offer as a Live Performance?

There are few options for writers, artists and musicians when it comes to protecting your work in the days of the computer and Internet. It seems there is not much to be done once you fire off the initial legal mouth piece paperwork. Then sit back and wish you could hire someone to really do something.

All that work and in the end it can’t pay the bills, created for art, not money.

I was thinking about that this afternoon. I came to the conclusion that musicians have the best chance at still making money from their art. Musicians have live performances which they can sell tickets to and collect a profit. They can use the event to sell music too. Not to mention the gadgets and accessories like T-shirts which they make something on from the work of others.

What can writers and artists do as a live performance? I can’t think of anything really useful or reliable as a way to make money from your art in the modern world. Yes, writers can read their poetry or fiction and hope to sell a few books. Live readings don’t make the money a live music performance can, no T-shirts either.

I’ve seen artists as street painters – temporary work which people watch and may chip in a dollar or other spare change while they stand around and watch the artist at work. No rent money on that plan.

So, what can writers and artists offer as a live performance with the plan of making money from their work without the problem of having their work ripped off and sold by someone else?

Slipstream Poetry

Slipstream poetry has been referred to as the, “fiction of strangeness”. Slipstream poetry crosses boundaries and leaves you feeling very odd, but in a good way. Most slipstream poetry contains some form of a science fiction or fantasy theme. The term ‘slipstream’ was coined by Bruce Sterling back in 1989, but it’s really starting to gain popularity now.

via What Is Slipstream Poetry.

The Slipstream Poetry Group (UK)