Wendy Everard is a high school English teacher and writer living in central New York.  Her role as mother and teacher has given her plenty to write about since she started writing personal narrative and poetry, lifelong hobbies kicked into overdrive when she joined a summer institute with the Seven Valleys branch of the National Writing Project a few years ago and began mentoring student teachers.  She teaches in Cazenovia, New York.

Inspiration

In my Creative Writing class this semester, we listened to poet Ocean Vuong talk about diverging from known paths to forge routes into the Unknown, into new territory.  (See his video here.)  This got us thinking about some literary rule-breakers, and we looked at poetry by e.e. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, and Gertrude Stein, to the delight of some of our young writers.

Process

Today, I’d like to challenge you to embrace “breaking the rules” in some way with your poetry.  Feel free to break some rules of poetic structure, pushing back at an established form or some rules of grammar or poetry.  Or write about your relationship to the idea of “breaking the rules” or an experience you’ve had breaking some.

Below is a model poem by Creative Writing student, Aevlyn Wallace. Note: When you type your poem into the comment box, the spacing may not work.

Aevlyn’s Poem

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.

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Saba T.

A bit late to the party – but who doesn’t love breaking the rules! In truth though I love following rules, as long as they make sense to me. My favorite question as a teenager was “why?” – not out of disrespect but out of a desire to understand the logic behind things. Thankfully my mom understood and explained stuff 99% of the time.

Rules are meant to be broken
And yet,
Being out after 10:00 PM gives me anxiety,
Drinking milk straight from the bottle is a secret thrill,
Wearing a bold lip color is an act of rebellion,
Going out to dinner alone gives me the chills.

But do I persist in my rule-breaking? You betcha!

DeAnna C.

Saba,
The different “rules” you talk about breaking put a smile on my face. I’ve never been a fan of drinking straight from the bottle, but I know people who also get a thrill from it. Bold lip color as an act of rebellion, is more my style.
thank you for sharing.

DeAnna C.

Wendy,
Thank you for this fun prompt. Sorry, I am a day late, but time with family won out yesterday.

I am a rule follower
However,  I’ve often heard
Rules are meant to be broken
But why I wonder???
Aren’t rules in place to keep us safe?
Who made up the rules??
What happens if I break them?

I am a rule follower
Until I just can’t follow any more
Some rules are merely guidelines
Don’t wear white after labor day
Is that a rule, guideline, or something else opinion
I don’t care, I’ll wear white when I dare

I am a rule follower????

Rachelle

DeAnna, I love the questions spread throughout! The example you brought up “don’t wear white after labor day” made me think about what else is really just made up! The rhyme in “I don’t care, I’ll wear white when I dare” leaves us with a sense that maybe you are, indeed, a rule breaker!

Donnetta Norris

Thank you Wendy for giving me permission to break the rules. I’m currently reading Amanda Gorman’s “Call Us What We Carry”. I began reading the book for a book club event with my writing group. i remember discussing how she “breaks rules” (not our exact verbiage) with the forms and shapes of her poetry.

though i like the idea of breaking the rules
i feel like i could only go so far
my inner rule-follower lets me go right up to the edge
without actually crossing the line

DeAnna C.

Donnetta,
I can totally relate. There are very few actual rules I’ve broken in my life, some of them have mostly been guidelines and even breaking those were hard.

Amber

Wendy, thank you for this prompt. Breaking the rules can be fun and full of thrill. I like the spacing of Aevlyn’s poem. The change in spacing of poems like that typically catches my interest.

Teacher Dress Code

“On Fridays you can wear jeans.”
Today is Monday.
I’m in jeans —
black, not denim.
Nevertheless,
jeans for me on Monday.
Carefree.

Amber,

Love this definition of jeans and how jeans always seems to imply blue color rather than fabric. Don’t “they” know we need the strength of denim to fortify our day?

Sarah

DeAnna C.

Amber,
I like to wear jeans on Fridays, we don’t have a rule about not wearing jeans the rest of the week, but if feels wrong when I do it. I not only wore jeans on a Monday, I wore holy jeans.

Charlene Doland

Thanks for this exciting prompt, Wendy! My response is inspired by and a riff off what Shelly Kay shared in her poem.

Rebel, resistor, revolutionary

“We say” and “they say”
we are reforming education.
I have heard this same refrain
decade over decade.

“No child left behind”
“Race to the top”
“Common Core standards”
“Every student succeeds”

The Nation’s Report Card says:
“Largest decline…”
“2022 reading scores lower…”
couched in lots of wordy excuses.

On the global stage
we score mediocre
at best.
The richest nation in the world.

“Rich” we may be
in the ways
financiers measure:
GDP, “net worth.”

Yet, we rely upon
standardized tests
sit and git
drill and kill

To measure our “success”
in education.
I ask “whose success?”
Certainly not our students’.

So, I continue my crusade
as a maverick,
asking students things like:
“What do YOU care about?”
“Why do you think…?”
“What would happen if…?”
“How would you explain…?”

Although my efforts impact
only a few at a time,
my fervent hope is
that you are also fighting
for the future of our youth
and our nation.

Wendy Everard

Charlene, I loved these inspirational lines and applaud your passion! Loved this stanza, especially:
So, I continue my crusade
as a maverick,
asking students things like:
“What do YOU care about?”
“Why do you think…?”
“What would happen if…?”
“How would you explain…?”

Keep fighting the good fight! <3

Denise Krebs

Charlene,
Great riff on Shelley’s poem. I love your title. You have clearly spelled out how “rich” money-wise is not what makes us truly rich. We are failing our students, and yes, rebellion, resisting, revolution are in our future.

sit and git

drill and kill

Urgh!

Ashley

The end.

Old and gray
Loyal and true
Sweet porch rocking
An empty nest for two

Three on the road
Off to college
Graduations, proms
Transcripts and ACTs

State tests, first car keys
Push the curfew
Out the window
Late night whispers

First I love yous
Too young to date
Too young to drive
Family vacations

Summer nights
Off to school
There you go
Autumn leaves

First bicycle rides
First ocean waves
First of every kind
Fresh pink face

The beginning

Leilya Pitre

Ashley, it took me a second to realize that your poem is a reverse one: you began it with the end, and it can easily be read from “the beginning.” I would prefer it that way. The absence of punctuation helps creating the seamless flow of life’s milestones. I love all the “firsts.” Thank you for writing and sharing!

Ashley

I’m glad it came through! I wanted it to be read from either direction 🙂 Thank you!

Denise Hill

Ha! As soon as I got to the end, I read it again backward, then saw your note. Sweet! I love the “Push the curfew / Out the window / Late night whispers” – since we literally pushed ourselves in and out windows to break those curfews – ! You’ve captured a lot here, Ashley, beautifully remembered and recounted.

Wendy Everard

Ashely, I feel these words acutely! That first stanza was my favorite:
Old and gray
Loyal and true
Sweet porch rocking
An empty nest for two”

With one in college and the other on the receiving end of my driving lessons right now, that empty nest feels closer every day. Also loved the way you framed your poem and the “fresh pink face” that signaled a new beginning at the seeming end. <3

Denise Krebs

Ashley, another great way to break the rules. I love what you did here. Love “An empty nest for two”

Cara F

I really marinated a long time about this prompt, but this incident on Friday kept niggling at my mind.

Breaking the Rules

I’ve never really been good at following 
all the rules.
There are rules that make sense
and those that don’t,
and I’m old enough now that I only 
pay attention to the ones 
I want to
or have to. 

On Friday, 
another teacher asked 
if two pre-service teachers 
could observe one of my classes. 
Sure! No problem!
But we’ll be discussing an article,
meant to be “provocative” 
for the dual college credit
part of my class. 
“Cool!” they said, “Sounds fun!”

What they didn’t realize,
is that I encourage my students
to think for themselves
and say what they really think–
respectfully, of course,
but honestly.
The article was about 
Native American Two-Spirits,
or what is roughly translated to 
gender fluid or gender neutral 
in recent years. 

The article is badly written 
with little attention to pronouns 
and correct definitions of basic things 
like “dress,” “gay,” and “lesbian.”
The class, about a third of whom 
are part of the LGBTQ+ community,
ripped it, articulately, to shreds. 

One of the observers asked me
if the “rules” about what could be 
talked about in class were different 
since it’s dual college credit. 
“Not really,” I said,
neglecting to mention our 
LGBTQ History class down the hall, 
“these are juniors and seniors and
I encourage my students to 
think independently.” 
She blanched. 
Good luck in public school, honey. 
I guess I didn’t follow her rules. 
Oops. 

Ashley

Classrooms where students can have autonomy, speak their minds, and be safe doing so are so crucial. I wish I could sit in your classroom. I am sitting in awe of your classroom, and I hope my kids find teachers like you in their journeys.

Denise Hill

Oi. And yet, this is exactly the kind of silencing many wish to see in the public schools (and are making happen). We are a nation divided when it comes to the public education experience. I applaud you for creating this space for young citizens to have honest examinations of our culture as well as to find their own identities within it. And I am fearful of any teachers not being fully educated to embrace that. I think “ripped it, articulately, to shreds.” is a line that could apply to “these are juniors and seniors and / I encourage my students to  / think independently.”  as well – ! : )

Wendy Everard

Cara, your last line dripped with irony — loved this narrative poem and the snapshot that it gave us of a moment in your classroom–and bravo for nurturing an open forum for discussion — your poem rang with pride in every stanza and painted a great picture. <3

DeAnna C.

Cara,
I applaud you for continuing to teach your students to think for themselves. No teaching them what to think. Thank you for making a safe space for so many vulnerable students. 🙂

Rachelle

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall. Thanks for sharing this experience! I can *hear* you saying your last line “Oops.”

Jamie Langley

bird on a nest
What keeps you sitting on the nest, sometimes facing out to the yard, sometimes towards the house?
This morning you sat on the rim of the nest. Are the eggs hatching?

Some days a second bird sits on the branches several feet away from the house. Who is this second bird?
A member of the family? A bird keeping watch?

How will we know when the eggs have hatched? Will the size of the hatchlings allow me to recognize them as your hatchlings? You’ve lived on our front porch for a few weeks now. It feels like you are a member of our family.

Will soft fluffy feathers cause us to recognize your offspring?

Ashley

Your poem captures the curiosity and musings of someone watching birds. The playful dance of each line gives the poem a calming tone.

Denise Hill

I can’t help but admit – I can’t remember writing a poem with so many questions. I’m so used to telling my students to use questions sparingly in their writing (the “rule”), that I don’t think about how it CAN be used. What meanderings the mind can make to converse with nature – so many beautiful connections and concerns to be explored in this one-sided conversation. Lovely, Jamie.

Wendy Everard

Jamie, I loved this beautiful spring imagery and the careful observation that spawned it. Lovely reflections and detail. 🙂

Kim

Wendy, when I read your prompt today about breaking rules, all I could think about was the word break–and the fact that today marks the end of my spring break! So instead of breaking rules–although technically this started out as a Haiku–it became a poem about breaking the break.

Break the Break
At the break of break
Songbirds trill, sun warms the now-spring air, breath flows in and out
I suppress the urge to throw the alarm clock across the room
Break broken

Leilya

Kim, such a wonderful poem! I can share your excitement and “the urge to throw alarm clock across the room.” Hope you will have time to recharge for the final stretch of the school year. Thank you for beautiful words today!

Leilya

Thank you, Kim, for such an uplifting poem! I can relate to your “urge to throw the alarm clock” enjoying the songbirds and warm sun during the break. Love the word play with “Break broken.”

Laura Langley

Kim, I’m so glad you chose this topic. For how much I lament the breaking of the break, it’s never occurred to me to write about it. I really like your play on “break” throughout the poem. Good luck tomorrow! One day closer to the long break!

Jamie Langley

I like the way you look at the end of break as being broken. Rest assured that this teacher who’s break was two weeks ago, still has the urge to toss the alarm clock.

Charlene Doland

Great poem, Kim. My break was broken a week ago, so I hear you!

Wendy Everard

Kim, this made me laugh out loud! (We have one more day of break, then back to school Tuesday.). Tomorrow, this will be me and my daughter! XD

Leilya Pitre

Thank you, Wendy, for hosting today and for wonderful mentor poems, including your student’s poem. My students get excited hearing that the rules can be broken, or violated. We discuss when and how it can be done.
My take on today’s prompt is brief:

Break the Rules

Break the rules—
   not because you don’t know better,
      not because you don’t understand.

Break the rules on purpose—
   to draw attention,
     to make a statement,
       to raise your voice.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! 

Ashley

You capture the beauty of advocacy and how sometimes breaking the rules is needed. The infinitive forms make it feel like a call to action.

Denise Krebs

Leilya, yes, good reasons for breaking the rules. It reminds me of how when we know the rules, like in writing for instance, we can break them. You have taken that notion a further step to important championing work.

Wendy Everard

Leilya, thank you so much for this call to resistance! A beautiful, poetic call to action.

Laura Langley

I’m a rule-follower;
no, I’m a hypocrite.
Or, maybe, I’m a 
rule-questioner
rule-cynic
rule-skeptic.

But, I’ll follow 
your rules
until 
your rules
compromise 
mine or others’
well-being.

I’ll follow 
your rules 
until 
your rules 
obstruct my 
voice.

Leilya Pitre

Hi, Laura, I like your poem’s progression. The second and third stanzas clearly identify the points when the rules will be broken. It’s always helpful set up your own rules for breaking them. I like these lines:
But, I’ll follow 
your rules
until 
your rules
compromise 
mine or others’
well-being.”

Thank you for sharing!

Jamie Langley

I love that the the break in following rules when the rules “compromise (yours) or others’ well-being” or when your voice is obstructed.

Cara F

Laura,
I really like the changing tone of your poem, but your last stanza is a banger:

I’ll follow 

your rules 

until 

your rules 

obstruct my 

voice.

Wendy Everard

Laura,
Thanks so much for this! Loved the creative wordplay in your first stanza:
I’m a rule-follower;
no, I’m a hypocrite.
Or, maybe, I’m a 
rule-questioner
rule-cynic
rule-skeptic.”

…and the way this poem ruminated on your relationship to rule-following, reaching an assertive conclusion at the end.

DeAnna C.

Laura,
What a powerful poem you wrote.

I’ll follow 

your rules 

until 

your rules 

obstruct my 

voice.

This is how I too feel.

cmhutter

I need to “break the rules” and write this poem in my journal to get the format I wanted. I hope you can see the poem in the photo. I chose to not write in traditional lines across the page.

Broken rules 1.PNG
Laura Langley

I love that your poem becomes a puzzle when the rules are broken. The mirror image of words and ideas creates a nice parallel—although a heartbreaking one. Thanks for sharing!

Leilya

Hopefully, your hear will flip from sad to happy more often. I like the mirror Image created by a handwritten poem. Thank you!

Glenda Funk

CM,
Very clever formatting. Love the color. Congratulations. When is the ETA?

cmhutter

I wish… it is departure time this morning. I was reflecting on last week with each day as excitement built for both my kids coming home on Friday. One left last night and the other this morning.

cmhutter

I wish it had been about arrival but it was written the right before departure.

Wendy Everard

This was great, and fun to read and puzzle over — how often are our feelings mixed like this, sadness and happiness entwined! This reminded me of seeing my oldest off to college in January. <3

Ann Burg

Great prompt Wendy ~ I was looking forward to writing a more literary rule-breaking poem but this is what came out instead. Nothing groundbreaking here!

Letter to HIghlights Editor

I’ve learned to follow 
all the rules—
never Goofus
always Gallant:
always pleasant
always nice,
always please, 
always thank you,
always take the smaller slice,
I’ve learned to shrug
my shoulders, no worries,
no matter, 
to walk away with smile
even though my heart’s 
been shattered.
I’ve learned to speak
in a quiet voice,
never sharp or cruel,
always gentle 
and respectful,
to friends at home
and school.

But Highlights never told me
how many Goofuses I’d find,
how many thoughtless people—
power-hungry and unkind.

I think I’ll write the editor
and share what I’ve found out—
to make the the world a better place,
WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO SHOUT.

Wendy Everard

Ann,
This. Was. Awesome!
Loved that middle stanza that shifted things so well…I could just feel that shift building in the stanza before and was waiting for the “But”! Totally agree with your sentiments –too many Goofuses, for sure, in life — and with the need to SHOUT.

Chea Parton

Ann! The meter for this was perfect – the voice and tone of it were brilliantly tongue-in-cheek. I really loved that first stanza, especially the repetition of always. Your poem is so “school-y” in the best School House Rock kind of way. That last couplet is absolute fire and absolutely true. Loved it! Thanks so much for writing today!

Julie E Meiklejohn

Oh, I remember Goofus and Gallant…I think so many of us (women, especially) were socialized in just this way. As I’ve gotten older, I’m learning that there are times to use your voice, to speak up loud, to NOT follow the rules. We can’t let the Goofuses of the world run roughshod over everything that’s good. Thank you for this take!

Leilya

Ann, I, too, think you should write to that Highlights editor and give them your piece of mind. You so masterfully created your poem building a case for raising voice and breaking rules. The final two stanzas ending with “WE’RE GOING TO SHOUT” are strong and impactful.

Cara F

Ann,
You had me with your Goofus and Gallant reference! I loved Highlights as a kid! Maybe a class action suit about all the Goofuses out there. Hmm. While taking me down a fun lane of nostalgia, you also had a lot of extremely on point lines. It’s long, but this bit hit home particularly strongly: “I’ve learned to shrug / my shoulders, no worries, / no matter, / to walk away with smile / even though my heart’s / been shattered. / I’ve learned to speak / in a quiet voice, / never sharp or cruel, / always gentle / and respectful, / to friends at home /
and school.” Thank you for sharing today!

Heidi A.

Breaking the Rules

The rules of the household I grew up in
Were simple:
Keep secrets
Do not communicate
Except through yelling
And punishment
Not good enoughs

Until it almost killed me

The anger consumed 
Memories exhumed
Perfection unattainable
Burying it unsustainable
I broke the rules
Gave up the facade
Cried puddles to my younger self
Refused to apologize any longer
For who I am

Nothing is black and white
I am so many hues of gray

Maureen Y Ingram

“I am so many hues of gray” – love this, so much. I know well the childhood nurturing of “keeping secrets” and “do not communicate” – it is so good to break these rules.

Wendy Everard

Heidi,
One word: relatable. This struck a chord with me this week, especially — those old ghosts aren’t exorcised so easily, and “memories exhumed” occur more frequently than I’d like to see. Here’s to peace moving forward.

Joanne Emery

Yes. I know this. I feel this. Powerful poem. Thank you. You are not alone.

Denise Krebs

Heidi, wow, you have captured this so well. Your conclusion of being “so many hues of gray” is something I can relate to. Our family system motto of “Be cute at all costs” could have fit into the feelings I get from reading your poem. I love that you have “Cried puddles to (your) younger self” What a healing that came from that. I can see it in your strong poem conclusion.

Ann Burg

Never have I cheered so much and so loudly for a rule breaker! It hurt to read about your “not good enough” and your unattainable perfection. And sorry that it took puddles..but I am cheering for your refusal to apologize for who you are and for your many hues of gray!

Charlene Doland

Heidi, your poem really resonated with me. I’m still on that healing journey and haven’t cried enough “puddles to my younger self.” And, 100% that most things are many hues of gray.

Susan Ahlbrand

Rulz

Wee brake rools two 

asshurt hour endepindents

& freedumb uv thot,

too uhvoyd beeing cuntrowled

& tolled wat tue due.

~Susan Ahlbrand

9 April 2023

Maureen Y Ingram

love the way you played with spelling, especially “asshurt hour endepindents”

Susan O

Wow! What a refreshing and clever way to break the rules! Thanks.

Wendy Everard

Susan, I love the edgy thoughtfulness of this! Raising a glass to your beautiful and clever wordplay.

Denise Krebs

WOw! You broke those spelling rules, but came up with some doozies of phonetic excellence. I love asshurt, uhvoyd and cuntrowled.

cmhutter

Love your creativity in break the rules with spelling! I felt like I was reading my first graders sound spelling.

Ann Burg

apso loot lee purrfikt!!!

Boxer Moon

Veri wittie!! Eye really in joyed ti 😀

Rachelle

Wendy, I loved this prompt! Though, once it came down to writing, I got nervous. It turns out, I am a rule-follower to my core. I was inspired by your student’s poem, but I realized today was not the day for rule-breaking in my mind. I thought I could break the rules today by following the rules of the tanka form 🙂 I’m looking forward to coming back to this prompt in the future!

Rules are an old friend
guiding me in every setting,
so this prompt is tough.
But, if I write a tanka, 
am I breaking today’s rule?

Maureen Y Ingram

I am a rule follower, too – it took me years to get the courage to break a rule. I like the idea “rules are an old friend;” I think they can be very comforting (if you agree with them, lol).

Wendy Everard

Rachelle, it’s all good, as you were also invited to write about your relationship to the idea of “breaking the rules” — as a Type-A, first child, I can relate!

Denise Krebs

Hahaha! Yes, you are breaking the rule of breaking rules. Perfect!

Ann Burg

As a fellow-rule follower most of the time, I loved your solution! And yes, yes you did!

Cara F

Rachelle,
I think I was a rule follower early in my career, too, but you chose one of my favorite forms to “rebel” with, so I think you’re forgiven. I love the gentle, almost conciliatory tone. Nicely done.

DeAnna C.

Rachelle,
I love your Tanka about breaking the rules by really not breaking the rules. I too am a rule follower, so I also find it hard to break the rules in my poetry. However I’ve not followed the prompt twice so far this month. Is that breaking the rules??

Shelly Kay

Thanks for the permission to break rules and go whatever direction moves us. I’ve been thinking for sometime about the constraints of the rules I impose on myself. So the timing of your prompt is fitting.

rubrics, rulers, and other measuring sticks

picking up pointers along the way
i embrace the rules that others have made

so many right ways of being in the world
why is it so easy to see only what’s wrong

and lose my way?

perhaps the lesson lies within
awareness of whose rules I’m following

and wonder why am I chasing
after something outside my reach

letting go of expectations, rules, and
other barriers might create space

to be

Rachelle

I love the title, Shelly, and how it works with your poem. The second line, “i embrace the rules that others have made” reminds me of the societal “measuring sticks” created to judge ourselves on. The space created at the end with “to be” is a valuable lesson. Thanks for sharing!

Heidi A.

What a great title! I wasn’t expecting what came next but it resonated with me so deeply!

“letting go of expectations, rules, and
other barriers might create space

to be”

Those lines say it all. And children need to hear that message early in a way.

Maureen Y Ingram

I love your meditation here. I especially like these two lines, and the space – a pause, really – in between…so thought-provoking:

why is it so easy to see only what’s wrong

and lose my way?

Wendy Everard

Shelly, loved this. Beautiful couplets with poignant single lines and sensitive sentiments. Loved:

“so many right ways of being in the world
why is it so easy to see only what’s wrong
and lose my way?”

Thanks for playing today!

Denise Krebs

Shelley, I like where you took this prompt today. This seems like a key that critical reading and viewing helps us and our students:

awareness of whose rules I’m following

Yes, here is to “Creating space / to be”

Maureen Y Ingram

break the rules

?
who gets to 
make the rules?
who gets to
legislate make reforms litigate?
who gets to 
change the rules make exceptions turn a blind eye?
who gets to
question authority?
?
who gets to
live where? in which neighborhoods attend which schools?
who gets to
have good healthcare?
who gets to
live how? off of others monopolize wealth? 
who gets access to decent jobs?
who gets to live in poverty? 
?
who gets to 
be here? be a citizen? 
who gets to determine borders?
who gets to migrate?
who gets to 
invade their homeland destroy lives?
who gets to 
live freely? 
?
who gets to decide that liberty means guns?
?
who gets to 
be together? married have children raise children decide to have children?
who gets to 
have sex? determine how they should have sex what is their sexuality their gender their lifestyle? 
who gets to
control their body? 
?
who gets to
practice their beliefs?
?
who gets to
have voice be heard speak up protest?
?
throughout our history 
time and time again
in order to move us closer towards 
these precious ideals of liberty and justice for all
many have made good trouble
which means, simply,
many have broken rules 
and
yes
we
will
continue
to do so

Shelly Kay

Maureen,

Your poem makes me think that an important element of breaking the rules begins asking deep questions. And that breaking the rules is an intentional stance. Well done! I will be thinking about this in the days to come.

Denise Krebs

Maureen, what power in mixing up the order of words, and your use of question marks is remarkably effective. The bottom line for me and us:
these precious ideals of liberty and justice for all
many have made good trouble”

and continuing to do so, hopefully more and more people will get on board.

I love how this important question is set off by itself. No need for elaboration here:

?

who gets to decide that liberty means guns?

?

Rachelle

Maureen, these are the questions! The repetition of question marks and “who gets to” really gets my blood boiling. The ending, brings more agency back to the reader and change-makers. I love the “made good trouble” tribute to John Lewis. Thanks for sharing.

We were on a similar wavelength today with our questions that explore the power dynamics that silence and control and determine and decide. Your verbs are deeply resonating with me!

Wendy Everard

Maureen, this was fierce!! Loved the barrage of rhetorical questions, the question marks that gave me pause, the repetition of the “who”s, and that assertive string of one-word lines at the end — terrific poem!

Kim Johnson

Wow, Maureen, a poem of such thought provoking questions – – who gets to decide all of these things, and who says they get to be the ones? I love thinking about the answers to these questions – – who says it has to be this way?? Great line of thinking!

Glenda Funk

Maureen,
These questions are so important, but most have arbitrary, illogical answers, answers forged by those w/ power, answers that only get changed when we demand a different response. I remember Barbara Kingsolver talking about how no person is illegal. Humans simply are. They can’t be illegal. I love the random placement of question marks and the reference to “good trouble.”

Chea Parton

Wendy! I LOVE this prompt and its invitation to play with and straight-up break the rules. Aevlyn’s poem is incredible!

A Poem Can’t Be Three Words

Yes
.
It
.
Can
.

Scott M

LOL. Bravo, Chea!

Katrina Morrison

I
.
Love
.
It!

Anna J. Small ROSEBORO

Grate…um…Great … Create

Maureen Y Ingram

Yes it can!

Shelly Kay

Love, love, love this!

Denise Krebs

Chea, Perfect! I love how there are so many wonderful ways to break the rules that we are reading today. Yes to breaking arbitrary rules!

gayle sands

Chea— you win the prize!! Hurrah!

Wendy Everard

Haha…LOVED IT!

cmhutter

Fantastic!

Jamie Langley

This feels like such a challenge to the idea of the poem. A small protest. 🙂

Glenda Funk

You go, girl!

Boxer Moon

Pachristgan

Nail three by three by three,
blood drains from a tall X tree.
Pain of a crown thorned,
crowds of vultures scorned.
vultures circle three time more,
Father eagle cries- as he soars.
Eagle tears fall on his son’s chest
sacrificing, his son- laid to rest.
Death to change the earth,
Seven times a century -worth.
Blood soaked soil, swallowed by a mountain.
Blood cloaked oil, vanished by a fountain.
Risen as the sun,
The eagle, ghost, and the one.
Stone rolled, stone rolled,
Save souls, saved souls.
Mercy granted from Cirrus whisks,
bread crumbs served on silver discs.
Wine served in blood drops,
Passion of him surveyed on hilltops.
X’s carried around necks,
one line longer with a crimson speck.
three times three times three,
Iron spikes fleshing a Christmas tree.
All around in love or hate,
Returning? How long is the wait?
Seven times seven centuries old,
Mentioned seven times in the Dead Sea scrolls.
A day of rabbits eating egg,
Or rejoicing iron splitting a righteous leg.
Bunny hops on holy ground,
whipping, thrashings of thirty- nine sounds!
Focus gone with capital gain,
Center me, not his pain.
Pagan rabbits be gone,
Rejoice with hymnal song.
Place eggs around Santa Clause,
Celebrate to celebrate without cause.

Oh eagle 🦅 I see you in the sky,
eagle tears cry, cry, cry.

Hit me now upon my chest,
Renounce me, as I strive for the best.

There are no rules within my writes,
resurrect your mighty might.
so we all might fight the good fight,
and
see you in our heavenly sight.

know the meaning of spirit
No dates
it whispers
Hear it?

-Boxer

Anna J. Small ROSEBORO

Boxer, this is an interesting intermingling of Christian/Jewish/nature/education that tells different stories to different readers. Wearing my Christian hat, I see Holy Week. Wearing my teacher hat, I see a striving student. Whatever YOUR message, I say, I receive the message is that times change/people don’t/so we should be surprised that what goes around comes around, so listen carefully.

Maureen Y Ingram

I am stirred by this Easter poem – drawn in by the rhyming, and mesmerized by your words. I enjoy the repetition of “Stone rolled, stone rolled, Save souls, saved souls”, and I admire your provocative tone with

Focus gone with capital gain,

Center me, not his pain.

I need to read this again and again, to absorb all that you have written.

Denise Krebs

Boxer, wow. What a powerful Easter poem. I love the allusions which are mixed around throughout the poem, broken, yet whole if we have ears to hear. I love the tears of the Eagle on his son’s chest, and this rendition of the trinity “The eagle, ghost, and the one.”

Wendy Everard

Wow, wow. This was just gorgeous! The richness of the imagery, so many beautiful lines, too many to pick just one and isolating any one wouldn’t do the beauty of the whole justice. A fitting, wonderful tribute to this day. Thanks, Boxer. <3

Susan O

Distraction

I find myself drifting
of into every distracting thought
only to find myself

back again with hands folded
on my lap
as I gaze into the sunrise

Thanks for this prompt, Wendy, on this Easter day.

Shelly Kay

Susan, you capture so many moments of my own experience. It’s happening more and more. Thank you for your beautiful words.

Maureen Y Ingram

Lovely!

Denise Krebs

Susan, blessings to you today. You have captured those moments of distraction, and yet keep “every distracting thought” to yourself. I like the image of finding yourself again. It’s a very pleasant poem–visually and what is happening in your peaceful sitting.

Stacey Joy

Thank you, Susan, for understanding the conundrum I was in this morning when I thought I was ready to write. I ended up gazing into the sky!

I think it’s beautiful to just BE! Maybe it’s not a distraction but a need to just BE.

🌺

Wendy Everard

Susan,
Loved this image — beautiful poem! Thank you, and Happy Easter!

Susan O

Wondering if I can retype it and put in the correct formatting. A test.

I find myself drifting
off into every distracting thought
only to find myself

back again with hands folded
on my lap
as I gaze into the sunshine

Susan O

Nope, didn’t work. Sorry.

Denise Krebs

Wendy, what a fun prompt. So many ways to break rules! It was hard to determine what to write. I was inspired by Mo Daley and her using e.e. cummings for inspiration, so I went to my favorite poem of his. Also, thank you to Jennifer for her inside out haikus and the image of Christ’s grave being turned inside out on most this amazing Easter.

—————————————

Most This Amazing Day
(After e.e. cummings)

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the singing worldly whistles of flyingfrees
and the birr of boundless sunstar sinew;and for everything
which is hope which is miracle which is Your yes
(You who died and turned Your grave inside out today,
and this is the Son’s rising;this is the Pax
of promise and of rescue and re-creation:
and You and you are welcome here)

Denise Krebs

Oh, no! It was Rachel S. who wrote the inside outside haikus. Sorry! How did that happen? I was thinking of Jennifer breaking grammar rules prompt this week too, which I believe are very valuable for students! Thank you, Wendy, for Aevlyn’s lovely mentor poem. It really gives permission to break up the rules.

Maureen Y Ingram

What beautiful broken poetic play you have had here – the varied capitalization, the missing spaces and surprise punctuation – love this, Denise! Happy Easter!

gayle sands

Flyingfrees, boundless Sunstar sinew, singing worldly whistles. Wow. These words shine!

Wendy Everard

Denise, I absolutely loved the dearth of hard stops which gave this the rush of a prayer, a passionate exhalation of worshipful poetry. Beautiful! Thank you.

Fran Haley

Denise…an Easter prayer bubbling over with joyful phrasings and rhythms…just fantastic. What glorious inspiration from cummings and other VerseLovers – Rachel’s spare lines were striking, indeed. I don’t know what part of your poem I love best: “which is hope which is miracle which is Your yes” or “and You and you are welcome here” – honestly, ALL of it!!

Kim Johnson

Denise, I love all of this but especially the last line. It reminds me of two songs – – one for Easter, one for Christmas. Amy Grant Welcome To Our World for Christmas and Holy Spirit, you are Welcome Here for Easter. Great choice to use e.e. for inspiration!

Kim Johnson

And you asked about the ice cream? Oh, Denise. It was fabulous. We loved it!

Rachel S

Oooh I love what you did with it!!! Thank you for expanding on that line in this gorgeous poem. “Everything which is hope which is miracle which is your yes.”

Glenda Funk

Denise,
Im a huge fan of e.e.cummings. It seems to me praying in an inside out way makes the prayer more intentional. I love the cadence of your poem. So many lovely phrases: “whistles of flyingfrees” and “birr of boundless sunstar sinew” are two of my favorites. I thought of you often today as we toured Death Valley, which is why I’m a late arrival.

Katrina Morrison

Thank you, Wendy, for this prompt. Somehow my mind went in a different rule-breaking direction, challenging time and reality.

Tomorrow was the first day of
Perfect attendance all year with
No one being sick or suspended or 
Out with tennis or soccer or golf or track.

Students were alert and eager to learn.
They were thoroughly engaged
In our final novel of the year and
They had mastered the use of commas.

By noon tomorrow, the basket was full
Of completed work with every assignment turned in.
There were no broken pencils or disassembled
Pen parts to pick up. All trash was thrown away.

The copier hummed and sang as it copied
Every handout for the week without stopping.
There were paper towels in the teachers’ restroom,
And the leak over the toilet was repaired.

I ate tomorrow’s lunch in total peace.
There were no PLC’s or IEPs or 504 meetings.
There was no lunch duty. There were no
Parents to email. No makeup work to prepare.

Tomorrow afternoon was a dream.
Students lit into literature like the bookiest of
Book lovers. No one appeared to even own a phone.
No one asked to go to the bathroom.

Students followed directions THE FIRST TIME.
They all sensed the purpose of modern education.
They hated to leave when the bell rang
And begged to stay after school.

Tomorrow was the perfect day.
Desks were perfectly aligned and papers were in alpha order.
We teachers left ON TIME and went straight home
To our dogs, our children, our clean houses, our paid bills.

Too bad tomorrow is another day.

gayle sands

Katrina—what a wonderful fantasy you have created here!

Kevin Hodgson

I ate tomorrow’s lunch in total peace.

As if … 🙂
(Speaking only for myself …)
Kevin

Jennifer

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I think we’re always wishing that this could actually happen. Loved the poem!

Denise Krebs

Katrina, masterful! What a great take on the rules of time. There were so many nods of my heads, snickers, and smiles as I read your perfect day description. Well done! A few of my favorites include:

They had mastered the use of commas.

and

Students lit into literature like the bookiest of

Book lovers. 

and

They hated to leave when the bell rang

And begged to stay after school.

Oh, what a smile you put on my face, and oh, to having a lunch period like that! (Has there ever been one before?)

Maureen Y Ingram

This is a perfect fantasy! Imagine, a day without rules and procedures broken. My favorite line(s) is “Students lit into literature like the bookiest of
Book lovers.”

Heidi A.

If only, if only….
I loved “tomorrow afternoon was a dream” and “Tomorrow was the perfect day”

And the ending brought us back to reality (sadly)
“Too bad tomorrow is another day”

Stacey Joy

Clever Katrina!

I long for these perfect tomorrows in the land that never exists! LOL.

There were no broken pencils or disassembled

Pen parts to pick up. All trash was thrown away.

I am still trying to figure out why they throw used tissues towards the trash, miss, and leave them on the floor NEXT to the trash can. So much to love and appreciate in your poem.

😀

Wendy Everard

Katrina,
Clever, clever, lol. Loved the wryness of this and the repeated beginnings — wishful thinking, indeed! And hope for “tomorrow” — here’s hoping that at least some of these could come true! XD

maybe the reason these standards don’t include the words poem or poetry is because poetry defies common sense standards, disrupts conventions, makes space in the margins for subversions

maybe the reason there’s no required poetry class for teachers training is because poetic thinking nurtures a way of being not so easily measured in CFAs or MAP tests or STARR or AR

maybe the reason why writing poems is relegated to April and not the core writing unit is because poets didn’t write the curriculum, because the poets on faculty weren’t invited to the revisioning meeting or textbook adoption vote

maybe we are the ones to redefine what counts as an education, that poetry is, in fact, the heart of knowing, that a poem is the very act of peace our world needs in classrooms and hallways and board meetings and libraries and locker rooms

if only — if only poems wrapped the lives of our schools

Denise Krebs

Sarah, I love all the “maybe” beginnings, and then the hopeful change to “if only” at the end. I like the punctuation and capitalization rule breaking, which shows an aspect of “poetic thinking [that] nurtures a way of being” and can’t be measured.

So true that the poets are not invited everywhere they should be, but that would be an easy fix. I have hope through your poem that we will embrace the fact that “a poem is the very act of peace our world needs…” Beautifully said.

brcrandall

BOOM! Sarah. All of this. Spent most of my career undoing the conventional way English was supposed to be taught. The courses that best prepared me for teaching were always the creative writing ones…the workshops…the space to be free.

poetry defies common sense standards, disrupts conventions, makes space in the margins for subversions

Kevin Hodgson

poetry is, in fact, the heart of knowing …

Kevin

Scott M

Yeah, this is the line that “got me,” too. Such a great moment, Sarah, in a wonderfully important (and, of course, well-crafted) poem.

Jennifer

Love the disruptive and subversive poem.

Heather Morris

Yes, to all of this. I love “if only poems wrapped the lives of our schools.”

Katrina Morrison

Thank you, Sarah, for being an advocate for poetry and for teachers! I love the humility in your repetition of the word “maybe.” In particular, “maybe we are the ones to redefine what counts as an education” is so poignant given the current distrust shown to educators by politicians and pundits and parents. This helps me feel purpose in what I do.

Maureen Y Ingram

maybe we are the ones to redefine what counts” – !! Yes !!

Susan Ahlbrand

Sarah,
I couldn’t love this more. With our student seeming to be guideless and lacking heart, I feel “the heart of knowing” as you put it should be core to what we do.
I love the various “maybe the reasons”s you give us, jabbing at some of the aspects of education that bog us down the most.

Stacey Joy

Sarah,

Great perspectives here and if the powers that be would listen to you, we would see a different outcome for our students and educators.

maybe we are the ones to redefine what counts as an education, that poetry is, in fact, the heart of knowing, that a poem is the very act of peace our world needs

Let this be tomorrow…

Wendy Everard

Sarah, loved this eloquent pondering/plea. My favorite parts:

maybe the reason why writing poems is relegated to April and not the core writing unit is because poets didn’t write the curriculum,”

and

“that poetry is, in fact, the heart of knowing, that a poem is the very act of peace our world needs in classrooms and hallways and board meetings and libraries and locker rooms”

Indeed.

Thanks for playing today. 🙂

Dave Wooley

Sarah, that whole first stanza really hits me hard. Exactly.

Chea Parton

Omg, Sarah! What would it look like if poets wrote the curriculum? What if our curriculum was poetry? If standards were stanzas – little rooms that held the poetic heart of knowledge-building and meaning-making. Now, that is definitely the revolution we need. Inspiring as always, Sarah. And thank you for this radical space, that we may participate in this beating heart of knowing.

Mo Daley

cummings broke the RULES, SO why can’t i?
By Mo Daley 4/9/23

when the old puddle-wonderful world
             whistles                           wee
Just      in          spring

for the queer balloonman
             jump-rope         and       hop-scotch
                            bettyandisabel
                                          and
                                                         eddieandbill
                                          come dancing, goat footed

spring piracies
             luscious-mud whistles
Spring is a little lame
and Man!
the balloon-      running wee and                          far
             and marbles come
             and it’s from the balloonman
             from the world
                            and it’s
                             wee
                               and
                                 far
                                   and
                                     whistles

Mo,

How did you get the spacing to work so well?

I am loving the way the form mirrors the moves of the wee an whistles. The fun floating around like the balloon.

Sarah

Stacey Joy

I second Sarah’s comment! How did you get the spacing to work? Love the flow, pauses, and white space! Perfection!

Mo Daley

Literally I just copied and pasted from my Word doc. Did you notice I used all the words in cummings’ poem and just rearranged them?

Scott M

LOL. What!?! This is so good, Mo!

gayle sands

Mo—admiration all around. The spacing, the word play—all of it!

Kevin Hodgson

… old puddle-wonderful world

This immediately brought to my mind “puddle jumping days” with my boys. Wow. I was there, back in those joyous moments. Thank you for that gift of memory.
Kevin

Denise Krebs

Mo, what a fun found treasure! Yes, indeed, this rule breaker inspired my poem today too, thanks to your treat here. I am loving e.e. cummings more and more as I get older! Breaking rules in poetry, like we did today and with Jennifer this week, are important for young writers, I think. I never liked cummings when I was growing up; i didn’t like the rule breaking.

Maureen Y Ingram

I am awed by your spacing and layout…and the delightful, repetitious use of ‘wee’ – such a dear word!

Susan O

Mo! I am envious of your words but also of your spacing. Mine dissolved and would have added so much. You capture so much fun and sprite-like spirit of Spring. I like the balloonman and the wee and far whistles.

Joanne Emery

I broke the rules with e.e. cummings too! Great minds!

Wendy Everard

Mo,
Joyful, joyful — this poem radiated joy. “Luscious mud-whistles”! The “puddle-wonderful world”! The whistles, the “wee”s — this poem was a wonderful spring frolic — thank you!

Stacey Joy

Hi, Wendy, and thank you for allowing us to break some rules today. I love the format and message of Aevlyn’s poem. The spacing helps me imagine how she hesitates and pauses with thoughts while also allowing them a safe space.

I was planning to write a form-breaking poem but that wasn’t what my heart chose. I read a poem by Bob Raczka called “Some Reasons to Write a Poem” and it inspired my poem.

Some Reasons to Break the Rules

Because gun violence is protest-worthy
and children should be safe in schools

Because women’s bodies are protest-worthy
and men don’t control our choices

Because learning Black History is protest-worthy
and stories might repeat themselves

Because reading banned books is protest-worthy
and students seek knowledge and truth

Because diversity is protest-worthy
and sameness is a bold assault

©Stacey L. Joy, April 9, 2023
 

🐰✝️Happy Easter and Happy Resurrection Day to all who celebrate.

Stacey,

The because and because and because is perfect for all the reasons advocates have to persist — reminding everyone about the why and the worthiness of humanity! That last phrase “sameness is a bold assault”! Yes!

Sarah

Susie Morice

Hugs to you today, Stacey! Every couplet is critically important. I pumping my fist as I read. This is a poem to SHOUT OUT. It’s looking like we are going to be protesting hard and long…doggone it. Let’s keep on breaking the rules! Thank you for this inspiring poem today! Love, Susie

Denise Krebs

Stacey, beautiful! They are all “PROTEST-WORTHY” indeed. I love the simple follow ups you give and the “and” that begins each second line. The ands are so reasonable, true, and really irrefutable. It makes one wonder why we are having to protest.

A blessed Easter to you, too!

gayle sands

Stacey—because and because and because… yes.

Scott M

Stacey, thank you for going with your heart! This powerful poem is what we need today! I’m with everyone else here: we need to shout this out from the rooftops!

Heather Morris

After every couplet, I found my mind shouting Yes! This would make for a wonderful collaborative poem. I have so many other Because ideas in my head.

Katrina Morrison

Bob Raczka may have influenced your writing, but I hear echoes of ““Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America” (John Lewis) in your “Because gun gun violence, women’s bodies, Black history, banned books, diversity is protest worthy.”

Maureen Y Ingram

So many essential reasons to break the rules!

Wendy Everard

Stacey,
Loved, loved these bold, strong sentiments, delivered in tight couplets. The ending was everything:

Because diversity is protest-worthy
and sameness is a bold assault”

Heard!

Dave Wooley

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Leilya Pitre

Happy Easter, Stacey! I enjoy the structure of your poem. All the reasons you name are worthy of breaking rules. You touch upon the crucial societal issues we face today. Thank you for writing so well!

Julie E Meiklejohn

So, I decided to break the ultimate rule, and go AI. I used the prompt “Write a poem that breaks the rules.” What’s on the left is AI’s poem–I responded on the right. This is kind of a mess and all over the place, but I suppose that’s OK since the prompt is about breaking the rules, right? If nothing else, I think it’s interesting/scary to see what AI came up with in just under 6 seconds.

Rules are meant to be broken, thought fragments spiral
So here’s a poem that’s outspoken. ’round my brain

I’ll disregard meter and rhyme, humming roundabout,wondering
And let my words flow free in time. where to find the way out?

No need for structure or form, Is it human, or is it
I’ll let my thoughts ride the storm. Memorex?

No need to be conventional, Does AI have a heart?
I’ll break the rules, it’s intentional. Since it has language,

I’ll ignore grammar and syntax, can it “think”?
And let my creativity relax. Does poetry have a place

I’ll use slang and made-up words, in this automated world?
And let my imagination be heard. Motherboard nurtures,

This poem may not be elegant or neat, circuitry waxes
But it’s the expression that’s truly sweet. and wanes

So let’s break the rules and take a chance, poetic…
And see where our words and thoughts advance maybe?.

Julie E Meiklejohn

Well, darn it…it messed up my formatting. Sorry this is a pain to read…but the italics are mine.

Maureen Y Ingram

Terrifying! I confess, I ignored the AI lines (too freaked out by its performance, lol) and I read your italicized words line by line: these are a gorgeous poem, I think!

Denise Krebs

Julie, this is hilarious! Everything the bot said it was going to do did not do. Lots of good ideas for breaking the rules, but it isn’t able to break a rule to save its “life.”

I tried playing with AI for poetry writing last month for one of our Open Write prompts, and no matter what prompt I put it it couldn’t write a general poem that wasn’t this same sing-song rhythm and rhyme, so there’s that hope, I guess.

I love reading your responses to the AI lines.

James Coats (he/him)

The way the post reformatted your poem is actually quite interesting – your thoughts interspersed with the computer’s thoughts. This is actually quite a good commentary on computer generated text, almost as if to say that even a coherent poem performed by a computer relies on the actual work of a human being.

A very interesting way to approach this prompt. Your response is far more thought provoking than what the ghost in the machine “wrote.” 😀

Wendy Everard

Julie, loved the way this read! A cool, melding of AI and your voice, and the italics gave your voice a dreamy quality in addition to making the text, itself, stand out from the AI text — thanks for playing!

Joanne Emery

This is so wonderful! Thank you! My favorite rule-breaker is e.e. cummings. I love his poem “In Just (spring)”. My poem, based on his, is about summer.

in Just-
 
summer     
when the world is sun-scrumptious the little
children kick up the sand and roll into the waves
 
and seagulls come and sandpipers come
running from the crashing tide
 
and it’s summer
when the world is beach-beautiful
 
the seagulls cry far and wee
 
and children come dancing
from their pails and sandcastles
 
and it’s summer when the world is

ocean-sparkling
waves-dazzling
sand-spectacular

people come from far and wee
to watch the sunset-glorious.

Mo Daley

I’m dying, Joanne! I just posted my poem above and started reading others’ poems. I used in just spring as my springboard, too! I love the second to last stanza and the images of the sandpipers running in from the waves.

Joanne Emery

Thanks! 🙂

Wendy Everard

Joanne, loved all of the beautiful, creative imagery and word mash-ups in this poem — made me crave the warm day ahead! Thank you!

Anna J. Small ROSEBORO

What a joyous poem! If it were only truly more than one season of the year, we probably wouldn’t find it so great! Maybe the images you describe are the reasons we who live in snowy climes take vacations to warmer climes during the winter! We need to experience

“ocean-sparkling
waves-dazzling
sand-spectacular”

when it’s cold at home!

Thanks for the memories evoked in your poem, Joanne.

Susan O

I love these images and can’t wait to see more ocean sparkling and sandpipers running from the crashing tide. I head for the beach tomorrow!

Denise Krebs

Joanne, wow, I love what you did with “In Just (spring)”

when the world is beach-beautiful

and

ocean-sparkling

waves-dazzling

sand-spectacular

These show the depth and wealth of breaking the rules. Just poem-glorious, like that sunset.

Joanne Emery

Thank you!

Fran Haley

Joanne – my soul craves summer more than ever after your sun-scrumptious verse!

Anna J. Small ROSEBORO

Wendy, your poem prompt prompts me to combine prompts from this week about breaking grammar rules, reflecting on someone special, from our past, and writing poems our own way using poetic imagery. Here’s mine.

FINELY FOOLISH!

Break a rule!?
I’d be a fool!

And a fool is what I’ve become.
If the rules don’t help, they can stay on the shelf.
Take a look.  Read a book
Learn from others. Fears just smother.

Stand up straight, like an exclamation mark!
Come on, folks.  Hark! Hark! Hark!

Let’s break a few rules even working in schools
Let’s make some rules that will value another
Let’s be kind, just like my mother

She was physically limited,
Never thought she could walk.
But oh, my goodness, she could talk!
We couldn’t squeal, but we learned to squawk.

When the rules weren’t right,
We were taught to fight.

We may be limited in the persons we reach,
Let’s break some rules each day that we teach.

breaking rules.jpg
Wendy Everard

Anna, thanks for playing today! Love your message and your profound and thoughtful words about rule breaking. Favorites:

She was physically limited,
Never thought she could walk.
But oh, my goodness, she could talk!
We couldn’t squeal, but we learned to squawk.”

and

We may be limited in the persons we reach,
Let’s break some rules each day that we teach.”

Inspirational!

Susie Morice

Hi, Anna – Yes, the mantra is so on-target, so earnest. I particularly love the final couplet…that call to action. Indeed! Teachers are powerful agents in this world…break those rules! I love your graphic as well. Hugs, Susie

Heather Morris

I love the rhyme in your poem and the call to action at the end.

Denise Krebs

Hooray for breaking some rules. I like your mother here as role model and “When the rules weren’t right, / We were taught to fight.” She was wise indeed.

Susan O

Great attitude, Anna. Yes, one needs to creatively break the rules while teaching. I like “Stand up straight, like an exclamation mark!” the best.

shaunbek@gmail.com

Hello!
Aevlyn, I love the idea of breaking the “rules” of writing poetry, or writing in general. As a teacher, I am so used to enforcing rules, this is a pleasant reminder that I need to remove some of the arbitrary barriers that limit creativity.
Thank you!

Choose Your Own Adventure (with words borrowed from W. S. Merwin
Wendy Everard

Shaun, I LOVED how this invited me to read it different way with a different feel and message each time — thanks for the experience! <3

shaunbek@gmail.com

Thank you, Wendy. I just realized I addressed Aevlyn (the poet), instead of you. I wasn’t reading too closely during my first cup of coffee.

Susie Morice

Shaun — This is soooo inventive and holds together the rule breaking and bending (wish I could stretch that word the way you did…:-0 ) the rules. So much fun to read and to embrace visually. You are so right about “arbitrary barriers.” Cool stuff! Susie

Denise Krebs

Shaun, that is a fun breaking of the rules poem. It’s beautiful visually and the words you chose are stunning.

Love what you said in your intro: “I need to remove some of the arbitrary barriers that limit creativity.”

Dave Wooley

I love this idea!

Denise Hill

What is the tech you used to create that?

shaunbek@gmail.com

Hello Denise,
I used Canva to create the image.
https://www.canva.com/

Jennifer

Painted nails blue
Platform Converse sneakers
Maroon coat with sequins
Tulle skirts

Iris Apfel my hero
IMG modelling contract at 97
She’s now 101
I’m almost 59…

Silver coated space cadet
Handbags that look like
Sliced cake, a pineapple, a toaster oven

Complimented in the Wegman’s parking lot
Inside the gas station
At Dunkin Donuts
Sometimes I make people giggle

Walking in the organic grocery store
Looks of disapproval
Linen, cotton and birkenstocks
Represent the uniform

A woman scowls at me in the checkout lane
But I flash a 1000 Watt smile
I’m breaking the unwritten rules
With my sequins of activity

Wendy Everard

Jennifer, this was epic — as is Iris, who I didn’t know until you introduced me to her! Love your flouting of the rules and embracing of you depicted with all of this lively imagery — and loved your “100 Watt smile” and “sequins of activity.” Thanks for playing today!

Stacey Joy

Fun!!! I can see it all! Jennifer, this is a treat!

Complimented in the Wegman’s parking lot

Inside the gas station

At Dunkin Donuts

Sometimes I make people giggle

Denise Krebs

“Sequins of activity” paints a picture, a la Iris Apfel. (I just met her in your poem.) I love your 1000 Watt smile and delight in breaking the rules here.

Chea Parton

Jennifer – Rules connected to age are some of my least favorite rules of all. Life is too short not to be anyone but ourselves. When you’re next in the grocery, please imagine me reflecting that smile, nodding in approval, and asking if we can be friends. 🙂

Scott M

I know for some
this will turn me
pariah, make me
an outcast, a
persona non grata

and for others I
may be heralded as
a rebel, an exciting,
thrill-seeking, leather
jacket wearing,
motorcycle riding,
Bad Boy of English
Grammar

because I’d like
you to know that,
on occasion,
I have been known
to
wantonly
and quite
egregiously
split
my 
infinitives.

______________________________________________________

Wendy, thank you for this invitation to “break the rules” today!  (And thank you for sharing Aevlyn’s poem with us!)

Angie Braaten

Lol there are so many grammar rules I don’t care about, (oops, shh). This is one. I probably do it all the time 😀

Wendy Everard

LOL! Scott, you rebel! Loved this image, especially:

thrill-seeking, leather
jacket wearing,
motorcycle riding,
Bad Boy of English
Grammar”

Thank for the chuckle today!

Stacey Joy

Scott, I love that this is unapologetic! I am guilty, too! Who cares? Not us! 😂

wantonly

and quite

egregiously

split

my 

infinitives.

Susie Morice

Scott — You got me laughing again.. you “Bad Boy” you! And I loved the rule broken at the end. AHAHAHA! I do believe you can lean back and split all you want as most of the “grammarians in the sky” have dropped the rule. It still makes me wiggle a little when I split those pesky infinitives. FUN poem! Hugs, Susie

Denise Krebs

Scott! What fun! And you decided to split a perfectly apt infinitive! You “Bad Boy of English Grammar”

Leilya Pitre

Scott, how can you to intentionally split infinitives? Mine just happen 🙂 Thank you for your witty rule breaking!

Stefani B

Wendy, thank you for sharing this prompt and allowing us to read your student’s work as well.

I walked with my constituents, one sole at a time
Caring for kids (innocent, breathing), over guns
Peace for humans, not to carry a piece
Listening to the broken hearts
Breaking the patriarchy, misogyny
Morally holding up my people, in ethical order

down
us
crushed
–house
our
into
broke
you
REBUILD
WILL
WE…as our broken souls are strong

Stefani B

Image with formatting:

Screenshot 2023-04-09 at 9.56.48 AM.png
Angie Braaten

Thank you for sharing the image. It’s amazing how a different form can totally change everything. All of this is perfection, especially how we can read the last stanza both ways. We are strong.

Wendy Everard

Stefani, I loved this even more with the powerful formatting — thanks so much for the inspirational words today!

Glenda Funk

Stefani,
I’m glad you shared the image as it shows our cultural descent. The ambiguity in “ REBUILD WILL WE” leaves me questioning, leaves room for more of the same and pushing against the status Quo. You turn a phrase so well: “Peace for humans, not to carry a piece” Let it be! Yet we know some bloated wingnut will walk into church today w/ his metal idol on his hip. The twisting of that one sentence makes me so angry.

Barb Edler

Stefani, I love your powerful poem. It aches with the violence that’s tearing our hearts apart and our schools. The formatted picture is fantastic. Your end is riveting! Keep fighting!

Dave Wooley

Stefani,

I love what you do with the word order, leaving the reader to consider the different meanings depending upon their reading, like turning a gemstone at different angles and seeing different things in it. The juxtaposition of the protest in the first stanza with the upending of protest into insurrection in the 2nd is powerful.

Denise Krebs

Wow, Stefani, what a message, especially that backwards message, climbing back up to rebuild “as our broken souls are strong” I like the use of peace / piece.

Glenda Funk

Ooh! I love breaking poetry rules, so I played w/ something I started a few months ago. I’m inspired by Terrance Hayes transformation of the sonnet form and one-word sonnets. I made a word cloud to transform the sonnet a bit more. My original is below the slashed sonnet.

// Slashed Sonnet //

// boxed verse // line-limit curse //
// common form // bards transform //
// word hoard  // syllables stored //
// fourteen count // only amount //
// about love // characteristic of //
// made new  // worded brew //

//words sublime // poem divine //

—Glenda Funk
April 9, 2023

~~~~~~~

Sonnet 

boxed verse
line-limit curse

common form 
bards transform 

word hoard 
syllables stored 

fourteen count 
only amount 

about love 
characteristic of 

made new 
worded brew 

words sublime 
poem divine 

—November 28, 2022

D82ACF52-A47B-475A-8E60-146B4C42F4AC.jpeg
Barb Edler

Glenda, your poem cloud is stunning. I’m so impressed with how you are using imagery to enhance your brilliant poetry. Thanks for sharing these two versions. I really appreciated the way your poem today sounds like a hip hop tune. The language literally creates a rhythmic beat that captures my poet’s heart. The slash lines effectively support your message, and I loved so many of your combinations such as “line-limit curse” and especially “// word hoard  // syllables stored //” Brilliant poem!

Boxer Moon

That was so cool and fun to read!!!

Stefani B

Glenda, what I appreciate the most here is how each of the 3 versions have different interpretations from a reader’s perspective. I also love that you have taken something you drafted earlier and modified it for today. Thank you for sharing.

gayle sands

Glenda— it sort of bops along, doesn’t it! My favorite: word hoard/syllables stored. The word cloud is wonderful!

Angie Braaten

I love the slashed up edition so much!! So creative can rule breaking be!

Wendy Everard

Glenda, I loved each iteration of this! The word cloud was a work of art. Loved the rhymed couplets that both chafed against form and transformed it into a new “worded brew.” And further thanks for introducing me to Terrance Hayes. Very cool play!

Maureen Y Ingram

Your word cloud is gorgeous! Hopefully, posted at your writing area. Just gorgeous! Love the rhymes and the short lines, so artful.

Denise Krebs

Glenda, what a beautiful slashed sonnet! I really like the look and sound of that–especially with that first phrase “boxed verse”. Did you make that up this morning? The word cloud is a lovely way to break up the rules of the sonnet even more. I would like to learn more about one-word sonnets.

Fran Haley

Glenda, these rhyme-bursts are pure delight! They are a drumbeat, a heartbeat, a word-love dance. I am immediately envisioning this poem spoken by various voices with choreography. It’s just wonderful. And, Happy Easter! 🙂

Kim Johnson

Glenda, I love the rhythm of your poem – – the rhyme scheme and the way it sounds when read aloud are delightful. I also love that you made a word splash.

Leilya Pitre

Glenda, I’ve read your poems and all the comments. The poet friends have noted all the greatness of your poetry today. This is just brilliant! Thank you for this gift!

Barb Edler

Wendy, thank you so much for your compelling prompt today.

Dear Scorekeeper, You’re Breaking the Rules

numbers don’t lie
they’re ugly trolls
at a blind curve 
accounting fatalities
numbers tally
death and taxes
a world soon controlled
by AI will all know
numBers possess infinitive certainty

numBers bounce one in
bounce one out

in an overheated auditorium
my niece repeats
that’sNotright
numBers don’t lie
gotta admit
it hurts abit
not knowing the why
cuz numbers don’t lie

Barb Edler
9 April 2023

Glenda Funk

Barb,
Powerful poem. Repetition of “numbers don’t lie” is a gut punch when I think about how we’re all reduced to numbers. Ugh. Brilliant to include your niece. Young people know and they’re not having it. “not knowing the why” is the greatest hurt in a world in which logic and empathy are treated as foreign concepts. The image of an “overheated auditorium” is stifling. So many layers here. Strong subtext.

Stefani B

Barb, for some reason I really want to be in this auditorium, experiencing this frustration with you. I think the “infinitive certainty” is a scary and powerful phrase here. Thank you for sharing.

Wendy Everard

Barb,
Loved, loved your play here and the juxtaposition of the impersonal in the first stanza with the personal in the second. <3

Maureen Y Ingram

numBers bounce one in
bounce one out”
I am mesmerized by these two lines. This is what rules do, yes – divide, separate, exclude, “other.” Great poem, Barb!

Denise Krebs

numBers don’t lie!

Oh, my goodness, of course, how infuriating this would be!

Fran Haley

A haunting poem of injustice, Barb – I am seeing all kinds of images in my head, but most of all, I feel the mounting frustration. The mention of “scorekeeper” in the title and the lines bounce one in/bounce one out reminded me of a story my husband likes to tell about Michael Jordan. In a scrimmage, someone wasn’t keeping score right and Jordan walked off the court, saying, essentially, that keeping score correctly matters – it’s not “just” a scrimmage; it’s “serious.” But there’s so much more unnerving metaphor here in your verse about numbers, as in accounting fatalities, tallying death and taxes, and a world soon controlled by AI…again, haunting!

Kim Johnson

Barb, truth – and your repetition is so effective here. I love your use of cuz and abit and gotta…..driving home the fact that numbers don’t lie. And they won’t tomorrow morning, either, when I have to send a picture of both feet on the scale after a chocolate rabbit and lemon ice cream today…..I’ll sure wish they could at least stretch the truth……

Leilya Pitre

Barb, your poem today delivers a strong message. The lines that stay with me are: “it hurts abit / not knowing the why / cuz numbers don’t lie.” Sadly, people and their lives are reduced to numbers. Thank you for your impactful words today!

Dave Wooley

Wendy, thanks for the opportunity to get a little un-rule-ee today! Love the prompt and I think it will serve as a great way to encourage my kids to think outside the box!

brake the rules

never had a problem with
rule brea
King

MLK said do it
lovingly (he meant
laws, but same thing,
really)  

con
Sequences
will fol
Low

M
Brace them
2

X
cept
RULES
Always seem 
2 b 

B
    E
         N
              DING!

4 the RULERRSSS
Knot the rulees,
yoused as weapawns
When they get
un-rulee…

sew WATTS the sol
u
shun?

(screenshot included in case the formatting gets funky)

Screen Shot 2023-04-09 at 8.55.54 AM.png
Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Dave, what you do with capitalization (King) and letter representation (Xcept) and wordplay (weapawns). Ain’t it the sad truth that the pawns must follow while the RULERSSS knot us all as they bend and break. This is brilliant!

gayle sands

Dave—so many rules broken with so much skill. It hurt my spelling bee heart! Best word–weapawns… Shades of meaning in every word breakage. Love this poem!

Denise Krebs

Dave, what a wonderfully un-rule-ee poem today. I especially like the commentary about the bending of the rules:

4 the RULERRSSS

Knot the rulees,

Super message and such a fun poem to read.

Wendy Everard

Dave, loved all of the rule-breaking going on in here and the powerful message — and final question — that it underscored. Great wordplay (weapawns, un-rulee…). Thanks for playing today!

Fran Haley

Dave – oh my gosh, where do I begin?? I think I must start with form: I am awed by the flow, the word-breaks, the way meaning changes with the shifts. It feels fun – it IS fun – but then, the message, the coding, the seriousness, the truths… BAM. I really have no other word but awe.

Dave Wooley

Wow, thanks!!! I really appreciate that!

Rachel S

I wrote a couple of inside out haikus for Easter!

Easter Morning
Even though I’m grown, I still
wake before the sun 
eager to see my kids’ grins 

Son of God
He turned the rules inside out
and then when he died
He turned the grave inside out

Barb Edler

Rachel, I’m fascinated by your final image: “He turned the grave inside out”. Cool idea to turn haikus inside out.

Denise Krebs

Oh, Rachel, what a great idea for breaking the rules today. Inside out haikus and the truth of Jesus turning rules and the grave inside out. Beautiful!

Denise Krebs

Rachel, I used your image of turning the grave inside out for my poem today.

Wendy Everard

Rachel, what a neat idea to write inside-out haikus, and what a great couple of poems celebrating Easter; loved them! <3

Fran Haley

Rachel, I love these inside-out haikus. I, too, still give Easter surprises to my grown children and certainly to my little granddaughters. And how perfectly you capture Christ’s overturning death with the Resurrection, in so few words! Beautiful craftsmanship – a pair of diamonds, these poems.

Leilya Pitre

Beautiful haikus, Rachel! The inside out form works so well with the inside out messages in the poems. Thank you!

brcrandall

Wendy, 2nd day of (mentally) returning to CNY (yesterday with Great Northern Mall) & today with an invitation to break rules (so much fun, thank you). The 315 is on my mind because I’ve been SNAFU this week…smashed car. Insurance. Home construction. Ramadan. Easter Bunnies. Random House nose hairs. Loved Aevlyn’s poem and know, full well, word-play is the way to do with young writers. Until they see the art in it all, they’ll unlike understand poetry’s purpose.

It Could of Been Price Chopper, but Wasn’t
~b.r. crandall

The End.

This,
I know 
because we’re
(embraced)  kissing
and snow
is rising
from the 
mud.

are standing we 

in a channel marked
with halls
(remotely controlled
by mom).
these towns
are so 
small
when
i

return
bottles 
to Wegmans
& run
into you.

Began, that’s where
it (fictional)

lies.

Barb Edler

Bryan, sure perfection! I love the way these words weave together to show the relationship. The imagery of the snow rising from mud and the kissing embraced is vivid and compelling. I had to laugh at the side note: (remotely controlled
by mom).
Fantastic piece!

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Bryan, there’s something about reversals and Easter and finding beginnings in ends that lands so perfectly in your poem. I love the way your brain thinks – breaking rules and writing forwards and backwards and getting it all in the in-between. I feel the Cummingsness of this.

Wendy Everard

Bryan, here’s hoping next week is better (can’t get worse, right?). Loved the funky, playful imagery here that made this so memorable and fun to read…snow rising from mud…a channel marked with halls…cool imagery, and a sweet ending.

Denise Krebs

Bryan, what a magician you are with words. “snow / is rising / from the / mud” is a great phrase.

gayle sands

Wendy—the poets you studied are some of my favorites, and so is this prompt. Thank you for the opportunity to think about all the rules I have broken—and those I will probably break in the future!

Breaking  the Rules

Rules were so easily broken
when I was young.
There were so many norms to negate.
I just analyzed the opportunities
and picked the ones that looked like fun.

I pierced my ears.
I buried my bras.
I abbreviated my skirts.
I went out with inappropriate boys.
I drank Boones Farm and paid with hangovers.
I dropped out of —and into—and out of college.
Dismaying my parents 
was so easily accomplished.
I didn’t even need to get a tattoo.

Today
our vanilla values
are bedraggled, tired, out of fashion.
What is left to fight against?
Rebellion is hard to do safely
when opportunities for disruption 
are dismantled.
It is hard to flout fog.

Being a teen is tough.

Gayle Sands
4/9/23

Angie Braaten

“I abbreviated my skirts” and “our vanilla values” – masterful lines there 🙂

Barb Edler

Gayle, I love how you open your poem with the narrative about what you chose to rebel against and then showed the ways. Your final stanza says it all, and I am especially moved by “It is hard to flout fog.” Powerful final punch, and I agree that it is tough to be a teen.

Dave Wooley

“It’s hard to flout fog” has to be one of the best lines ever!

Wendy Everard

Gayle, this was great! So many sparkling, imagistic gems in here, and I agree 100% that:

It is hard to flout fog.”

…with our “vanilla values.”

Lovely sounds and imagery! Thank you!

Maureen Y Ingram

Oooh, that line “It is hard to flout fog” – excellent! I enjoyed your list of rule-breaking…we are definitely peers, lol. I remember so well the need to “abbreviate my skirt” – love that language of yours!

Denise Krebs

Gayle, wow, some powerful thoughts and questions here.

our vanilla values

are bedraggled, tired, out of fashion.

What is left to fight against?

I’m hoping like the young lawmakers in Tennessee have rallied young people that good trouble will be fashionable and this won’t be true for long:


Rebellion is hard to do safely

when opportunities for disruption 

are dismantled.

Fran Haley

Gayle, those opening lines are the truth – rules WERE easier to break when we were younger. There were many. We heard. We just didn’t always listen… and oh, this line: “dismaying my parents was so easily accomplished.” So true again – as is the haunting last stanza. Being a teen is tough and there really is so much fog. I can’t help connecting this to Harry Potter and the dementors… that sense of being enveloped in the overwhelming, cold fog of despair. So many of young people are suffering so.

Kim Johnson

Wendy, thank you for the invitation to break rules. I’m a P.K. (Preacher’s Kid), so I grew up with the notorious reputation of breaking every rule there is to break. Naturally, I love your prompt and gravitate to anyone who hands me a rule-breaking challenge. Now I’m not bragging or anything, but when it comes to rules, I know from my life’s experience all the best ones to break. Not curfews, not punctuation, not physical boundaries. Nope. Dieting rules are the ones to break, so I’m going to be guilty as charged today. Thank you for letting me go ahead and make my confession early in the day – for hosting us today and for investing in us as writers. I especially appreciate your commitment to writing on this Easter Sunday. Happy Easter, everyone!

Living with Grater Purpose

optavia rules
say there’s no eating ice cream
(i sho’ ain’t liss’nin)

i might gain ten pounds
who cares? it’s easter sunday
it’s lemon. homemade. 

special recipe
made with three ingredients ~
sugar, whipping cream

and meyer lemons
fran haley’s shared recipe
from a march blog post

today’s about life~
churn a zesty slice of life
awaken senses!

glorious easter
calls for celebrating life
with grater purpose

Kim Johnson

You can find the recipe in this post: https://litbitsandpieces.com/2023/03/26/zest/

Angie Braaten

Mmmm yum, sounds so good “zesty slice of life” yes, please. Happy Easter!

Barb Edler

Kim, I like the way you purpose the word “grater”. Yes, it that ice cream, and thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

Glenda Funk

Kim,
These holiday rule-breaking moments get me every time. They send me down the slippery slope. Still, the lemon dish sounds like a good reason to eat all the things. I love the parenthetical thought: (i sho’ ain’t liss’nin). I’ll be breaking rules too in nature’s church and no Easter brunch. Have a blessed Easter.

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Kim, well, now I’m on the hunt for meyer lemons so I can make this zesty concoction! It sounds delicious – your words made it so (and of course, whipping cream and sugar). I feel as if you’ve granted me permission to optavia rule the day! An Easter surprise!

Glenda Funk

Kim,
Im an expert at breaking dirt rules, but holidays are an invitation to eat the lemons in a variety of ways. Do good! So, like you “(i sho’ ain’t liss’nin). Love that vernacular. Enjoy all the feasts of the day: the choir chorus, the community, the culinary delights. Happy Easter.

Wendy Everard

Kim, thanks so much for the “sinful” recipe on this Easter Sunday (can’t wait to try it — and thanks to Fran!). Love your series of haiku and the zesty abandon with which you invite us to live today without counting calories (they don’t count anyway on holidays, right??).

Maureen Y Ingram

lol “with grater purpose” ! Happy Easter, Kim! My goodness, this lemon ice cream sounds absolutely divine. As were your haikus!

Denise Krebs

Kim, enjoy that zesty lemon ice cream. Will you let us know how it turned out? I do have the recipe, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll wait for a really warm day with company, so I don’t have to over eat it!

And I love the idea of breaking eating rules! “churn a zesty slice of life” is such a sweet shoutout to Fran’s blog post.

Fran Haley

Kim!! I love the flavor of this poem!! Not just for the lemon ice cream (pure divine, ain’t it?) but because of the voice, and – how many ways can I say it anew?! – your unmatched haiku prowess. Grater purpose-! LOVE THAT. It is absolutely perfect for the moment of breaking rules to savor some zest of life. Which is, after all, necessary. Plus: That ice cream is worth it! Oh, how you and your poem have added exponential joy to my day – thank you for the gift of it <3

Leilya Pitre

Happy Easter, Kim! I love your poem with the broken rules. My favorite lines are:
“today’s about life-
churn a zesty slice of life
awaken sense!”

Life is worth celebrating on this “glorious” day.

Fran Haley

Wendy – I’ve loved these “rule-breaker” poets for the greater part of my life. I hear cummings’s lines singing in my head even as I write. Aevlyn’s poem echoes that same song, and it is powerful (I say my tell/I tell my say). This is just a tiny Easter non-haiku… thank you for all your creative energy, Screaming Chainsaw Chick! <3

Easter Unhaikued

O for the morning
of forever unaching
total unbreaking 

O for the mourning
breaking

Rachel S

Tiny and powerful!! Love the title, love the ending play on words, the “mourning breaking,” as this Easter morning breaks. Have a beautiful Easter!

Kim Johnson

The un-Haiku is just striking, the way you changed morning to mourning, a morning breaking, the breaking spirit of mourning, and the unbreaking right in the middle as lines go. I love these short forms for their power – like poetry concentrate. Yours captures the essence of the day and still breaks the rules, which is the rule. And you’re helping me break rules today, too – – it’s in the freezer now.

Fran Haley

Sometimes rules MUST be broken…what’s in your freezer is SO. WORTH. IT! Thanks for the wonderfully fun shout-out today <3

Barb Edler

Fran, I love the sound of your poem. I can hear the breaking, and the forever mourning and unaching. Powerful message for today.

Glenda Funk

Happy Easter, Fran!
I love the hymn-like tone of your poem. Excellent title and rhyme.

gayle sands

Beautiful…

Wendy Everard

Fran, this was just lovely! Those last two lines broke my heart a little: a beautiful Easter ode (and your thank you made me lol!).

Denise Krebs

Oh, sweet “Easter Unhaikued,” Fran. I love the morning/mourning and the unbreaking and breaking.

“Oh, for the morning / of forever unaching” – Yes, what a thought.

Denise Hill

Thank you, Wendy, for letting us ‘break out’ today! I kept thinking of the phrase, “I break the rules every day,” and jumbling the words for different meaning and effect, kind of like a slot machine spinner, thus my contribution for today. A handmade spinner wheel was as close as I could get. Sunday funday!

spinner.jpg
Kevin Hodgson

Cool. I love the idea of a word spinner.
Kevin

Angie Braaten

Awesome, Denise! So creative!

gayle sands

Denise—I want one of those spinners! It is beautiful AND expressive!

Leilya

Yes, indeed, it’s Sunday funday! I like the spinner. Your creative poem this morning is playful and original. Thank you, Denise! 😊

Kim Johnson

Denise, I’ve needed this all my life. I need it to be like a wooden coin that I can carry in my pocket to remind me of who I am. A rule-breaker. Your creative way of thinking here is just right on point with the flair of writing in different ways, PLUS ….the font seems a little 1970s-ish, and so already I’m spinning with my hippie soul, smiling at the possibilities of all the rules I can break today.

brcrandall

In Kentucky, I required students to turn in one poem that was not the normal-text-to-page brand. Poems like yours, Denise, arrived. My favorite was a picnic basket of poems (many written on napkins) that a student created for me to carry to parks. Brilliance. Happy Sunday. Bawk Bawk. I hope the Cadbury Easter Egg are good to you.

Wendy Everard

Neat! Thanks for playing, Denise, in such a creative way! Happy Sunday!

Denise Krebs

Oh, what a beautiful piece of artwork! Sunday funday, yes! That is a great message, especially at my age!

Angie Braaten

Wendy, thank you for the prompt encouraging us to break rules! Your student’s poem is wonderful. I love the last two lines and rearrangement of words. Her subject is totally relatable. Today, my mind went to a poem in Kwame Alexander’s Crossover entitled “Dear Jordan” where the Josh writes an apology note to his brother. I have attached what it looks like in comments. But when I read it, I think it reads across like normal but also reads correct up and down both columns, so I tried to do that as well. I chose to write a love poem. Gush, ew 😜🥰 pic attached so the formatting would work.

D2A404F3-59DD-49D8-AE74-6AD96C227035.jpeg
Angie Braaten

“Dear Jordan” from Crossover

309E03B9-FC91-4258-AC85-119DDFEC54EA.png
Rachel S

Awesome – one of the best poems from Crossover. Yours turned out great. Maybe I’ll try one one day. I love the spicy gumbo sentiment. Thank you!

Kim Johnson

Angie, I love that your mind went to Kwame and the directionality of print and how it can work in so many ways. I recently bought a garden tile of the oldest Latin palindrome found at Pompeii, the Sator Square, that my feeble brain is still trying to absorb. Words and directions like these are spellbinding to me, the way that language and its visual effects and meanings interact to bring us surprises and mind-blowing forms. You rock!

Dave Wooley

I really love the 2 column poem and the opportunity that you afford readers to read it differently and how unique and interrelated poems emerge, each deepening the meaning of the other. “Without u food like gumbo just be basic” is so good! And so is “I am less with no spice with no roux not right”!

Wendy Everard

Angie loved, loved this! Loved how reading it across and down was such a different experience, and loved the imagery within it…the yellow without blue…the gumbo with no roux…playful and fun to read.

Denise Krebs

Oh, Angie, precious love poem with sweet rhymes and joy, but sadness when he “ain’t in view.” I like your playful use and misuse of formatting, grammar and u.

Jennifer Guyor Jowett

Wendy, I appreciate the opportunity to break a few rules or follow the rule-breakers themselves. I leaned into EE Cummings this morning for further inspiration. What a great prompt!

some Scotus men who preside in purchased seats
are unsurprising with their predetermined choices
(also, with the GOP’s christian base
rulings, backward whitewashed unamerican)
they acknowledge Hitler and BefordForrest both dead,
are unusually focused on so few things—
currently one still hears 
contented fingering for the might it be NRA? 
mayhaps. While lifeappointed rulings arrogantly handle
“scandal” of bannedbooks and reproductiverights
…the Scotus men have no concern, beyond
Scotus if occasionally in their laws of 
whitenotblack and privilegeness, the
heart leaks like an undertaker’s first act

*written in the form of Cummings’ the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls

Kevin Hodgson

ripped from the headlines …

Angie Braaten

Cummings would definitely approve of your poem. I particularly like the way you make it your own with some words put together and “mayhaps”. The words put together, for me, sounds like the way these people think of those subjects, like in a belittling nature. And “like an undertaker’s first act” – very powerful.

Glenda Funk

Jennifer,
Yes, indeed, you have spoken truth to power in this poem. We should have believed Anita Hill. “preside in purchased seats,” “predetermined choices,” “whitewashed American,” are the phrases that hone in on the problem for me. Excellent allusion to Hitler and Bedford Forest, and don’t forget Amy Covid Barrett. She’s as bought as Clarence Thomas. Four of those so-called conservatives are among the most horrible people walking the earth.

Kim Johnson

Jennifer, I love the style of e.e. cummings, and I love what you’ve done here today in modeling one of his poems with a present-day event. The whitenotblack and privilegeness, heart leaking like an undertaker’s first act is such rich imagery. Purchased seats. You have left no stone unturned in this one today – the predetermined choices and agenda of politicians is as real as it gets.

Barb Edler

Jennifer, what a powerful poem. You’re speaking to my disbelief in this poem. I absolutely love your final line: “heart leaks like an undertaker’s first act”.

Dave Wooley

I really like the words that you come up with and how they increase in frequency over the course of the poem, intimating the increasing intensity of how we’re being separated from our rights. This is very moment defining.

Glenda Funk

Jennifer,
e.e.cummings is a perfect model for breaking the rules. Too bad the grifting scotus has compromised their ethics so much that they’ll sell our rights for a ride on a yacht and zero outed loans. “purchased seats,” “predetermined choices,” “whitenotblack and privilegness”—all of this. The allusions to Hitler and Forest Lawn are spot on.

Wendy Everard

Jennifer, loved this sonnet! Timely, and, indeed, I think that cummings would love your form and wordplay. Powerful sentiments, memorable lines.

Denise Krebs

Jennifer, wow. There are so many amazing rule-breaking gems here. The coined compound words are powerful: bannedbooks, reproductiverights, and lifeappointed (drats).

And this, I likfe the lowercases used for christian and unamerican:

(also, with the GOP’s christian base

rulings, backward whitewashed unamerican)

and

the / heart leaks like an undertaker’s first act

Well done using e.e. cummings as a mentor. I enjoyed reading his poem here. I used a cummings poem today too.

Kevin Hodgson

Achoo! blew the haik – u
God bless you – here is a tiss – ue
Clean up these broken – rules

For poem in motion:

Stefani B

Kevin, so cool and purposeful. Can you share what digital tool you used for this and about how long it took? Thank you for creating with/for us today.

Kevin Hodgson

Hi Stefani
I used Keynote and made the words (snot flying from the sneeze) into their own text boxes so I could animate them. You could do the same in Powerpoint or Google Slides.

Kevin Hodgson

What’s nice about Keynote is the export as animated gif … I am not sure you can do that with Slides.

Stacey Joy

Sheer brilliance! And I agree with Stefani, what tool did you use? I didn’t even know Gifs would load and play here. I love this poem. I imagine it in a poetry book for children.

🤧Achoo! So cute!

Wendy Everard

Very cool visual effects to enhance the lines — thanks, Kevin, for giving us our inaugural poem today! Happy Weekend!

Denise Krebs

Kevin, I love the animated haiku! So fun! and “Achoo! blew the haiku” is so fun to say. “blew” is the perfect verb in that line.

Kevin Hodgson

Sorry, everyone — I have no idea what happened there and why there is a huge arrow pointing left — it was a link to the gif, now loaded below

Angie Braaten

The GIF is so cool – “clean up these broken rules” haha personification at its finest! Nice job.

Kim Johnson

Kevin, I adore what you’ve done with Haiku rule-breaking. It’s so clever and creative, I wish I’d thought of this myself. You inspire me to get on the Canva and Gif poetry wagon and do some visual images of poems. It’s so fun to see all the possibilities of technology, especially with a creative brain like yours pushing the buttons.

brcrandall

Gesundheit, Kevin. I seem to be allergic to #verselove, too.