Poetry Monthly

Happy New Year, don’t let it be a blank page. The visual poetry last month was wonderful - experimental and diverse, you all got to grips with strong poems making patterns on the page. Here are three gems:

Canonette was back with tongue in cheek Christmas critique and a fir tree:

http://www.abctales.com/story/canonette/christmas-special-poetry-monthly

Silver Spun Sand brought dance to her vibrant words:

http://www.abctales.com/story/silver-spun-sand/girl-tambourine-poetry-monthly

Bee captured social attitudes to breastfeeding in dual visual beauty:

http://www.abctales.com/story/bee/flesh-profile-poetry-monthly

Myth making: Remember the myths, folktales and legends you were told as a child, those rich, vital stories you heard at bedtimes that became the bright patchwork of childhood? Grendel the troll in the Norse tales of Beowulf used to crash around our house. What mythical story would define you to a stranger? Traditional British and Irish fibres of myth feature untamed beasts and dragons, tiny green folk, witches, banshees and dogs howling on the sodden moors but don’t get bogged down in the old. Make new narratives. Consider Greek mythology. You could use familiar frameworks as your starting point. Create a modern myth of the life you live now. Be deeply nostalgic and restore your childhood or long before with poems you haven’t told before.

Mythical poems / collections for reference:

 ‘Autobiography of eve’ Ansel Elkins (2015) http://www.columbiatribune.com/arts_life/ovation/autobiography-of-eve/article_987ff93d-e2c9-5cc4-87cf-bd411b6dec97.html

Leda and The Swan W. B Yeats, 1923

‘Changeling’, Pollard, Claire. (2011) London: Bloodaxe

Do contact me if you have an idea for a brief: ray@abctales.com. Thanks for all your input. See you next month.

Ray

Photo Credit: http://tinyurl.com/hnxwboq