Fragment Friday - The Poetry Edition

Where the weaving was at the start...

1.  I jumped in and am doing the Poem A Day thing for April. I figured it's good to keep my hand in on creating something new every day. And I can always happily spend the month or two after editing.

2.  I confess a recent fascination with anaphora. There is something about applied repetition in poems that gives them an almost religious feel. Or maybe it's the shape of the poem I want to write that steers me to anaphora. Have you used it in poems? What's been your experience?

3.  Poetry books I depend on to help me along with Poem A Day.
Diane Lockward's The Crafty Poet.
Steve Kowit's  In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop
Wingbeats: Exercises & Practice in Poetry by Scott Wiggerman and David Meischen, editors.
Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse by Mary Oliver
The Art of the Poetic Line by James Longenbach
The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems by Frances Mayes

4.  I used to have a title first, then write the poem. Now I've done a 180 and write the poem, then search for the perfect title. It seems more natural that way. I find myself disliking prompts that want you to write a poem to random title. What a difference a few years makes.

5.  It's surprising to find there is still a strong resistance to free verse among poets. I suppose it will take another 60 years or so for it to become commonplace. I grew up on rhyming poetry and it has its place, but let's cut free verse some slack. And prose poetry, too, while you're at it. They are all valid poetic forms. Read all, embrace all. And that's the end of my sermon.

and here it is at the end. Springy colors for April.