This month’s DMC challenge was posed by Canadian poet, Jane Whittingham. During a delightful interview with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty, she invited readers to write an acrostic about themselves– “a little ditty about you!”
The acrostic form feels like a perfect fit for these first frantic back-to-school days. I find my mind fiddling away at different possibilities, especially when I wake in the middle of the night–which happens more than I’d like to admit!
As I played around with the challenge, I found that I was changing things up a bit and creating small fictional scenes. I also was loose with the acrostic form. While I’m still deciding if they “fit” the prompt or not, I thought I’d share two of the poems here. (WordPress was not playing nice, so I had to get a bit creative to include indents–please excuse the cut-and-paste look!)
Laura Purdie Salas is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at her blog, Writing the World for Kids. She’s offering a peek at her newest book (a delight!) and the opportunity to win a signed copy. Make sure to stop by and check it out and visit the Roundup as well.
Nix the comfort zone 
Both poems exude sweetness, Molly. I especially like the first one because I relax with her when she finds the right name. I also really enjoy those “clasped hands and sugar-dusted smiles” — great imagery.
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I’ve enjoyed playing around with telling a story or capturing a small moment through an acrostic. I think that in the past, I’ve thought of them as more descriptive.
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I think they fit very well, Molly, & loved both. The story of your name is something I imagine students loving to see and to write about themselves, then you really took me back to that carnival atmosphere, love that you had the ‘taste’ from the air but only drinking water. Beautiful!
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Thanks, Linda! Acrostics are such a great entry way for students into poetry. Thanks to “Lost Words” and my own fiddling, I’ve been learning how much more flexible of a form they are than I first thought.
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That last line in your “Fair” acrostic poem says so much–we are right there. Love the first poem about your name–lots of warmth and love there, thanks Molly!
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Thanks, Michelle!
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These are both lovely, Molly – but the voice in the first is so strong! It feels like I’m about to fall headfirst into an award-winning novel.
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Forgot to say… I think you wanted a heads-up when the Dorothea Mackellar poems were finalised? I posted poems and pics on Monday – and today’s PF post has the link embedded in it. 🙂 Such lovely kids – and amazing poems!
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What a lovely compliment, Kat! Thanks! Thanks also for sharing the link. I was blown away by the power of the poetry you shared. So impressive!
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I really like these, Molly! The second one put me in your experience, but the first one–oh! It made the experience mine somehow. I felt it. I’ve been reading LOST WORDS, which are longer acrostics than what I’m used to, and are brilliant! I’ve always liked acrostics, but I think I need to sit and write some now!
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Thanks, Laura! I love LOST WORDS and those longer acrostics. I really had fun working with these as scenes and will probably play with them some more!
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I love your little ditties about “Molly.” I must agree with Kathryn: the first one has the drawing power of opening words to a story. I want to know more about the lady who licked her index finger to turn pages is search of her baby’s name.
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I might just have to dig into that first one a bit more, and see if there are other poems stirring about it. Thanks!
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I’m in love with the, “Yes. oh, yes.” in your first poem….it shows something about you and about your mother too. I love the scene. I can picture this poem in a novel in verse.
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Thanks, Linda! That’s an ending line that popped into my head in the morning as I woke. I guess I’d been working/playing in my sleep 🙂
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Both of these are just wonderful Molly. I read the first and was wowed. I didn’t believe you could improve on it, but you created another work of beauty!
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Thanks! After this challenge, I’m quite enjoying playing around with acrostics now!
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More playfulness from MBH! Love it. Could fourth graders give Acrostics a shot?
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We’ll definitely play around with them at some point!
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Such an interesting approach to this challenge, Molly! Your poems are definitely more complex and narrative than I think Jane intended, but if these poems are indeed “all about you” (and not completely fictionalized), I don’t see why they wouldn’t fit in. (Especially the first one.) Very cool, regardless!
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Thanks, Michelle. These are definitely fictionalized. I’ll work out another one that fits the challenge better. It was an unexpected direction for me to go toward narrative in an acrostic, and I’m really enjoying it! Thanks to you and Jane for the challenge that sparked the fun!
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