At some point in the past few weeks, Heidi Mordhorst referenced Mary Amato’s poetry prompt videos for the 12 Days of Christmas. In search of playful writing waters, I decided to check them out. Each day Mary Amato posted a short video prompt highlighting a literary technique based on that day’s line of the famous holiday song. I didn’t manage to complete all of them, but here are two I especially enjoyed.
“Form: In Paris you spy three French hens doing something unusual… Write a 3-line haiku about the hens. “
Three French hens
with innate feathered flair
catwalk down Paris’s streets
©Molly Hogan
“Alliteration: Write a song about swans. Sneak in as many s-words as possible.”
Swans*
Autumn winds are shifting
breathing winter’s sigh
Swans are winging southward
with low and mournful cries
Silhouettes at sunrise
soaring through the sky
slicing clouds asunder
warning winter’s nigh
©Molly Hogan
*For what it’s worth, the tune for “sing a song of sixpence” was in my mind as I wrote this.
This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Jone MacCulloch at her blog.
Nix the comfort zone 
Nice job! Great idea for prompts :).
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It was a fun dabble 🙂
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Your Day 7 poem is ‘swan in a million’. 🙂
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It does help to have the rhythm of a song when writing, as you did so beautifully, Molly. What a beauty you wrote about those swans & the 3 French hens, down they strut! Happy Christmas to you & family!
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Hope you enjoyed the holidays, Linda!
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Molly, I love the rhythm of “Swans.” Wonderful! Happy holidays!
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It was fun to write with a tune in mind 🙂
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Very nice responses to the prompts! Love all those esses, especially “slicing clouds asunder”
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Three French Hens are strutting their “stuff” just like models is a great image, Molly. I like your creative spirit in these poems.
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Thanks, Carol. The prompts were fun.
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Catwalk — HA! And your swan poem reads like an instant classic. I tried a couple of Amato’s prompts, too. I appreciated how short her videos were.
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I definitely don’t have the attention span for longer videos! These felt very “do-able.”
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Delightful word play! I love some playful poetry right now. I’ve been hunkered down working until yesterday. Finally, today I can take a breath and be with loved ones. I will play! Thanks, Molly.
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Hope you found some play time, Linda!
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My favorite is the swam poem, such a delightful rhyme and rhythm. And the image of swans soaring through the sky announcing winter’s nigh conjures an old picture book scene.
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The birds get me every time 🙂
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Love the light humor in your “Three French hens” haiku, I’m picturing them… Your second stanza in your alliteration poem is gorgeous,
“slicing clouds asunder
warning winter’s nigh”
I like the bit of foreboding in there, thanks Molly!
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Thanks, Michelle!
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Oh how wonderful! I sang along…and I’m very glad you enjoyed Mary’s prompts. I’m watching carefully all the things she does to make a living as a writer!
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Go, Heidi!
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