BRAINSTORM
T
he rules for this month’s poetry
competition are as follows:■Your poem must have three
stanzas – no more and no less.
■Each of the three stanzas must have
exactly four lines – no more and no less.
■The irst two words of the irst line of
each stanza must be I am.
Beyond these rules you are free to
choose your own title (make sure it is
innovative and will tempt readers to
read your poem) and to write in rhyme
or free-verse, in long lines or short lines,
to count syllables or build patterns round
words beginning with certain sounds
or letters.
Choose the format that best enhances
the narrative and that will engage as many
readers as possible.
Repeat after me
A way into this topic may be to say I am...
I am... I am... to yourself at least 20 times,
then to spend 10 minutes writing down
whatever comes to mind.
Every time you feel yourself running
out of ideas, repeat I am... I am... I am...
to yourself another 20 times and write on
again from there.
Censor nothing, simply write what
comes to mind in the format it appears
in. Make no judgement on what might be
poetic gold-dust or what you may later
ind no use for at all.
Once you have done that, have a rest and
go for a walk or drink a cup of tea or fold
up the washing.
Then do the same, but this time say I am
not... I am not... I am not... to yourself at
least 20 times before you spend 10 minutes
writing down whatever comes into your
mind.
When you have inished, again take
a break, then look carefully at your two
pieces of writing.
Are they just opposites of each other or
did taking a positive or negative stance
inluence what you wrote? If it did, can
you see why – and might understanding
this inspire you to change your approach
to poems you may write in the future?
You may like to ponder whether
what you are saying comes across as
an afirmation or a question – ie are you
making a statement or trying to discover
something about yourself?Mirror mirrorA way of enhancing the two exercises
outlined above is to look into a mirror for
three of four minutes before you say to
yourself I am... or I am not... and to look
into the mirror again every time you feel
yourself getting stuck.
Looking in a mirror encourages you to
begin with physical characteristics then
to move deeper into the more hidden andperhaps esoteric elements of what you
may or may not be.
Using diferent things as mirrors might
also be something you could use to start
‘seeing’ yourself in diferent ways.■Who are you in the shiny wing or
chrome bumper of an expensive car?
■Who are you in the polished copper of
a jug or the stainless steel of a saucepan?
■Who are you in a still pond, in the water
in the bottom of a well or in someone
else’s eyes?Be something elseAnother possible way into this topic is to
imagine yourself as being a cat, a parsnip,POETRY COMP
#222: I AM...
Writers FORUM