Poetry in Motion


I'm always in awe of poets - their ability to pare the words down, choose only the perfect ones. I haven't tried writing any poetry since school (less said the better I think about those Hendrix inspired ramblings ...) I don't know if they still get children to learn poems off by heart (we're not at that stage yet), but it's a great exercise - stretches your mind in so many ways. Learning poetry at school really switched my imagination on - reading Blake, learning about Ozymandias and Kubla Khan, meeting Wendy Cope.

TODAY'S PROMPT: This is one of my favourite exercises from 'Bones'. Grab a line from a poem you love. Take it as the first line of your piece of prose. 'When I am old and grey and full of sleep ...' from Yeats could lead on to someone looking back at their life. 'A woman is dragging her shadow in a circle ...' from Plath could take you anywhere.