Poetry Fishbowl Open!: ysabetwordsmith

Poetry Fishbowl Open!

The Poetry Fishbowl is now CLOSED. Thank you for your time and enthusiasm.

Starting now, the Poetry Fishbowl is open! Today's theme is "tricksters." I will be checking this page periodically throughout the day. When people make suggestions, I'll pick some and weave them together into a poem ... and then another ... and so on. I'm hoping to get a lot of ideas and a lot of poems.

Click to read the linkback poem "Building Where We Are" (Schrodinger's Heroes, 18 verses available).

What Is a Poetry Fishbowl?

Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.

In this online version of a Poetry Fishbowl, I begin by setting a theme; today's theme is "tricksters." I invite people to suggest characters, settings, and other things relating to that theme. Then I use those prompts as inspiration for writing poems.

Cyberfunded Creativity

I'm practicing cyberfunded creativity. If you enjoy what I'm doing and want to see more of it, please feed the Bard. The following options are currently available:

1) Sponsor the Fishbowl -- Here is a PayPal button for donations. There is no specific requirement, but $1 is the minimum recommended size for PayPal transactions since they take a cut from every one. You can also donate via check or money order sent by postal mail. If you make a donation and tell me about it, I promise to use one of your prompts. Anonymous donations are perfectly welcome, just won't get that perk. General donations will be tallied, and at the end of the fishbowl I’ll post a list of eligible poems based on the total funding; then the audience can vote on which they want to see posted.

2) Swim, Fishie, Swim! -- A feature in conjunction with fishbowl sponsorship is this progress meter showing the amount donated. There are multiple perks, the top one being a half-price poetry sale on one series when donations reach $300.

3) Buy It Now! -- Gakked from various e-auction sites, this feature allows you to sponsor a specific poem. If you don't want to wait for some editor to buy and publish my poem so you can read it, well, now you don't have to. Sponsoring a poem means that I will immediately post it on my blog for everyone to see, with the name of the sponsor (or another dedicate) if you wish; plus you get a nonexclusive publication right, so you can post it on your own blog or elsewhere as long as you keep the credits intact. You'll need to tell me the title of the poem you want to sponsor. I'm basing the prices on length, and they're comparable to what I typically make selling poetry to magazines (semi-pro rates according to Duotrope's Digest).

0-10 lines: $5
11-25 lines: $10
26-40 lines: $15
41-60 lines: $20
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing.

4) Commission a scrapbook page. I can render a chosen poem in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Commission details are here. See latest photos of sample scrapbooked poems: "Sample Scrapbooked Poems 1-24-11"

5) Spread the word. Echo or link to this post on your LiveJournal, other blog, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any other social network.  Useful Twitter hashtags include #poetryfishbowl and #promptcall. Encourage people to come here and participate in the fishbowl. If you have room for it, including your own prompt will give your readers an idea of what the prompts should look like; ideally, update later to include the thumbnail of the poem I write, and a link to the poem if it gets published. If there is at least one new prompter or donor, I will post an extra freebie poem.

Linkback perk: I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of the poem.  One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Dreamwidth or Twitter, rather than all on LiveJournal. Comment with a link to where you posted. "Building Where We Are" belongs to the series Schrodinger's Heroes and has 18 verses available.

Additional Notes

1) I customarily post replies to prompt posts telling people which of their prompts I'm using, with a brief description of the resulting poem(s). If you want to know what's available, watch for those "thumbnails."

2) You don't have to pay me to see a poem based on a prompt that you gave me. I try to send copies of poems to people, mostly using the LJ message function. (Anonymous prompters will miss this perk unless you give me your eddress.) These are for-your-eyes-only, though, not for sharing.

3) Sponsors of the Poetry Fishbowl in general, or of specific poems, will gain access to an extra post in appreciation of their generosity.  While you're on the Donors list, you can view all of the custom-locked posts in that category. Click the "donors" tag to read the archive of those. I've also posted a list of other donor perks there. I customarily leave donor names on the list for two months, so you'll get to see the perk-post from this month and next.

4) After the Poetry Fishbowl concludes, I will post a list of unsold poems and their prices, to make it easier for folks to see what they might want to sponsor.

5) If donations total $100 by Friday evening then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size.  If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; three of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be three months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, you get a half-price sale for one week, in one series or some other batch. Sometimes I'll pick; other times everyone will get to vote on which series to feature in the sale, out of those with extra poems available.

Feed the Fish!
Now's your chance to participate in the creative process by posting ideas for me to write about. Today's theme is "tricksters." I'll be soliciting ideas for pranksters, sacred clowns, jesters, contraries, deities of humor or chaos, playing pranks, tricky maneuvers, surprise twists, getting even, solving problems with cleverness, crossdressing, breaking rules, carnivals, solemn gatherings, other places where tricksters may be found, funny costumes, miscast artifacts, rubber chickens and other silly props, everyday jokes, cosmic jokes, last laughs, and poetic forms in particular. But anything is welcome, really. If you manage to recommend a form that I don't recognize, I will probably pounce on it and ask you for its rules. I do have the first edition of Lewis Turco's The Book of Forms which covers most common and many obscure forms.

I'll post at least one of the fishbowl poems here so you-all can enjoy it. (Remember, you get an extra freebie poem if someone new posts a prompt or makes a donation, and additional perks at $100-$300 in donations. Linkbacks reveal verses of "Building Where We Are.") The rest of the poems will go into my archive for magazine submission.

lb_lee

October 1 2013, 17:37:12 UTC 7 years ago

New comment

I've got one!

Golems are often defined by their obedience... or lack of such. What would a trickster be by their standards?

rhodielady_47

October 1 2013, 18:18:53 UTC 7 years ago

Perhaps a Golem would be a servant who does absolutely what he's been told to do and only that until told to stop.
Just imagine what would happen if the golem were told to mop the floor: Which floor? What about the furniture on the floor? What happens if the family cat or dog or the toddler wanders across the floor while the golem is performing the task? What happens if there's an emergency which the golem ignores while continuing to mop the floor?
Also, what happens if the master forgets the stop command or he/she isn't around to give it or is prevented from giving it?

You brought up an interesting point:
Just how does a magical contruct like a golem manage to be disobedent?
:)

7 years ago

Poem

ysabetwordsmith

ellenmillion

October 1 2013, 17:54:28 UTC 7 years ago

Trickster or Treat?

The Trickster gets tricked!

Do the Northerners have a trickster figure?

"He didn't set out to be a trickster..."

October 1 2013, 18:08:48 UTC 7 years ago

Isn't "Black Peter" Santa's companion a trickster-type character? And the original Santa Claus, in some places in Northern Europe/Russia, is more trickster who punishes bad children than rewarder of good children.
:)

October 1 2013, 18:04:53 UTC 7 years ago

BTW: What are "contraries"?
This isn't ringing any bells or even any buzzers for me...
This has all the makings of a really good series of poems and I'm looking forward to reading them.

Are you familiar with the North American Mocking Bird?
In the Deep South where I'm from, he's a bit of a clownish bird who sings all night (if you leave a light on in a window near his nesting bush) and he mimics the songs of all other birds and sometimes human whistles or tunes as well.
:)

October 1 2013, 21:20:39 UTC 7 years ago

Your mockingbird prompt inspired the poem "What Cityfolk Don't Know," written in unrhymed quatrains. They're such good mimics, and they love teasing people...

12 lines, Buy It Now = $10

Also...

Re: Also...

kelkyag

October 1 2013, 19:22:15 UTC 7 years ago

There are multiple beings in the Monster House series (in residence or not) who have some Trickster in them. How does that play out?

Bugs Bunny as trickster. (Stereotypical, yes yes)

Culture clash between tricksters.

Going to a trickster for help.

October 1 2013, 22:03:02 UTC 7 years ago

The Bugs Bunny prompt turned into the free-verse poem "What He-She Said." This is basically a sequel to "Flatter Than a Grass Mat," in which Rabbit follows Coyote into cartoon trickster tales.

65 lines, Buy It Now = $32.50

rowyn

October 1 2013, 19:31:18 UTC 7 years ago

Now I want to know about the trickster god from the "One God's Midlife Crisis" setting! :D I hope she's a crow or a coyote or something.

October 2 2013, 01:22:34 UTC 7 years ago

Your prompt contributed to the free-verse poem "Balls, Bells, and Baubles." Koravi the Trickster Goddess has never been a friend to Shaeth, so he is understandably suspicious when she appears. But it's not what he thinks at all.

84 lines, Buy It Now = $42

rix_scaedu

October 1 2013, 19:32:49 UTC 7 years ago

I have a few ideas:

A practical joker.

A necessary trick.

The trick that wasn't a trick.

The only thing left is a trick.

One last trick.

October 1 2013, 22:47:34 UTC 7 years ago

Your prompt about the only thing left is part of "Mouse and Chatter Help the Bees," thumbnailed above.

October 1 2013, 19:38:15 UTC 7 years ago

Anthony Barrette sent a backchannel prompt for Wile E. Coyote, which led to today's freebie, "Flatter Than a Grass Mat."

siliconshaman

October 1 2013, 20:19:06 UTC 7 years ago

Coyote goes to Comic-con and discovers furries...

Loki unchained...

Pranking the politicians, humour as activism. Anon and plan C [for comedy].

Loki gets stuck as a cat.

October 2 2013, 21:34:20 UTC 7 years ago

"Plan C" is the second freebie for this session.

October 1 2013, 20:21:53 UTC 7 years ago

Shirley Barrette made a backchannel request for Richard Nixon. "Tricky Dick" is written in unrhymed couplets and explores the mischief of a trickster in office.

16 lines, Buy It Now = $10

janetmiles

October 1 2013, 20:43:26 UTC 7 years ago

I'm mostly drawing a blank on this theme; the only thing I can come up with is how some electricians I know refer to their chosen field as "electrickery".

October 1 2013, 22:57:13 UTC 7 years ago

Your prompt inspired the free-verse poem "Brothers at Heart." People don't expect a thunder god to play pranks with lighting, but that's because they've forgotten his family ties.

24 lines, Buy It Now = $10

veralynnwildfir

October 1 2013, 21:22:01 UTC 7 years ago

just some thoughts on tricksters

trickster deities are often associated with crossdressing or gender blending.

those who follow tricksters will often use absurd extremes to show people their own shortcomings.

and of course, let's not forget the trickster's gift of laughter when things seem darkest. ever hear a family of coyotes in the dark of the night?

October 1 2013, 22:03:37 UTC 7 years ago

For crossdressing, see above "What He-She Said" featuring Bugs Bunny.

freshbakedlady

October 1 2013, 21:30:03 UTC 7 years ago Edited: October 1 2013, 21:30:33 UTC

I would love to see a trickster as the patron/protector of someone very small and timid, someone who seems far removed from the wild confidence of the trickster, particularly as they go up against an adversary with a lot of size and power. Not quite David and Goliath, because they still competed in force/might. More like...a little mouse getting tips from Coyote on how to outsmart the cat.

--Joyce

my_partner_doug

October 1 2013, 21:49:34 UTC 7 years ago

All of a sudden, I'm thinking of all the early, classic "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, in which the mouse almost always came out ahead. Makes me wonder if he didn't have Coyote as a patron...

siege

October 1 2013, 22:53:30 UTC 7 years ago

For whatever reason, last night I was asking myself what happens when Maryam Smith runs out of supplies. But why would she run so low in the first place? And then... who would sell such things? And how are they extracted? I'm sure there's plenty of room in those questions to fit a few tricksters.

Also, how about a competition between mythical heroes. Perhaps the Guardian, the Magician, and all the other archetypes argue while the Trickster does something else.

October 2 2013, 06:20:59 UTC 7 years ago

Your prompt about Maryam Smith inspired the free-verse poem "Tod Fox and Friends." I'm completely thrilled to discover that this setting has a British version of the animal fables handed down from African traditions. So when Maryam has trouble restocking supplies needed for her competition, she turns to cunning ...

97 lines, Buy It Now = $97

October 1 2013, 23:16:56 UTC 7 years ago

my_partner_doug wanted something about Doug Henning, so here is the free-verse poem "The Hippie Magician." It's about the guy who saved magic from the brink of obscurity.

25 lines, Buy It Now = $10

chordatesrock

October 2 2013, 03:19:46 UTC 7 years ago

If you're still open to more prompts: have the Lacunites considered trickery (possibly Robin Hood-style) to get food?

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