Poetry Prompt: Sparkler Sensory Poems

When I was growing up, summer meant weekends at my Aunt Lucy and Uncle Bill’s home in Rockford, Michigan. It meant hours in their pool, learning how to do a back dive, and it meant my cousin Tara and I had ample time to perfect our synchronized swim routines (we had a fantastic routine set to Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract”). Summer meant an extra hour of daylight and being able to stay out later. (Michigan is on Eastern Standard Time, unlike Chicago, which is Central Standard Time, a point my brother Geoff and I made repeatedly in the car ride as the Chicago skyline disappeared and we made our way north.)

And summers meant sparklers.

I have vivid memories of dancing with fire just before bed. We probably went through a box in five minutes, and maybe that was part of the fun. After all, a spark doesn’t last; its impression — the color, the singe, the crackle — does.

I signed my name in the air when my sparkler was lit. I did one-handed cartwheels. I ran through my aunt and uncle’s expansive backyard barefooted and laughing, little beads of orange chasing me.

Try It

For this week’s prompt, sparklers are our muse, and sensory poems are the form. I like to divide a piece of paper into fifths and label each section with one of the senses: sight, smell, touch, sound, taste. I fill up each box with words or phrases, memories, and perhaps even drawings that make me think of sparklers. Then, I pull from, curate, and add words to make a poem.

Now it’s your turn!

Featured Poem

Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent poetry prompt. Here’s a poem from Marilyn that we enjoyed.

Screeee
The rockets, climbing up up up
My boys, scurrying down the hill
and nestling into my waiting arms

Boom
The fire, blooming then wilting in a blink
My heart, popping against its bony cage,
willing this moment to stay

Sizzle shhhhh
The last sparkles, raining down
a smoky cloud
A sigh, sending bated breath up to the sky

How many more fourth of Julys?

—Marilyn

Photo by Epic Fireworks, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Callie Feyen, author of The Teacher Diaries: Romeo & Juliet.

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Callie Feyen

Callie Feyen likes Converse tennis shoes and colorful high heels, reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the Twilight series. Her favorite outfit has always been a well-worn pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, but she wants hoop skirts with loads of tulle to come back into style. Her favorite line from literature comes from Sharon Creech’s Absolutely Normal Chaos: “I don’t know who I am yet. I’m still waiting to find out.” Feyen has served as the At-Risk Literacy Specialist in the Ypsilanti Public Schools and is the author of Twirl: my life with stories, writing & clothes and The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet.

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