The theme for this workshop was “street sonnets.” Liz began by defining what a sonnet is:
A “little song” from Italian by way of Old French
14 lines
Sometimes follows a specific rhyming pattern (e.g., Shakespearean sonnets)
Here are a few examples:
William Shakespeare, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day (Sonnet 18)” https://poets.org/poem/shall-i-compare-thee-summers-day-sonnet-18
Bernadette Mayer, “[Sonnet] name address date.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49722/sonnet-name-address-date
Terrance Hayes, ‘American Sonnet For My Past and Future Assassin [“Inside me is a black-eyed animal”]’ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/143918/american-sonnet-for-my-past-and-future-assassin
Sonnet prompts:
•A poem of 14 lines
•Consider the following:
1. think of a street, neighbourhood, area you frequent. (The season, the sights, all senses, take us on a journey in your poem.)
2. include a saying (like “an eye for an eye”), a joke, a line, something you’ve overheard – failing all that borrow from something at hand, a few words from something you’re reading
3. How can you speak to the inner creature of yourself as Terrance Hayes did? What is a sense of wildness you find inside yourself? Does it want to enter this poem?