Thursday, May 19, 2011

Spine Poetry

I was in the Library the other day and noticed a good-sized display of “Spine Poetry.”

“What’s all that?” I asked.

“Well, we ask folks to pick out some book titles that will tell a little story.” the Librarian told me. “They stack them up and the titles on the spines make a poem. Kinda like Haiku, but free verse. All kinds of people; all ages. It’s very interesting, isn’t it?”

Interesting? That ain’t the word for it! It was great fun reading so many creative “folk” poems. I wanted to play, so I came home and this is what I concocted from our own book shelves.

The Life You’ve Always Wanted
Writing to Learn
Writing from Personal Experience
Writing Places
The Elements of Style
On Writing Well

You wanna play? Rules are simple: top spine is the title, five lines or less to follow. Try it. This is a great exercise in finding out who I am and what I like. Try different themes. Have fun.



You can do something like this, too (I suppose).

The Joy of Cooking
Eat This, Not That
Fasting
Eat This and Live
The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast
Our Best Recipes



Stay tuned...more to come...?

6 comments:

Ileana said...

Great idea, Paul, and I like your inspirational selection of books! Nice haiku!

PS - I can't wait to try this at home. :)

kenju said...

That sounds like fun - when I get the time to search through the shelves.

srp said...

So very, very clever... somehow I don't think the strange middle ages history books that my brother is into right now will have such compelling titles.

kristenfeola said...

Love it, Paul! What a clever idea. Thanks for letting me know. :)

Kristen Feola
Author, The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast
www.ultimatedanielfast.com

Jennie said...

Oh the stories I have on my shelves! For now though:
*How to Be Alone*
This Year I Will...
Get Out of That Pit
Take Joy
Deep Writing
In the Spirit of Happiness

Jennie said...

And I'd like to add a book/sentence: Searching For God Knows What :)