Ballade Paint Chip Poetry Prompt

It’s week two of 2021. It’s already been a crazy year and it’s only the 8th. Perhaps a little poetry will help us cope. And I’ve decided to make us all think a bit for this one.

The Challenge

I’ve moved on to the B section of the poetry dictionary by John Drury. There were some interesting choices, including Beat Poetry, but I decided on the Ballade. The “rules” for a Ballade are outlined in this picture of the entry from page 33. You can read Francoise Villon’s poem, referenced by Drury, here.

Sounds fun, doesn’t it? I love a set rhyme scheme and stanza format. Adding the paint chip words and phrases should make it even more fun.

The paint chip words and phrases you have to work with are cowboy, polished stone, raw silk, spinach, avalanche, Rocky Mountains, and robin’s egg. I would like you to pick three of the paint chips for your Ballade. Choose the three that you think have the greatest connection to each other.
I’m going to use Rocky Mountains, polished stone, and avalanche.

My Poem and Your Turn

So I’ve never done this before for the paint chip prompt, but I’m not including my poem this time. Why? Because I haven’t written it yet and I want to spend a little more time figuring out how the three paint chips I picked best work together. Still, I didn’t want to keep you all waiting for the prompt. I know some of you don’t read my poem until after you’ve written yours anyway.

So write your poem and post it in the comments. Or post it on your blog and share a link in the comments. Then come back on Monday to see what I came up with.