Hello friends. We’re still in the S section of the poetry dictionary this week. I’ve settled on sentence fragment for this week’s prompt. We all know, I hope, what a sentence fragment is, but I’m sharing the definition from the dictionary nonetheless. Unfortunately I can’t seem to format the middle paragraph to be indented as a long line of poetry would be, but I guess that’s the limitation of the quotation block in WordPress editor.
SENTENCE FRAGMENT A group of words that ends with a period but lacks either a subject or a main verb; a subordinate clause or a phrase or a single word standing by itself. Here are some examples of fragments (in one line of Geoffrey Hill’s “Mercian Hymns”):
A pet-name, a common name. Best-selling brand,
curt graffito. A laugh; a cough. A syndicate. A specious gift.
Scoffed-at horned phonograph.A sentence fragment is a mistake, if used carelessly, but a valuable device if used expressively or rhythmically.
the poetry dictionary, pg. 275
The Challenge
And here is my challenge: to use one or more sentence fragments expressively or rhythmically. You might even choose to write your whole poem as a series of sentence fragments, so long as you do it intentionally and not carelessly. You can write a few couplets, a triolet, a little free verse, or a haiku. Whatever form you choose is up to you, but just be sure to include one or more fragments.
The paint chip words and phrases that you have to work with in your poem are cotton candy, endless dunes, fresh-squeezed, sunny-side up, cream of the crop, verdant, and clown nose.
I would like you to use at least three of these seven paint chips in your poem. Useless bonus points will be awarded to anyone who uses all seven, and even more for anyone who uses each one as part of a sentence fragment.
My Poem
There will be no extra bonus points for me. I’m only using three.
Daddy Dear Oh how I miss my Daddy dear, Gone far too long. Memories. . . Eggs? Sunny-side up. Juice? From frozen, not fresh-squeezed. Smile as wide as the Grand Canyon graced his handsome face. Gardener extraordinaire who grew tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, and dill. Cream of the crop. And tall. Man, was he ever tall.
Your Turn
Now it’s your turn to write a poem using sentence fragments and at least three of the paint chip words and phrases I’ve provided. You can share your poem in the comments, or post it on your own blog or website and drop a link in the comments. Be sure to check out poems shared by others.