Invention : Other Games
There are many other games not featured in this book. Often they were
created for specific events and had no general application.
These two examples are given to show how any of the games described
previously, or any other game, can be adapted to provide a starting
point for poetry.
Invention : Moon Over Water
Although Moon Over Water was created round the symbols of moon and
water simply to fit in with a wider mixed-media and performance event, the
particular combination did lead to dream-like poems. It has subsequently been
used at several workshops, usually held outdoors or in tents, to assist some
countryside or ecological theme.
It is essentially a version of Fishing for Words, except that the
words were specifically selected to spark resonances.
The original version used a spinning moon to determine which cards a player
used to build the poem. It could be played by any random method of picking
cards with the words on them or through discussion leading to a word-list.
As in Aboard the Pentameter, the provision of some evocative words
allows an image to develop and stimulate ideas, whether or not such words
form part of the finished work.
Invention : Good Guys
For bonfire night, poems about good guys - not for burning!
Draw an outline of a guy on a sheet of paper and fold as in the
old game of Consequences.
Each folded section should show a different part of the body and a
related question.
Example questions:
What is he wearing on his head?
What is he holding in his hand?
When all the questions are answered, unfolding the sheet
section by section, there is a word picture of the good guy
which can be reshaped into a poem.
For further information on this sort of game click on games listed under
INVENTION
in the INDEX side bar.
