SENSITIZE ©

This is the poetic answer to flash fiction, I first came across this genre a few days ago on the Writers' Dock forums, where they post half a dozen prompt words every 24 hours. You pick a word or words, and then have to write your complete poem in under thirty minutes. (Or a piece of fiction/non-fiction in 90 minutes. No word count restrictions.) The odd thing is, this really frees you up because you stop worrying about the 'perfect' turn of phrase. You just write. Quite often you find you've completed your poem in about three minutes. Okay, it won't be a great piece, but it's something you can then come back to at your leisure to improve and tweak and whatever.

This is my latest, and it really did take just three minutes (if that).

runner bean

the bean
was as long as his arm
well
nearly

jamie was just
four years old when he picked
that first
runner bean

rough in his hand
he hadn’t expected
the way it tickled
and lay there
in all its green pride

astonished
he ran indoors

mum smiled
and lifted him up on a chair
so he could reach
to wash
his prize

he watched
as mum sliced and diced
and knew
for the first time
the aroma
the fresh sweet aroma
of newly cut runner bean


So there you go. Please feel free to use this thread to add poems that you've written in under half an hour. You could pop along to Writers Dock to use their prompts if you like (that takes away the agony of trying to decide what the heck you're going to write about). It's fun, it's quick, it's surprisingly easy. Enjoy.