A few weeks back, I posted a Paint Chip Poetry exercise. It was so much fun, I thought I’d give it another try this week. The rules for Paint Chip Poetry are simple:

• Choose a random selection of color swatches from your local hardware store or online.
• Give yourself a time limit of ten or fifteen minutes.
• Write a free verse poem using as many of the paint colors as possible in the time allotted.

When I studied my paint chip colors, the color “brownstone” evoked an image in my mind of New York City. From there, my mind went to the fallen towers and I had the subject of my poem. For my poem, 9-11, I selected eight paint chip colors and used seven of them:

Paint chip colors:

Wispy pink
Hard work
Brownstone
Bear-in-mind
Love
Sundried
Restoration
Winter snow

My paint chip poem

9-11
Sundried mud on brownstone, 
ashes raining down.
Bear-in-mind the date was 9-11.
Tragedy hit just before the winter snow.
Restoration would take hard work,
determination,
love.

©Danna Smith at poetrypop.com all rights reserved

A paint chip poetry game is now available

Poets and teachers worldwide have used this creative technique in their writing for decades, so I wasn’t surprised to find a new game by Chronical Books called…you guessed it, Paint Chip Poetry. It’s the same game we’ve played forever. Only it’s in a colorful, compact kit with everything you need, including paint chips and prompts.

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