A mask poem (also called a Persona) is written from the point of view of an object, an animal, or a person (other than yourself). Can you guess the subject of the three mask poems below? Read the poems then click the right arrow for the answers.
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My computer recently crashed and when it was up and running again, I found all of my junk mail had bailed the confines of its folder and was hanging out in my actual inbox. I spent hours sifting through what was junk and what was not junk. But as they say, when life gives you lemons, write a poem. That’s what they say, right? Anyway, I seized the opportunity and wrote a list poem made up entirely of the subject lines of my spam mail. It took some time to find subject lines I could rhyme but it turned out to be a fun poetry project!
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When I came across Strickland Gillilan’s 1927 poem, “Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes,” I had a good laugh. Not only because it’s a concise, funny poem but because the long, complicated title is comically in contrast. Apparently, someone else thought the same thing (as far as I can tell, nobody has fessed up yet) and later shortened the title to “fleas.” So here it is, the shortest poem in history:
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A mask poem (also called a Persona) is written from the point of view of an object, an animal, or a person (other than yourself). Mask poems can be long or short, serious or humorous. There are no rules as far as meter or rhyme pattern goes but its important to select an interesting subject and use your imagination to reveal the feelings of the object. Is the object lonely, joyful, afraid? Why?
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We’ve all been there, pen in hand, waiting for a poem to arrive. Poetry prompts are a great way to get the juices flowing on those inevitable days when a poem doesn’t show up. The visual prompt below spoke to me. There is nothing more relaxing than taking some “me time” and climbing into bed with a good book (or ten).
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