Introduction:

I’ve been reading/following the very creative blog – Some Bad Plankton and have been inspired by the author/writer’s “10 poems in 20 minutes” quick poem posts. I’m amazed at how fast the author thinks and write to create this number of poems in this time – which works out to be about a poem every 2 mins. That’s incredible! Especially, when some of the poems are quite lengthy, and the poems that I’ve read so far have all been wonderful and entertaining!

In an effort to become a better/faster writer, and to improve my creative writing skills – I’ve decided to do something similar by challenging myself to write and publish/post a quick poem every day. To start, I will allow myself a total of 10 minutes each day to write a new poem. I plan to write poems that are related to food in some way, but this may eventually change.

The first poem in this series/exercise is below – titled and about/inspired by a Chocolate Shells box by Darrell Lea that was just next to me in the room. Initially, I had planned to write the poem in 5 mins, but after 4 minutes, I realised that I had more to say, and that I needed more editing time, so I extended it to 10 minutes instead.

To be honest, I finished the gist/bones of the poem in under 10 minutes. This included choosing the topic (in this case, a tin chocolate box that was next to me – easy), writing the poem and some editing as well. However, as part of my perfectionist/insatiable/never content habit/nature (that’s quite extreme, but anyway), I continued to re-read and re-edit the poem over the next 20 mins or so. So, for the record – this poem took a total of about 30 mins (maybe a little bit more) to complete! bigsmile

Anyhow, it’s the first poem of the exercise so please understand. I’m not yet comfortable/familiar with the quick poem process – but hopefully, with time, I’ll be more comfortable with it and write better/faster under pressure. For the next poem (tomorrow – at around noon) – I will endeavor to write and complete/finish the poem (and just let it go) within 10 mins time, without further editing/changes.

I hope you can follow me on this quick creative “food” poem/writing exercise, and enjoy reading the poems too. Feedback and comments are always welcome! Wish me luck, and best wishes!

~

Chocolate Shells box

Chocolate Shells box –
by Darrell Lea
Made in Australia –
520 g
“A delicious blend of smooth milk and white chocolate
with soft hazelnut cream centre”.

Perfect chocolate shells adorn the sides –
Prawns and seahorses too.
Melded dark and white chocolate –
only the best will do –
alluring and enticing.

Sandy beach landscape
with splendid conch to sell.
Idyllic and picturesque –
Sea blue sky
dotted with small white clouds.

A gift for a lover,
to share,
or an indulgence for self?

Once eaten and gone –
all that’s left is the box.
Empty, but not useless.

Reusable art –
to keep new treasures in.
A home for found objects,
Just like a real shell.

Note: I was forewarned by Some Bad Plankton, who said – “I can’t promise that writing faster doesn’t make it worse.” So with this mentioned, and as the first above quick poem illustrates, please be warned readers – some of these quick daily poems can be very average and/or very bad indeed. Hopefully, they will improve with time. Enjoy at your own peril/costs. Thanks for reading!