Thirteen Ways, or Five Ways, or . . . . Poems

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174503

A Gloss on "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" from Nancie Atwell
Stanza 1    The blackbird is a tiny detail in a vast, still landscape.
Stanza 2    A smile in which the blackbird suggests the speaker's frame of mind
Stanza 3    The world is a stage act or Punch and Judy show; the blackbird is but one of the players.
Stanza 4    A metaphorical math problem
Stanza 5    A philosophical proposition or meditation
Stanza 6    A mystery story out of Poe, starring the blackbird
Stanza 7    A sermon or Bible quotation
Stanza 8    The blackbird is the salt of the earth:  human intelligence and culture grounded by nature
Stanza 9     A metaphysical geometry problem
Stanza 10   A legend or myth
Stanza 11   A fairy tale
Stanza 12   A pearl of folk wisdom from the farmer's almanac
Stanza 13   Once again the blackbird is a tiny detail in a vast landscape, but this time we seem to be viewing him at something like the end of the world.          


More examples:  http://mrsbraman.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/thirteen-ways-examples.pdf


A Few Ways to Look At A Match   

1.
Life, fire, birth,
a new beginning.

2.
All these years in its
   box,
only to be used
   once.
   Once.

3.
The boundary between
a rollicking
fireworks display
on the fourth
day of July
and darkness

4.
I wonder,
what does it feel?
A transformation
like Cinderella's?
Strike. . .

5.
The feel
of warmth
on my fingers. .
ghostlike.

6.
A hand.
A strike.
A fire.
A life.
A death.

 ---- Chris Kunitz



Eight Ways of Looking at a Car
   -- by Ms. Dorsey, April 2014 -- First Draft

To a very small grandchild of mine,
Anything that can roll or slide goes "Vroom, vroom!"

One of the four things I could draw  
To keep small children entertained
in church.

Sitting in the backseat for hours
Siblings on either side
Move over!
You're breathing my air!
Roadtrip boredom!
But Disneyland at the end!

A reflection and proof of success.
The value of your car shows how valuable you are.

The second, and to some the first, proof
That we have achieved the American Dream --
Freedom of choice of size and color and horse-power,
and freedom to go from one place to another on your own schedule.

Evil belcher of pollution,
Main cause of global warming and (cough, cough) Utah Valley inversion.

Gleaming, polished speed!
I'll race ya!

Transportation -- pure and simple.

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Topics for ___ Ways Poems

time doors gates fences homes tape phone chairs paper maps