A year in verse

Today sees the final entry in the indoor writer's poetry diary.  Started over a year ago tomorrow (her birthday) this was an experiment to awaken the poetry muscles.  So what has she learnt after 365 poems?(yes really one a day!) ... well have discovered several new forms of poetry (new to her) including Haiku and Tanka.  The writing of Haiku has become addictive.  In expert hands these can be beautifully simple, like a tiny piece of dark, bitter chocolate they can leave a long, but delicious aftertaste.
Try this website for an introduction to Haiku: Haiku Presence.

Also have experimented with triolets and limericks.  The poetry section of Writing Magazine can provide a basic grounding in different poetry outlets - worth reading and trying out something new.

Various creations have been entered into poetry competitions, but so far without success.  Love reading contemporary poetry, such as Carol Ann Duffy, but the writing has been much harder than expected.  Even recording daily events, capturing fleeting moods and ideas has been tough at times (when only cliches and childish analogies come out of the mist).  The real joy comes in re-reading the entries and remembering what emotions triggered the first line.  A positive side-effect has been the seeding of several short stories from poems (and vice versa).

And for the next birthday year?  Hmm ... will have to think up a new challenge to test her writing skills ...