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Taking Poetry to Work: A Few Good Tricks

By L.L. Barkat 12 Comments

Poetry at Work Day Book, journal, cuppa tea.

Are you planning to celebrate Poetry at Work Day, the second Tuesday of January?

It doesn’t need to be elaborate. Here are a few ideas you can use to make it happen in your workplace.

1. Cut It Out Poetry

What you’ll need:

• old catalogs
• scissors
• pens
• index cards or full-sized paper
• glue or glue sticks
• pinboard and pins
• sample poem already pinned up (feel free to reprint and use ours)

Place the materials in a classic gathering place where things can be posted. The cafeteria. Near the water cooler. A conference or break room. Leave instructions as follows…

• did you know today is Poetry at Work Day?
• cut out words and phrases
• arrange into poems
• glue your words and phrases onto cards to make it official
• sign if you like, and post!

(if you are an online team, you could do something similar using Pinterest)

Sample Cut It Out Poem

funny medicare poem humorous work poem

 

2. Circle-It Poetry

circle it poetry

What you’ll need:

• old newspapers or magazines
• pens or markers
• scissors
• pinboard and pins
• sample poem already pinned up (feel free to print and use ours)

Leave instructions as follows…

• did you know today is Poetry at Work Day?
• cut out a strip of print
• circle single words from top to bottom to create a poem
• sign if you like, and post!
 

3. Break It Poetry

What you’ll need:

• old books in a basket or bin
• pens or color markers
• paper, color or white
• pinboard and pins
• sample poem already pinned up (feel free to print and use ours)

Leave instructions as follows…

• did you know today is Poetry at Work Day?
• find a quote you like from any of the books here in the basket
• break the quote into lines to make a poem
• sign if you like, and post!

Break It Poetry is taken from Inspired: 8 Ways to Write Poems You Can Love. Here is how one person did this exercise very simply: Found Poems. And here is an answer to her follow-up challenge, using the same quote Megan used but rebreaking it…

Sample Break It Poem

Featured photo by Seafaringwoman, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Medicare poem by Will Willingham. Whisper poem by Tina Howard. Sometimes Peace poem by L.L. Barkat.

_____

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L.L. Barkat
L.L. Barkat
L.L. Barkat is the Managing Editor of Tweetspeak Poetry and the author of six books for grown-ups and four for children, including the popular 'Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing.' She has also served as a writer for The Huffington Post blog and is a freelance writer for Edutopia. Her poetry has appeared on NPR and at VQR and The Best American Poetry.
L.L. Barkat
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Filed Under: Blog, Poems, poetry, Poetry at Work, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources

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About L.L. Barkat

L.L. Barkat is the Managing Editor of Tweetspeak Poetry and the author of six books for grown-ups and four for children, including the popular 'Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing.' She has also served as a writer for The Huffington Post blog and is a freelance writer for Edutopia. Her poetry has appeared on NPR and at VQR and The Best American Poetry.

Comments

  1. Sandra Heska King says

    January 11, 2013 at 9:29 am

    Fun! Even I can do this!

    Reply
    • L. L. Barkat says

      January 11, 2013 at 9:55 am

      of course you can. I look forward to seeing what you break open 🙂

      Reply
  2. Elizabeth Wynne Marshall says

    January 15, 2013 at 9:42 am

    Brilliant. I can’t seem to get enough of your slant on this world through your words and poetry. I am going back for a second read.

    And I can’t wait to try these “poetry at work” ideas. The child in my is giddy.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Infographic: Poetry at Work Day - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    January 10, 2013 at 2:44 pm

    […] Need more inspiration? Check out these take-and-go ideas: 3 simple ways to bring poetry to work. […]

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  2. 10 Great Poems About Work - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    January 13, 2013 at 4:14 pm

    […] Taking Poetry to Work: A Few Good Tricks (3 simple ways to bring poetry to work) Poetry at Work Day Infographic (don’t miss the chicken and the chocolate chips) 10 Great Articles on Poetry and Work (contests, Wall Street, blacksmithing, cubicle haiku and more) […]

    Reply
  3. A reminder to myself | unlockingwords says:
    July 22, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    […] list!  The website looks like it has lots of interesting things on but there was a particular article which caught my eye.  It details three ways of creating poems from others’ words and links […]

    Reply
  4. Poetry at Work Day Survival Kit - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    December 12, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    […] Taking Poetry to Work: A Few Good Tricks […]

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  5. Featured Event: Poetry at Work Day | Wolf Writes says:
    January 10, 2015 at 12:01 am

    […] poem and carry it in your pocket to share with your colleagues. Get them involved in fun activities and why not come up with your own poetic […]

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  6. Featured Event: Poetry at Work Day - Wolf Writes says:
    January 11, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    […] poem and carry it in your pocket to share with your colleagues. Get them involved in fun activities and why not come up with your own poetic […]

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  7. 28 • Whose Care - Poetic Earth Month says:
    April 28, 2019 at 7:03 am

    […] cut it out poems for an example of how to assemble a poem from disparate […]

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  8. Tuesday, Jan. 11: It’s Poetry at Work Day 2022! - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    January 11, 2022 at 5:02 am

    […] Day. Other ways abound as well. We offer a free book full of inspiration, tips, and tools. We have a few good tricks that might help. Tweetspeak Poetry has published 10 Great Poems about Work that might provide some inspiration. I […]

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  9. It’s Poetry at Work Day 2023! - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    January 10, 2023 at 5:00 am

    […] an e-book specifically designed for poetry at work. Some prompts to get you going are including in Taking Poetry to Work: A Few Good Tricks. We have examples to guide you, with 10 Great Poems about Work. And we have a free Poetry at Work […]

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