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It Was So Random: Random Acts of Poetry Day

By Will Willingham 7 Comments

Random Acts of Poetry Day 2015 Wrapup
Nearly every week, I take a morning and go away to write. By “go away, ” I mean go away, as in leave my office and my little town in search of somewhere else, usually a certain coffee shop in the next big town where I write over a ristretto shot with steamed milk and under the curiously repetitive sounds of acoustic hipster background music.

After one recent such morning away, a few miles down Interstate 29 while I was listening to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on Minnesota Public Radio,  I noticed a small white card under my windshield wiper. My mind traveled through all manner of wondrous ideas that visions of grandeur have to offer as I pulled off the highway and turned onto an approach so I could investigate. Perhaps it was an invitation to an exciting event. Or maybe the girl who works at the coffee shop really is reading my serial novel like she says and left me a note to tell me what a brilliant author I am. It could have been a parking ticket, I suppose. By the time I got out of the car, I’d have been happy with a 25-cents-off coupon for the frozen yogurt shop down the street from the coffee shop.

As things turned out, it was a little note from someone named Millie, who began by saying “I don’t know you.” Millie, who found herself and her car door compelled by the wind, banged up my passenger door, I discovered. And while she pointed out that she couldn’t control it, she thought she should offer to pay for part of the repairs. Oh, Millie. I am a claim adjuster. You should pay for all of the repairs.

But I won’t ask her to. It’s a small scuff and not worth trying to explain how the wind has no funds to pay the other half.

While the world was celebrating Random Acts of Poetry Day, leaving poems on mirrors and blackboards and car windshields, I was thinking about Millie. On a day when people wanted to brighten other people’s days, surprise them with the whimsy or wonder of a simple poem, I wished that Millie had left something thoughtful from Tony Hoagland or Pablo Neruda or Adrienne Rich on the back of her chiropractor’s appointment card. I wished that I had seen the card before I left the parking lot, so I could have left her a little haiku about wind and car doors and the ways we hold on tight in return.

When we created our little Random Acts ideas ebooklet, we had 10 things you could do to celebrate with a poem. And we left those ideas open to your random interpretation. Of course there were more than 10 things you could do. And many of you found a way to do them. Here, dropped randomly into our fun little categories, are some of our favorite Random Acts of Poetry sightings from the day yesterday.

Type a poem on a computer in a computer store

It’s not a computer, or a computer store. But a murder mystery is a great random place for poetry.

A Random Act of Poetry from "Kiss Me Deadly" One of my favorite scenes. #raopoetryday #greatwhatsit https://t.co/62OZStlGUu

— Film Flam (@WSUFilm) October 7, 2015

Put a poem in your voicemail

Or, run up to a teacher and share your random poem.

First graders randomly sharing poetry today! #raopoetryday @tspoetry @edpoems http://t.co/HZcyMkX3Hl pic.twitter.com/LrxW3aFwx8

— Lexanne Leonard (@leximagines) October 7, 2015

Leave a poem under the wiper on a car windshield

I like to imagine that this wall is a windshield, and smile at the look on someone’s face when they come out of the grocery store to find their car plastered with poems on Post-It Notes.

Random Acts of Poetry released: haiku, prose, acrostic & concrete #FirehawksELL #FHlearn #raopoetryday #sd36learn pic.twitter.com/0t6veMcC3g

— Matt Clarke (@mrclarke7) October 7, 2015

If you made enough poems to share with everyone, you could leave them on all the cars in the shopping mall.

It's a poetry love note kind of day! #raopoetryday Wherever I go I'll leave a little piece of Ghazal 838 @tspoetry pic.twitter.com/HdMDuB14An

— Donna Z Falcone (@BrighterSideBlg) October 7, 2015

And maybe not the windshield, but a poem about the whole car.

Today is Random Acts of Poetry Day! "Old Car" I pass it every day after school, and I see my dad's old car… http://t.co/2j3ztQsr88

— InfinitiNWI (@InfinitiNWI) October 7, 2015

We’re betting these made their way onto a few windshields.

Random Acts of Poetry Day… https://t.co/4teyL9H0K6 pic.twitter.com/cXUjD3g0TG

— Art_a_day_gal (@scarletteak) October 7, 2015

And look, a real poem on a real windshield!

I slipped a few poems under windshield wipers for Random Acts of Poetry Day. The day is still young — have some fun and sneak #poetry into your corner of the world! @tspoetry #raopoetryday

A photo posted by Ann Kroeker (@annkroeker) on Oct 7, 2015 at 1:37pm PDT

Braid a poem into your hair

Or, you know, weave one into a spindly plant.

Happy Random Acts of Poetry Day! I also handed a couple out here to a couple of places I go to a lot here! Fun! ???? pic.twitter.com/RE789ABHMn

— Lesa Medley (@sweetplesa) October 7, 2015

And if you happen to share a hair poem with your hairdresser, do mind the ceramic acorn.

Celebrating #raopoetryday at my hairdresser's. And I broke her acorn salt shaker. @tspoetry #fail pic.twitter.com/OwpltMVl0E

— SandraHeskaKing (@SandraHeskaKing) October 7, 2015

Write a poem on a blackboard

Or in the case of the modern teacher, a whiteboard:

Enjoying Random Acts of Poetry Day with my classes! #raopoetryday #English10 pic.twitter.com/yPLGQyCvLO

— Katie Hollas (@kthollas53) October 7, 2015

Or paper on your whiteboard.

A photo posted by Kellyn Sirach (@ksirach) on Oct 7, 2015 at 1:48pm PDT



I love these 7th graders’ haikus:

Happy Random Acts of Poetry Day, @tspoetry! My seventh graders and I wrote haikus. http://t.co/G555DU3XMZ #raopoetryday

— Callie Feyen (@CallieFeyen) October 7, 2015

Tape a poem to a bathroom mirror

Some people have their laundry in the bathroom. That works. 🙂

Something for the laundromat. #laundry #raopoetryday @tspoetry @EDayPoems #poetry pic.twitter.com/G0BabNRvLE

— Laura Lynn Brown (@lauralynn_brown) October 7, 2015

And sure. It’s not a bathroom mirror, but has a little of that reflective action going on.

How about a #ghost or two for this spooky season? #raopoetryday @tspoetry #haiku pic.twitter.com/zT0wXddM6i

— The Quilliad (@TheQuilliad) October 7, 2015

I think this is near the bathroom.

It's Random Acts of Poetry Day. I left this one in the fitting room. "Random Haiku in the Dressing Room" by me. #raopoetryday #poem #poetry #haiku #random #stars #light

A photo posted by @ruh_shellrenee on Oct 7, 2015 at 11:40am PDT



This is the way selfies ought to be.

Bluejay 8th Grade doing Random Acts of Poetry #tspoetry #raopoetey

A photo posted by Evi Wusk (@eviwusk) on Oct 7, 2015 at 9:34am PDT

Chalk a poem onto the sidewalk

If Glynn had chalk, he could have written this poem on the sidewalk in London.

A Random Act of Poetry, 51 Buckingham Gate, London #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/yMMbXZoytT

— Glynn Young (@gyoung9751) October 7, 2015

And when you find fall leaves on the sidewalk, write a poem on them.

To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wildflower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. -William Blake #raopoetryday Take 3.

A photo posted by Sara B (@quesara88) on Oct 7, 2015 at 1:07pm PDT

Send a poem to your email contact list

That’s one way to have a poem go viral.

Today is Random Acts of Poetry Day. Let's spread poetry like the norovirus: http://t.co/87OLmEPT9Q #raopoetryday @tspoetry #poetry

— NC Writers' Network (@WritingestState) October 7, 2015

Slip a poem under a door

Especially if you have very small neighbors with a very small door.

A poem for my neighbors. @tspoetry @EDayPoems #raopoetryday pic.twitter.com/HhPdSUHTjN

— Laura Lynn Brown (@lauralynn_brown) October 7, 2015

These were not quite “slipped under a door” but the idea of being deposited in secret around Darlene’s town has that same sort of feel.

Random Acts of Poetry Day boards – some shared @ a meeting; others placed secret about my town. @tspoetry #raopoetry pic.twitter.com/BMWPjL7UAf

— Simply Darlene (@SimplyDarWrites) October 7, 2015

Become a poem

When one forgets the handprinted leaves, one must become the poem.

Random Acts of Poetry day & I've left my bag of handprinted leaves at home. The only scattered image here is my own. #raoPoetry fail!

— indigo eli (@indigo_eli) October 7, 2015

Or really, one becomes the poem:

The word made flesh // the flesh will be made word #tspoetry #raopoetry #poetry #postmodernthot #pmthots

A photo posted by natalie/ postmodernthot (@scattered_stanza) on Oct 7, 2015 at 1:15pm PDT

Maybe we could make a habit of Random Acts of Poetry. Maybe Millie will join in.

Featured photo by L.L. Barkat. Post by LW Lindquist.

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Will Willingham
Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.
Will Willingham
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Filed Under: Blog, poetry, random acts of poetry

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About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.

Comments

  1. Maureen says

    October 8, 2015 at 10:54 am

    Fun! Love the little door.

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      October 8, 2015 at 11:04 am

      I thought that was so fun. Reminded me of our mailbox when I was small.

      Reply
  2. L. L. Barkat says

    October 8, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    Oh, I love the Millie story (though I’m sorry you had to sacrifice your paint job to get it 😉 ).

    All the commentary along the way here totally made me smile.

    And something about the end really struck me. This is what we are trying to do at Tweetspeak… we sponsor a public day in hopes that it somehow changes life as we know it, more than just one day a year. How nice it would be if, occasionally, you found a poem instead of a “sell” or a “sorry”—on your windshield, in your mailbox, or even on your lawn. How nice it would be, not only for you, but for Millie.

    Reply
  3. Sandra Heska King says

    October 9, 2015 at 10:02 am

    What fun! I especially like Darlene’s dated boards. And the fleshed-out poetry…

    I gorilla-glued the acorn.

    Reply
  4. SimplyDarlene says

    October 9, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    What a bunch of great ideas for such a fun day!

    And I have to tell you – my son and I also slipped one of the poetry boards into the library’s sidewalk book return receptacle. 😉

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Yesterday’s Random Acts of Poetry, Tomorrow’s Poetic Possibilities | The Quilliad says:
    October 8, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    […] And we’re very pleased to say that tweetspeak poetry, the organizer of the event, has included us in their post about #raopoetryday highlights. […]

    Reply
  2. Kickstarter Reward Highlight: Personal Poetry (or, Poetry on Demand) | The Quilliad says:
    October 16, 2015 at 11:38 am

    […] around the city on Random Acts of Poetry Day. The event was a lot of fun, and the organizers (Tweet Speak Poetry) even wrote about our contribution! We love writing as much as we love reading, so being able to do […]

    Reply

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