There are a number of bloggers playing along. One of these is Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wandering.
Yesterday she posted a tanka she wrote using paint chips. Tanka is a form that uses a 5,7,5,7,7 syllable count. My students and I took out the paint chips, and I suggested they find three in the same color hue, so their poems would become about that color in some way. Then we tossed around the Haikubes. Karson said, “This is fun!” Music to my poet-teacher ears.
I pulled out three cards in the orange color range. The words were field of poppies, fresh-squeezed, and sun rays. I thought of pictures I had seen of California poppies. The haikubes mixed it up a bit to make for a compelling poppy tanka.
Field of poppies in
Southern California
fresh-squeezed dripping dots
Precious whispers glancing up.
Flying sun rays from the sky.
—Margaret Simon (draft) 2019
Kim Douillard is a photographer-teacher-blogger living in Southern California. She posted this image on Instagram of poppies near her school’s playground.
Reflections on the Teche 
Fun AND gorgeous! I feel that you are in your element. Love it!
How clever to combine the paint chips with the Haikubes! I do love how these colors names and words push us to new, exciting and unexpected combinations. I’m already considering how “fresh squeezed” could work in so many different ways!
Love this! I need to get some Haikubes!!!
I like the way you combine Haicubes w/ paint chips and explain your process. I like the juxtaposition of poppies flying up and dripping sun rays, two contrasting movements that mix to create lovely images.
Wow. The combo of the haikubes and the paint chips makes for great playing. The poppy photo is incredible.
I love your poppy tanka…you capture their magical nature perfectly! (And I love that my photo is here too!) I got my Haikubes out…we’ll be using them when we return from Spring Break! I can hardly wait (who says that just before Spring Break?!)
That is a stunning poppy! Our poppies are at least 6 weeks away. I love those “fresh-squeezed dripping dots” and agree that combining paint chips with haikubes is brilliant!
We don’t get poppies around here. Thanks for stopped by.
It’s taken me a few days to figure out the paint chips, intermittent as I’ve been (and grades are due at 4pm tomorrow, so I should not be PoetryMonthing!). What a good idea. Love your choices and how the two sets of words mixed.
And yet…what about JUST the paint chips? May I?
fresh-s*ueezed
sun rays:
field of poppies
That works!
Mix and match playing with poetry! Such fun! These actually turned out so well, and I love to see your work alongside your students’ poems.