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Please join us at dVerse LIVE on Saturday, March 22, from 10 to 11 AM EST. Google meet link will be provided at Open Link Night on Thursday.   

Good evening, all! 

Sanaa here (aka adashofsunny)  delighted to be hosting Poetics today! You must have heard about Monopoly?  

The Monopoly board game has its origins in the Landlord’s Game, which was designed and patented by Lizzie G. Magie in 1904. The game was created to explain the single-tax theory of Henry George. In 1935, Parker Brothers released the version we now know as Monopoly, and it has since become a popular classic. 

For today’s Poetics, I invite you all to play a poetry game with me called “Monopoly with a Twist!” 

Imagine a Monopoly board transformed into a literary landscape where each square represents a Poet. 

The squares are adorned with symbols that capture the spirit of their work: a feather for an imagist, a field of flowers for a romantic, and a storm cloud for a poet that explores existential themes. Now, let us proceed to the rules of the game. 

The idea here is to select ONE out of the three images. Next, choose a Poet and poem that you resonate with the most.  

Feather – Ezra Pound ‘In a Station of the Metro’ or Amy Lowell, ‘Middle Age.’ 

Field of Flowers – E.E. Cummings ‘I carry your heart with me’ or John Keats ‘Ode to a Nightingale.’ 

Storm Cloud – T.S. Eliot ‘The Dry Salvages’ or Mary Oliver ‘In Blackwater Woods.’ 

The challenge is to write a poem inspired by the Poet and poem you have chosen. What emotions do they evoke in you?  

For example: You can write a response poem to ‘The Dry Salvages’ or add a few sentiments to ‘I carry your heart with me.’ The direction in which you plan to go is entirely up to you. 

Now, I am aware that not everybody would feel like playing the game, and that’s fine. So, here is option number 2!

Monopoly Dreams and Boardwalk Schemes 

Imagine a twisted version of the classic Monopoly board, where the game is no longer just about wealth and property but a reflection of society’s darker undercurrents. 

In case, you opt for this part of the challenge, I would like you to think along the lines of corruption. Here are a few ideas to get your muse going: 

Visualize the board as a cityscape under a brooding sky, where the colors are muted, and shadows stretch long across the streets. 

Picture the game pieces as corrupted figures—perhaps a banker with hollow eyes or a thimble that clinks ominously as it moves. 

Convey the despair of players trapped in a cycle of debt and desperation, reflecting on the price of their ambition. 

Or you can also consider the voice of the Monopoly game itself, watching the players with an omniscient gaze, recounting the cycles of hope and ruin. 

Let the poem unfold freely, allowing thoughts and images to intertwine creating a haunting tapestry that reflects the game’s darker implications.  

Go on, embrace the inner voice. The game has just begun! 

New to dVerse? Here’s how to join in:

• Write a poem (in any form) in response to the challenge.
• Enter a link directly to your poem and your name by clicking Mr. Linky below
  and remember to check the little box to accept the use/privacy policy.
• You will find links to other poets and more will join so please do check
  back later in order to read their poems.
• Read and comment on other poets’ work– we all come here to have our poems read.
• Please link back to dVerse from your site/blog.