Poetry, Writing

Poetry Friday – Happy Goof Off Day!

It’s Friday! And you know what that means: Poetry! Want to know more about Poetry Friday? Click this link right here. I’m hosting today so be sure to look to the end of this post to see this week’s round up of wonderful poetry related posts, blogs and goodness.

Hello and welcome to Poetry Friday! Tomorrow is National Goof Off Day so I sent a challenge out for some goofy poems. I can’t wait to see what everyone has written.

I am a HUGE advocate of play. My professional degree is actually in Play (well, really it is in Recreation Management, but close enough.) So I got to take all sorts of classes about the benefits of unstructured as well as structured play in our lives. Seriously, it is one of the best fields out there.

Anyway, I think it’s coo-coo that we strive to encourage our kids to play and have fun and then once we turn a certain age, some transformation occurs any BAM! we don’t need to play any more. Finger painting? Pah! Fort building? Never! Sure, our tastes may mature, but that doesn’t mean that playtime should disappear. Personally, I’d love a playground designed for adults–complete with a giant ball pit.

For National Goof Off Day, I decided to highlight a really cool aspect of play–how it can and does lead to great innovation. If you have a few minutes (about 7), here is a great Ted-Ed talk about how goofing off can shape the future.

Poetry, for me, is all about having fun. Sometimes I need to remind myself of that. It’s ok that it’s not the most beautiful or most perfectly written poem. I’m sure that first flute that a caveman carved out of bone was no Muramatsu. But I guarantee it brought him joy and made his life a bit more colorful. That’s what poetry does for me.

I decided to try my hand a a dribble poem today, since I think “dribble” is a fun word. A dribble is a brief poem with exactly 100 letters (punctuation and spaces, as well as the title, are not counted). Does anyone know if an ampersand should be counted as a punctuation or a letter? I counted it as a letter since I wasn’t sure.

Necessity is Not the Mother of All Invention

The future depends on people who play.
So while you sit and scoff
And roll your eyes & toil away,
I’ll be right here goofing off.
© Rebecca Herzog, 2019

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53 thoughts on “Poetry Friday – Happy Goof Off Day!”

  1. I’m with you on the importance of play throughout life. It’s essential for creativity!! Thanks for the cool video and dribble 🙂 — and thanks for hosting this week.

    (My link goes live at 6 a.m. Friday morning.)

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  2. I missed your challenge, but luckily the poem I shared fits with the theme! I’ve never heard of a dribble poem and am anxious to try one. Yours is great! I love the title 🙂 Thanks so much for hosting this week and for introducing me to “National Goof Off Day!”

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  3. Well, Happy Goof Off Day to you too! What a wonderful day to celebrate. I’ve never heard of a dribble poem. But, now I’m anxious to try one. I don’t mind you goofing off…I need to remind myself to play sometimes, too! This week, I came across a poem by Gary Snyder and a painting from the Library of Congress that seemed to go together so well that I had to share it.

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  4. Well thank you for introducing me to a dribble poem, Mistress of Goof Offing! Love it! Alas, my post today is not very silly, but I did include a link to a goofy poem I think you’ll like at the very end of the post. Thanks for hosting today, Rebecca. 🙂

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    1. Ooo! I like that title–Mistress of Goof Offing! Thanks for sharing your goofy hair-cutting poem and congrats on the haiku!!

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  5. Hi Becky! Loved learning about dribbles and reading yours. Hooray for play! My post for Poetry Friday wasn’t about goofing off, but my Art Thursday post was pretty playful. Thanks for hosting!

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    1. Thanks, Tabatha! I loved the tomato poem that you shared and enjoyed the flashmob art from your Art Thursday post!

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  6. Happy Goof Off Day! I love that this is a thing. I actually am even tempted to take the day off! My post is not in line with this theme, but I really enjoyed reading your dribble poem, think the name of it is a complete crack up, and thank you for hosting. Happy goofing! May we all laugh and play more, every single day…xxxx

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  7. Happy Goof Offing Day! And thanks for hosting – which might preclude you from doing as much Goof Offing as you’d like. A fun post, and an incredibly revealing video…nice to know that playtime and recreation are as valuable as necessity!

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  8. Thanks for hosting! I didn’t really goof off this week, but I’m looking forward to reading other people’s goofing off, and I shared some song lyrics. Happy Poetry Friday! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com

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  10. Like others, the dribble poem is wonderful, Rebecca. Thanks for that, plus hosting this wonderful day, & telling us about it! I loved the video, have read about some of those innovations because of a book about Ada Byron Lovelace who worked with Charles Babbage on his machine. It seems that her work took the programming even further! I do love connections, & the video showed that even in play, some things bounce to another thing! Great post!

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    1. Yes! I read a picture book about Ada Lovelace awhile back. As I was watching the video, I grumbled a bit when they didn’t mention her when talking about Babbage! Thanks for stopping by!

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  12. Play is essential, Rebecca. I see that you are having some fun with the concept of play as it relates to Happy Goof Off Day. Thanks for hosting and sharing a new poetic format, the dribble poem. My blog post for Poetry Friday is the last stop on Laura Purdie Salas’ Blog Tour for “In the Middle of the Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House”. I am also offering a giveaway of the book for those who wish to comment.

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  14. Thanks for hosting, Rebecca. I love your dribble poem and thinking about play as goofing off. I’m rediscovering the joy of play as a grandma. And today, I celebrated my new favorite book of poetry by playing with the words of others to create “How to Find a Poem.”

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed the found poem you shared. I’ve never thought of pulling lines from multiple poems in a collection like that!

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    2. Just added the winner of Seeing the Blue Between to my post (which I promised to a lucky commenter back in February.) Check the post for a pic of grandson Jack choosing the winner for me.

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  15. Happy Goof Off Day! 🙂 I’m in total agreement about the power and necessity of play. And you’ve inspired me to try a dribble poem with my daughter’s writing group!

    I’m not quite on point with your theme today, but I do have a piece about some hard-won happiness. 🙂 Thanks for hosting!

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  16. REbecca, that is an awesome TED talk, thanks for sharing. And i love your poem! And all the info about play! Thank you. I don’t know how do i leave my link below. And a link to what i’m supposed to leave. But i enjoyed what you shared.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! If you have a link for your blog, you can copy and paste it here in the comments and I can get it added to the group of links, if you’re having trouble.

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  17. Rebecca, thanks for the reminder to take some time to play. This was easier for me when my kids were little because I just played with them, but now that they are in high school, play time has been replaced by homework and sports. I think we’ll all take a play break this weekend!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Michelle. It does seem harder the older my kids get. My daughter is entering the stage of “I’m too cool to be silly with mom.” But I goof off anyway and she’s usually trying to stifle a smile.

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  19. What a unique and fun Poetry Friday challenge! National Goof Off Day..who knew? Dribble poems are a new idea too. I’ve been with my daughter’s high school choir for their spring tour, so I’ve definitely seen my share of goofing off for sure these last couple of days.

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  20. I love learning about new holidays–especially important ones like this one! I agree that play is important for all of us throughout our lives. And I plan on goofing off tomorrow–and maybe continuing the celebration after that, too!
    Thanks for hosting, too.

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  22. Thank you for hosting today, Rebecca, and for reminding us that goofing off is a good thing. A dribble is new to me. I love the playfulness of your poem! I have a busy weekend ahead, but I’ll keep your wise words in mind and try to find some time to goof off!

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  23. Okay. That TED talk is brilliant. “You’ll find the future wherever people are having the most fun.” Wow.

    And then I saw who it was who was speaking — Steven Johnson, author of HOW WE GOT TO NOW. If you like how he traces back and ties together innovations, you should read his book! I even got the kid version and am reading it one innovation at a time to my class!

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    1. Yes! The TED talk was great! i hadn’t ever heard of Steven Johnson before this, so I will definitely have to check out his book! Thanks.

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  25. Rebecca, I totally forgot to link up my post so I just placed it on the board now. I have been pre-occupied with the Long Island literacy conference (I am on the conference committee) and preparing for a trip to see my grandbaby. We are on the way to Virginia now. Have a great weekend.

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