of flying walruses, but not politicians–unfortunately


Photo: focusingonwildlife.com

Photo: focusingonwildlife.com

think outside the box is the new battle cry
think outside the box asks walruses to fly
think outside the box is a wonderful thing
think outside the box is like shadow boxing
think outside the box is like nobody else
think outside the box is drawing from the well
think outside the box is a work of art
think outside the box will set you apart
think outside the box is the key to success
think outside the box is how to impress

Think outside the box... it's where the best i...

Think outside the box… it’s where the best ideas live. (Photo credit: ArtJonak)

Over at dVerse Form for All, Sam Peralta is asking us to write Googlisms–something I’d never heard of prior to this. I reread the rules after I’d written my poem and, yes, I cheated a bit, or took a few poetic liberties, but was happy to find a phrase that offered enough choices that rhymed …with a minor adaptation or two wherein lies the cheating.  The meter could use some tweaking, but…  Check out this fun website: http://googlism.com  

Here are the rules–have at it:

It will be List Poetry, but specifically “Googlisms”

Rules: 
1. Think of a seed phrase (for example “The bird flies”)
2. Go to http://www.googlism.com
3. Type in your phrase and press “Googlism!”
4. Note the list of phrases (googlisms) that result
5. While you may keep the entire list exactly as your list poem, you should do some editing/sculpting of the poem
a. You may use as many or as few of the phrases in your list poem,
b. You may alter the order of the phrases 
c. You may add or subtract punctuation, or change letter case to upper/lower case
d. However, do not alter the actual word sequence in any specific phrase
6. If you would like more than one stanza, think of another seed phrase for the next stanza and repeat steps 2-5 until you are happy.

Gotta love that walrus!

 

30 thoughts on “of flying walruses, but not politicians–unfortunately

  1. Very interesting. I bet people who work for UPS or Fed Ex don’t think outside the box very often! 😉

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  2. janehewey says:

    this came out wonderfully, the rhymes give it a sense of purpose. I have not written a googlism poem yet. yours has me wanting to.

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  3. simply brilliant Victoria ! The strength of imagination is consuming! Bravo ! Faithfully Debbie

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  4. That is a fun write. 🙂
    I am still thinking of the walruses flying. 🙂

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  5. Very cool, I like the idea of tinkering just a little with the generated list in order to make the end rhymes – I should have thought of this! All in all a really good example of this kind of poetry, that I’ll keep in mind whenever I talk to others about it. Love the illustration, too!

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  6. Lovely – it sums up the art of not working within the confines – and it rhymes! Well done 🙂

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  7. ‘think outside the box is like shadow boxing’ ~ my favorite! ~ good pic too.

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  8. Poet Laundry says:

    “When walruses fly” is going to take over “when pigs fly” for me…ha!

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  9. tigerbrite says:

    Wonderful Victoria and I love the rhyme lines:)

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  10. Margaret says:

    If only politicians would think outside the box!

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  11. Very nice! Great job weaving together the lines! 🙂

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  12. Truedessa says:

    Think outside the box…that is a great way to think..enjoyed your creation.

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  13. Laurie Kolp says:

    Amazing!

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  14. Grace says:

    What clever way to start & end with rhyming verses ~ Impressively fun Victoria, smiles ~

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  15. markwindham says:

    and rhyming too?!?!? teacher’s pet. 🙂

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  16. Sherry Marr says:

    I love it. And outside the box is the safest place to be these days!

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  17. nico says:

    Flying walruses–if that’s not outside the box I just don’t know. Nice selection of phrases, and using rhyme to organize your choices is a great method!

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  18. Tony Maude says:

    That’s not cheating, VIctoria; that’s thinking outside the box. Really enjoyed this – although I don’t want to be underneath when the walruses land.

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  19. margo roby says:

    Love this. Am rather fond of walruses anyway, but the phrase is a great choice.

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  20. Glenn Buttkus says:

    Victoria, this one works like gangbusters; you chose a great phrase/topic, then played with image, rhyme, and our minds; thanks.

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  21. Oh this is real poetry.. I just wondered what could be done with a little cheating…. love the walruses (never put a walrus in a box)

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  22. aprille says:

    Ahah, that the way to play the game. I bet you often win 🙂
    Nice phrase to choose.

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  23. What fun is this–and we both have flying things in our poems this week! You have walruses, I have spaghetti monsters….

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  24. Gabriella says:

    I discovered googlism through this prompt and am amazed at what it suggests. “think outside the box asks walruses to fly” is indeed very puzzling.

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  25. claudia says:

    oh i like that you made it rhyme… great flow and great message…yeah… a bit out of the box thinking is a good thing… and flying walruses..ha..would love to see one or two…smiles

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  26. What a fun read, Victoria! I like how I had no idea where this poem was going– indeed, quite outside of the proverbial box itself 🙂 ~peace, Jason

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  27. brian miller says:

    ha. not so much in the need to impress for me, but i def would not mind seeing a walrus fly…ha…we def need some out of the box thinking these days to get through….

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  28. Mary says:

    “Think outside of the box” is going to be running through my head today!! This is my favorite:

    “think outside the box is a work of art”

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  29. Good game, good game, said Bruce Forsyth (in-joke for Anglos)
    Think outside the box is underlined in blue by my computer, indicating a cliché, but you have released it from cliché bondage!

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