Skip to main content

Poetry Friday: Story Cubes Poem "X Marks the Spot"

Two weeks into 2024, and I can say I've been sick for more than half of the year ... I hope your year is off to a healthier start!

My 2023 was filled with lots of teaching and many writing deadlines, all of which left me no time for blogging about poetry and the writing life. But the good news is ... I have good news about some of those writing projects that I should be able to share here in the months to come.

As I come out of blogging hibernation, I was wondering how I wanted to approach my Poetry Friday posts this year. I love prompts, including Taylor Mali's metaphor dice, and I was wondering how I could find some similar inspiration that was more kid-focused. That's when I remembered my Story Cubes!

dice with pictures on them, such as apple, arrow, magnet, map

 These dice with images can be used to play games, or to roll up some inspiration on demand, and I've decided to use them as prompts for my Poetry Friday poems this year.

So, without further ado, here is the first of my Story Cube poems, inspired by these dice:

three dice with pictures on them of a map, a person digging and a fish

X Marks the Spot

X marks the spot where I’m ready to dig,

But I’m not looking for treasure.

My shovel is sturdy, the hole’s getting big —

Now it’s time to measure!

Next comes the water — this is really quite fun!

Now I just need a fish and my new pond is done!


How about you? What poem would you write with these dice as inspiration? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! 

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted by Robyn over at Life on The Deckle Edge. Hop on over for more poetic inspiration!

Comments

  1. Clever! I like the air of mystery and fun surprise :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fun, Elizabeth! Sending wpeedy super return to top health vibes, this very weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for reminding me of story cubes. There is somethings so satisfying about those little images on every side of a die. I love what you did with yours. The pond is treasure--especially with that fish that is sure to inhabit it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fun way to use Story Cubes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elisabeth, congratulations on your upcoming good news! I am impressed that you were able to weave together map, dig, fish into that clever poem. The dice seem like a great story starter!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your idea, and the inspiring way you wrote with a surprise at the end, Elisabeth! I hope this brings you to better health through writing! I think I might use the fish as fertilizer, planting something in that hole, something to wish for!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Elisabeth, it's good to have you back in this space! I'm excited to hear more about the projects you've been working on.

    Here's what I did with this week's story cubes:

    Mapping our treasures
    digging through disappointment
    fishing for wishes

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I need to dig my Story cubes out for kids to use them ASAP! Welcome back from hiatus!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooh! Story Dice! I love my metaphor dice. I can see how these make additional fun poetry prompts. Very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh these story cubes look like a fun source of inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've never seen story cubes and I love the poem you created! Clever how you got from X to a fish in the pond.

    ReplyDelete
  12. HEY! I used to have some Story Cubes...now where could they be? Endless fun prompts will be generated, and clearly you know what to do with them, Elisabeth. I'm glad you're feeling better.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Clever word game! I'll play with your story/poem cubes, Denise!
    my poem:
    I'll tell you my garden secret/
    [tiny fingerling fish]/
    Now you tell me what secret/
    your map hides!
    jga 1.21.24

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, what fun! Thanks for sharing, and congrats in advance on good news from the hard work you've put in. That's the way to find the treasure. ;0)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments! Comment moderation is active. Your comments will be posted after they have been reviewed. Thank you for your patience!

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Friday: Story Cubes Poems "Plot Problems"

 Welcome to Poetry Friday! Our host this week is Mary Lee. She's shared a wonderful poem of her own, one by Sandra Cisneros, a video and more in her post. You can find all that poetic goodness and links to the other participating poets over here on her blog. My Story Cubes poetry prompt this week had me a little stumped at first. In addition to trying to write fast, I'm also challenging myself to keep the order of the dice in my poem. So if the cauldron comes first, I'm trying to make it first thing I mention. Either I like multi-dimensional chess, or I like making things challenging for myself. Or maybe both! Here are this week's prompts: And here is my poem. Plot Problems First I drew a cauldron Bubbling full of poisoned brew. Then I drew a hungry hero Now I don’t know what to do. hmmm . . . .  I know how to fix this! Draw one big foot, then two. Run fast, my big foot hero! Go find some barbecue. © 2025, Elisabeth Norton, all rights reserved What about you? Have you ...

Poetry Friday: Welcome to the Party!

There is so much happening in our world right now, it can be hard to take it all in. In these times, more than ever, I am grateful for poetry.  Sometimes I write it.  Sometimes I have no words of my own, so I read and reflect on the poetic words of others.  Either way, poetry helps me process my thoughts and feelings about the world and my experiences in it. My poetic offering today is a poem I wrote earlier this spring, on a rare day when my husband had to go to the office for an in-person meeting and I took our usual lunchtime walk alone.  I am a creature of habit, but on that day I challenged myself to break routine and change direction, and this poem was the result. Today I go against the grain, turn left  Instead of right, Let the path take me away from home Instead of towards it. Today I go against the grain, go up the slope I usually walk down. Climbing uses different muscles Than descent. Today I go with the grain, walk downstream Instead of up, Walk wit...

Poetry Friday: The Party is Here!

 Welcome everyone to Poetry Friday! If you're new to Poetry Friday, you can read more about it here . I've been chasing deadlines all week, but poetry always provides a welcome pause in the busiest of schedules. Perhaps because of the kind of writing I've been doing (which is not related to poetry at all) it was a bit hard to get started on a poem this week. I looked at a few of the poetic forms I've bookmarked over the past months, but in the end, turned to one of my favorite forms, the acrostic .  Thanks for joining the Poetry Friday party today! Add your link to the party below. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter