Prompt #4: Doodlebugs

Cosy Poems for Cosy Bugs

The Preamble

I don’t do things by halves, as anyone who has been to a fancy dress party with me will confirm. So when I decided to take a look at the Notes section of Substack, I dove in headfirst. The results have been been quite something and it looks as though I have planted some very promising seeds for the future.

If you have some time, and want some interesting conversations I would recommend taking a look at the Notes section of Substack. At the moment it does seem to be primarily writers talking to writers, but it’s only a matter of time before the readers descend upon it and diversify the conversations further.

I would also like to apologise for the lack of voiceover in my Weekend Update letter, I am going to correct that this week. I want to try and make sure my letters to you are as accessible as possible. Sometimes listening to them is preferable, sometimes reading them is preferable. I want you to be able to have the choice. I am also working on making sure all images have alt text to them. That is a skill in and of itself, but hopefully I’ll get it smoothed out.

If you missed the Weekend Update you’ll have seen there’s been a name change. This newsletter is officially called The Poetry Nook and will (eventually) have 3 newsletters all under the same name. There is also a fourth newsletter happening focused around Poetry and Music on Substack. You can catch up with the news here.

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The Prompt

While I was delving into Notes, I was introduced to the

A.M. Sketching

newsletter, written by

Sue Clancy

. The article entitled ‘Doodlebugs and other Figures of Speech’ immediately drew me in. (You can read the article below).

It talks about some of the paintings in Sue’s Figures of Speech exhibit which opens tomorrow at Burnt Bridge Cellars in Vancouver, Washington. I immediately fell in love with Doodlebug series, in particular the Yellow Short Line Beetle. I knew there was a poem somewhere amongst these bugs. It was like a familiar scent that stirred a memory you can only half recall.

In the end, it turned out each Doodlebug had their own poem. In fact there are probably more than one, but for today I’ve kept it to a poem each. But don’t be surprised if we revisit these bugs in the future.

As the poems are written to be viewed alongside the art that inspired them, I kept their titles the same. A huge thank you to Sue for letting me include the images so you could experience these poems fully.

Read the article that provided the prompt (The sketchbook pages included are also an absolute treat):

Doodlebugs and other Figures Of Speech

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The Poems

“Genus: Doodlebug Species: Orange Square Beetle”

Painted by Sue Clancy

Pen in hand,
He wanders back and forth,
Slowing boxing himself in
With his own squares.
Trying to find one he fits,
That encapsulates his entirety.

Labels litter my floor.
One after the other,
Tried on for size and discarded.
Enclosed on all sides,
Trying to find one that fits,
That encapsulates my entirety.

He and I are not so un-alike
The Orange Square Beetle and I.
Nothing quite fits,
Sits quite right.
We are boxed in,
By tickboxes that don't align.

“Genus: Doodlebug Species: Grey Long Line Beetle”

Painted by Sue Clancy

His grey long line
Twists
And 
snruT.
Takes sharp
	         C
	         o
	         r
	         n
	         e
	         r
	         s
And wiggles sometimes.

I sit and watch
As he translates
His mind to paper.

“Genus: Doodlebug Species: Yellow Short Line Beetle”

Painted by Sue Clancy

She adds another line
To an endless row,
The next in a column 
I no longer see the bottom of.
This counting of time
Is all too familiar,
And I wonder how long
She's been imprisoned,
In a yellow body,
With too many legs,
And too little space. 

“Genus: Doodlebug Species: Blue Spiral Beetle”

Painted by Sue Clancy

The swirls of their next design,
Shall be paraded at the next
New York Fashion Week.
It's hard to keep a steady eye,
When lost within a sea of twirls
Like dancers turning endlessly.
I wonder how much
Of their mind,
Spirals relentlessly. 

“Genus: Doodlebug Species: Green Paisley Beetle”

Painted by Sue Clancy

Gently,
Carefully she goes.
Steady hand flows across the page.
Each detailed design,
Exactly so.
No wrong notes,
No sudden slides.
Like a great conductor she guides,
Inking symphonies on paper.

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You can view more of Sue’s artwork in her newsletter

A.M. Sketching

or on her website. Her newsletter regarding her exhibit Figures of Speech, will go out tomorrow, Friday 2nd June and is well worth a read.

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I would love to hear your thoughts on both the poems and this newsletter, what you liked, didn’t like, didn’t understand. It helps me improve my writing. You can either reply to this email or leave a comment by clicking the button below.

If you were inspired to be creative by this poem or prompt, I’d also love to see what you have created, again either reply to this email or click the button above.

Thank you for sharing in this, I look forward to sharing another prompt and poem with you next week.