I'd Read Your Grocery List

Challenge? Get Your Challenge!

By Mackenzie DavisPublished 2 years ago • Updated 2 years ago • 4 min read

A couple months ago, a friend told me he'd read my grocery list at this point. And then he decided to turn that statement into a challenge. (I may have suggested it indirectly, but, I ask you, who remembers these things?)

Anyway, it's his fault.

So, I wrote a grocery list poem. You can find the link to my result at the end of this article.

I hear you asking, "Who is this friend of whom you speak? May we know his name?" And since you have asked so kindly, I shall tell you: the idea was Mesh's and if you do not know him, please go to his profile this instant and bask the genius that is his poetry. Do it right now.

Okay. Back to the challenge.

The Rules and Little Tricks

The challenge is, simply, to write a grocery list but make it poetic in some way. You could rhyme the words on the list, or group them by mood, meal, or occasion. The point is to tell a story, however small or vague.

The rule? No context, just dates and time and lists.

The thing I struggled the most with was readability and counteracting boredom. In the end, I just decided to ignore those concerns, and write something that made sense to me.

I did take a few liberties on "no context," though. Strikethrough text was a trick that made me gasp with delight when I thought of it. Dates and time stamps allowed for some freedom in implied context.

Other ways to "cheat" could be in the number of lists, which might be significant, or the amount of time between lists, even the time of day. This last one is interesting because the time could refer to when it was written or when the writer went to the store. Late night grocery shopping could say a lot about someone's mental state, for example. Emojis came in handy too, but I didn't use a lot of them. Perhaps you want to use a whole bunch to show mood changes or demonstrate doodling.

The Purpose of the Challenge

I view this challenge as a fun, yet sneaky, way to practice showing without telling. Its restrictive style requires that you must be intentional with what you can use in order to tell a story in a non-traditional way.

And yes, I know, poems aren't exactly stories. But let me tell you something I learned at school: A successful story doesn't need a beginning, middle, and end. It should, however, end in a different place than it started.

Now, this place could be emotional or spiritual, physical, or mental. The point is that something or someone changed over the course of the story. And the same is true for poetry (to an extent). Perhaps the speaker changes their mind on something, feels differently than they did initially, adds context to the opening premise, etc. I think the difference between how prose would do this versus poetry simply comes down to what else is in the piece. Are we left thinking more about what happened or more about how we're feeling?

So, I propose that a limited form like a grocery list is a perfect playground to practice poetic storytelling, which will translate into other poetic forms, and prose, too.

Logistics

Now, this is an unofficial challenge, so I really shouldn't put a deadline on it. At the same time, I know that we Vocalists tend to read and forget. So, I'll put a deadline on it just to put some kind of fire under you.

The deadline is Saturday November 18, 2023.

Mark it on your calendar!

The "results" (November 19) will simply be a showcase of my favorites, plus the submission with the most reads and one I feel is an under-appreciated gem. It could be a total of 3 that I spotlight; it could be 10. Just depends.

This means that the challenge is open to everyone who finds it! My one stipulation to that statement is that I will not consider entries that spam the comments nor that plagiarize anybody anywhere from any time (yes, this includes any kind of AI influence).

I thought about offering a tip for the piece or pieces that absolutely blow(s) my mind. But I'd rather get your input first.

What are your thoughts on cash prizes for unofficial challenges?
Does a reward make you feel worse if you lose than if there hadn't been one at all?
Do you find that writing for a prize creates needless competition and takes away from the fun?

Let me know!

I'll leave you with this: Please don't submit more than 2 poems to this challenge. It will make judging much harder, especially if I'm already a fan of your writing and you send me like 5. How fair would that be to my fangirl brain? 2 is the limit to my generosity, for the sake of my sanity!

PS: I will not be considering my own or Mesh's poem for spotlight in the results. That seems unfair since we did this on our own time and I decided to set a deadline for the rest of you.

Let the games begin!

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My poem:

Challenge

About the Creator

Mackenzie Davis

“When you are describing a shape, or sound, or tint, don’t state the matter plainly, but put it in a hint. And learn to look at all things with a sort of mental squint.” Lewis Carroll

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