What is a definito, you ask? Created by our brilliant Poetry Friday host, Heidi Mordhorst, a definito is
“…a free verse poem of 8-12 lines (aimed at readers 8-12 years old) that highlights wordplay as it demonstrates the meaning of a less common word, which always ends the poem.”
Heidi is a member of my fabulous critique group, The Sunday Poetry Swaggers, and she challenged us to join her this week in writing definitos. This was definitely a challenge for me! I had no trouble coming up with word possibilities, but once I’d settled on haste, well, let’s just say this poem was NOT written in haste!
HASTE
Scurry, hurry
Rush, rush, rush
All the world’s a blur.
Hustle, bustle,
Race, race, race
Leave them in the dust.
Dash, dash, dash
At tip-top pace,
Not a minute to waste:
haste
© Catherine Flynn, 2019
I wanted to play with the word placement to emphasize a sense of haste, but I was having trouble formatting in WordPress, so I created this on Canva:
Thank you to my fellow swaggers for all your help in getting this draft to where it is. Be sure to visit them for more definitos.
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche
Other Poetry Friday friends have written definitos today, too. Visit Mary Lee Hahn @ A Year of Reading and Laura Purdie Salas @ Writing the World for Children to read more. After reading all these definitos, you’ll want to write a few yourself!
Reading to the Core 
Wonderful word choices, Catherine. They hasten us through the poem – in something of a flutter.
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YES! I love it that some have wanted to illustrate with fonts, sizes, backgrounds! I also realized that you’ve helped to define the word “haste” used in my other definito “gusto”–that definito tag game we talked about. Thanks for joining me in my brainstorms–I appreciate you and our group so much!
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I love what you did with the presentation here, Catherine! The background and word placement really add to the meaning, and the pacing is great in this definito!
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Your Canva creation shows your poem off beautifully, Catherine. I love the repetition, makes me hurry through & I imagine that’s what you want for this word.
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I love the word play–especially in the version you created on Canva that uses spacing so well to move the poem. I’m looking forward to reading more definitos and trying to write my own. It looks like a fun challenge.
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Such fun! We always did a WOW (word of the week) in my classroom. It would be so fun to have students write definitos. And perhaps have a lovely celebration with Fritos!
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This poem is so great to read aloud. it moves quickly with the repeated words. Love the image you selected for it.
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I love this, especially in the image form!
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Simply dashing Catherine, and I love the cool, swirling colors and word arrangement in the Canva!
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Catherine, while I hastily posted my PF piece just now before the clock struck twelve (I have been at a state ed conference and celebrating my anniversary with a side trip to Saratoga), you defined exactly what I felt. Great job. Your background image was just the right touch.
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This is awesome, Catherine! I like the repetition and the sporadic rhyme, so that it doesn’t feel measured.
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Your efforts to define haste, were not in waste, Catherine! 😉 I definitely get the urgency in your standard formatting, but I think the nuances of “haste” (as opposed to, say, rushed) comes across even more in your canva presentation. This is definitely a form I need to try!
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