Making Metaphors with a Roll of the Dice

In a recent interview Ted Kooser (U. S. Poet laureate: 2004-2006, Pulitzer Prize winner) said “I often start with a metaphor and build the poem out with that association.” So, not until he’s found the right metaphor does he begin.

This makes sense to me, for I would hazard to say that all good poetry is metaphor—poems mean something more than what the words denote. The ability of poetry to stretch itself beyond the page and into our lives with metaphor is one of the great feats of art. Having said this, what fun it was to discover a game-like way of making metaphors: Metaphor Dice.  Created by Taylor Mali, the dice came out in 2018. I apologize if I’m a bit slow on the uptake, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t heard of them until recently. (BTW: I am in no way affiliated with Taylor Mali nor the production/ selling of Metaphor Dice. I’m just a thrilled user who wants to share them with you.)

The dice

So, I bought a box of the starter set  ($20) and thought I’d try them out. The set consists of 12 dice: 4 red, 4 white, and 4 blue.  The red dice are concepts like love, envy, memory, or personages that impact our lives in a big way such as a mother/a father, etc. The white dice are adjectives like craven, flawed, bootleg, etc.  The blue dice are nouns like mirror, dance, songbird, blessing, etc.

The set came with instructions—not translated from another language!—but written, very poetically and clearly. (One of the few sets of instructions I’ve ever lingered over, savored.) I think they were written by Mali himself. Included were a couple of poems and instructions for a few variations on how to use the dice.

What you get when you roll

Basically, you roll 3 dice—one of each color—and you get a metaphor.  Some are better than others. All are interesting. For example, here are a couple of my rolls:

—(red) your mother    — (white) flawed        — (blue) paycheck

—(red) guilt                — (white) broken       — (blue) drum

—(red) passion           — (white) bright         — (blue) frailty

I can certainly use one, or more, of those to write a poem. “My mother is a flawed paycheck/her love dispensed if I do my job/of being a good daughter …”  Or if not written directly as a line, the words can be used to weave a metaphorical theme through a poem. “The heart’s drum speaks in a broken language/there were lies, guilt .…” Or the metaphor can be reversed, “Frailty is a bright passion .…”   There is flexibility with the dice. Use more than one throw in a poem, or several in a list poem. Or throw a couple of times, then mix and match the dice as you see fit.

A second set & a book

In fact, I liked them so much I bought the 2^nd set ($10). The Metaphor Dice Erudite Expansion Set has more challenging words, which they claim may be “bigger, rarer, or a little quirkier.” It consists of 9 dice, same colors. I mixed the two sets and am having fun with them. I even went further and bought the anthology edited by Taylor Mali titled Poetry by Chance: an Anthology of Poems Powered by Metaphor Dice (published by Button Poetry). Some of the poems are quite good, even exquisite. The anthology covers all age writers as many teachers are starting to use Metaphor Dice in the classroom. Here’s a couple of lines from 10-year-old poet May Wolf. They are taken from her poem The Playground Circus. Her throw of the dice turned up:  (red) I am/ (white) broken/ (blue) sideshow.

I am a broken sideshow
to the girls in the playground
who sweep my fringe upward
and spit laughter as they measure
my forehead with their fingers …

And here’s a beautiful poem written by poet Heather Smith Meloche whose roll of the dice came up with: (red) memory/ (white) midnight/ (blue) junkyard. Her poem is reprinted in full with her permission:

How I Recall It

Memory is a midnight junkyard
chrome bits shining, tires overblown,
your heart—an engine thrumming
beneath my steady hand. There was no rust
to chafe the conversation, no dust
settled in your ears or cobwebs
in your lashes, the rats had not yet settled in
to gnaw and claw against my hope,
and that kiss between us
was as smooth as leather
and flush with love

Wow! Heather carried that metaphor all the way through and ended up with a great poem.

More ways to use them

The anthology also details various ways to use the dice as a game, in the classroom, as an ice breaker, and with writing groups. I host a Friday Folly writing group where I have to come up with prompts twice a month. We’ll use the dice and see what happens. To conclude, here’s a couple of lines from a poem I wrote using a recent throw: (red) my demise/ (white) everyday/ (blue) songbird. The poem is tentatively titled Morning with Sparrows.

… this choir of everyday songbirds tease
with a counter melody—lower notes.
For my demise has folded its common brown wings
into each day’s stretching toward nightfall
and joined them …

Resources: 

• Metaphor Dice Starter Set
• Metaphor Dice Erudite Expansion Set
• Poetry by Chance Anthology
• Heather Smith Meloche Website