Monday, November 28, 2005
Poems Written to Order
I'm looking to stretch myself a little bit, and one way I'm doing that is by getting poem requests from other people. Give me a subject, or a theme, or a style, or a word, or a line, or a metaphor, or a literary device, or some of the above, or whatever--I'll write a poem to your specifications. I can't promise when it'll be done, and I can't promise that you'll like it, but I will post it here or send it to you. Feel free to post your orders in the comment box.
Comments:
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1. Write a poem using the phrase "before daybreak" at the beginning of the third line.
Then start over, and write a new poem, using the phrase "before daybreak" at the beginning of the third line from the end of the poem.
2. Write a poem that ends suddenly. Use either the word "cathode" or the word "chrysalis" somewhere in the poem.
3. Write a poem that contradicts itself -- that ocntradicts what it's saying, or appears to be saying -- at least twice within the poem. Use no commas, semi-colons, or question marks in the poem.
Then start over, and write a new poem, using the phrase "before daybreak" at the beginning of the third line from the end of the poem.
2. Write a poem that ends suddenly. Use either the word "cathode" or the word "chrysalis" somewhere in the poem.
3. Write a poem that contradicts itself -- that ocntradicts what it's saying, or appears to be saying -- at least twice within the poem. Use no commas, semi-colons, or question marks in the poem.
I like, I like. Have you used these/seen them before, or did you just come up with them on the spur of the moment?
Hey, Steve:
I've started a public open-draft notebook. Will you join me and post one of your own? I'd love to see poets, if for only a brief period of time, open up their drafting process so that we can get unprecedented access to the way a poet thinks and revises (details and link on my blog).
I've started a public open-draft notebook. Will you join me and post one of your own? I'd love to see poets, if for only a brief period of time, open up their drafting process so that we can get unprecedented access to the way a poet thinks and revises (details and link on my blog).
Steven, to answer your question -- a little of each. The first one (writing two poems, using the same phrase but in different places in the poem) is one I tried together with a poet friend a couple of years ago. I've found it can be a good exercise for getting a deeper feel for structure in a poem. How the center of gravity can shift.
The idea of writing a poem that ends suddenly was given as an exercise in a poetry writing class I was in during my senior year in high school in Minneapolis, 1971-72. The extra requirement, using a specific word, is my own addition.
The third one, a poem that contradicts itself, the limits on punctuation, etc., is one I came up with off the top of my head.
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The idea of writing a poem that ends suddenly was given as an exercise in a poetry writing class I was in during my senior year in high school in Minneapolis, 1971-72. The extra requirement, using a specific word, is my own addition.
The third one, a poem that contradicts itself, the limits on punctuation, etc., is one I came up with off the top of my head.
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