In the past I’ve attempted poetry with varying results, some of it cringe-worthy. Still, I find the activity enjoyable. And while time, school, and everything else don’t always permit me to write as much as I’d like-- “Life is serious; art is gay,” someone said that---I’ve been on break and found, I think, an effective poetry method that is easily conveyable.
The idea began in a lit theory class. My professor had us take 3 paragraphs from 3 books, and mash the words together, using whatever verbs, nouns, etc, seemed fitting. It is the same thing someone like Burroughs did well. Although curious incoherence is at best the result. I like something reconcilable, something that can be synthesized. So, using myself as the narrative voice (a confessional voice) I separately wrote 3 vivid experiences: two good, one bad. Then, I combined them, reaching for a conclusion. Here is the result.
The woods, a girl, a parade.
The pine trees wore the sunset like a crimson gown.
Moss swam over their brittle limbs. She tunneled
Into the fort I built to keep away the shadows
And sapped my breath on the bridge where my dreams
Began. Children chased crawdads there. They skipped
Through their mothers’ memories with dirty knees.
I shivered through the revelry. Fire trucks drove
Into the past, and she stepped into the present,
Her eyes alight. Even the night could not subdue them.
Bark beetles withered when she gripped me, close,
Smelling like lemon and wild roses. The walls around
Us collapsed, and the world became a great mystery.
I think it works because the bad experience works as a sort of tension. The nouns and verbs play off each other like musical notes staying with the parameters of the established scale. Of course, it’s never perfect. This is my first go. But I challenge others to try the same if you’d like. Validate me.
*Again, you write 3 paragraphs of 3 experiences. Two good, one bad. This will be your raw material.
*Try to keep the number of people to yourself and one other. Or, perhaps write from a 3rd person perspective. That might work too.
*Avoid “to be” verbs, and use evocative nouns.
*Limit the setting so there aren’t sudden shifts.
*Incorporate all the senses.
When finished, throw you verbs and nouns across the page, pick out the best ones, join them with prepositions, and arrange them in an appropriate line length, or just make a prose poem, and fill in the logical gaps. In no time you’ll be better than every other schmuk.
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