Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "cento" (a poem composed completely of the lines or words of other poet's poems), and (2) write a "moving on" poem.
As much fun as the Poem-a-day challenge can be, sometimes the last few days can feel like a slog. I did have a lot going on these last couple of days, and consequently much less time to write. A cento can be a daunting project, but Maureen gave us permission, so to speak, to write a shorter one, so I took her at her word. This poem is an offshoot of my "Elbow Project": The lines alternate between actual lyrics of songs by the rock band Elbow, and lines of poems I wrote in response to some of those songs. (So I did take some liberty with the definition of "cento" in that I used some of my own previous lines.) Some of these original poems were written this month, and some before that. (I began my project in earnest in February.) After the poem are annotations to the source of each line.
Weathered Heart
Your real face is the easiest to find,
And now I know what every step is for.
Cue the flowers, cue the birds.
The violets explode inside me when I meet your eyes―
let your mystery kill me, your scar and tattoo.
I saw you try and stop the sunset on your own.
You sing a song the moon would know by heart,
and my heart, there defrosting in a gaze.
You pulled me from the snow, home with my heart in tow,
when the blizzard blossom blew,
home by breakfast, home by morning.
One day a year like this would see me right.
Original poems:
Line 1: "To Scale" (March 2022)
Line 3: "Hay(na)ku (Six Words)" (March 2022)
Line 5: "How to Die Happy" (April 13)
Line 7: "Homecoming" (April 27)
Line 9: "Road Service" (April 28)
Line 11: "Looking in the Rearview" (April 6)
Elbow Lyrics:
Line 2: "Mirrorball"
Line 4: "Starlings"
Line 6: "Kindling"
Line 8: "Magnificent, She Says"
Line 10: "This Blue World"
Line 12: "One Day Like This"
And now I know what every step is for.
Cue the flowers, cue the birds.
The violets explode inside me when I meet your eyes―
let your mystery kill me, your scar and tattoo.
I saw you try and stop the sunset on your own.
You sing a song the moon would know by heart,
and my heart, there defrosting in a gaze.
You pulled me from the snow, home with my heart in tow,
when the blizzard blossom blew,
home by breakfast, home by morning.
One day a year like this would see me right.
Original poems:
Line 1: "To Scale" (March 2022)
Line 3: "Hay(na)ku (Six Words)" (March 2022)
Line 5: "How to Die Happy" (April 13)
Line 7: "Homecoming" (April 27)
Line 9: "Road Service" (April 28)
Line 11: "Looking in the Rearview" (April 6)
Line 2: "Mirrorball"
Line 4: "Starlings"
Line 6: "Kindling"
Line 8: "Magnificent, She Says"
Line 10: "This Blue World"
Line 12: "One Day Like This"
As far as the "moving on" prompt - well, it's almost 2 a.m. on May 1, and this about all I've got left:
Next Stop...
My old train leaves the station
with a full head of steam,
a firebox hot with inspiration,
a smokestack puffing dreams.
1 comment:
Good work! Congrats. I like the cento ... pretty cool that you alternated the borrowed lines.
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