The following poem was made from pieces of the eight poems in my last post. See below for the prompt that led to those eight poems and why the poem below exists. I hope you try the prompt! I would love to read what you come up with. Post it in the comments or post a link to your blog. Happy writing!
~~~~~
Too Many Things (volume 1)
when songs were caught in my throat
it gives itself
sleep comes with difficulty
The Not Enough
not just surviving and existing
in the way
the time when I was a child
I didn't have enough heart
I had to tone down my brightness
the new job
of invisibility
into the universe
a heart breaks
I think
Too Many Things
the only way
Be quiet
from the inside.
flashing and sparking
I must tell my story somehow
Supple waves
love wasn't enough
like a jagged knife
When I worked
When I Close My Eyes
too many SHOES
I am blessed
of the ground.
so many things
it reminds me
Never Budge
the need to purge
the first scary thing
when the music didn't lift my feet
women ruined
don't tell me
the fridge was empty
home alone
to be very content
the idea
to be alone with just my body
the latch and the key
The First Fear
stray bullets
of infinity.
I am doing something
felt the need
take all the THINGS
too much FURNITURE
The blue sky hides
bad sex...
general things
to bake everyone
to the faerie guides
of Mother Milky Way
too many PANTS
more examples
against the edge
something that overwhelms
the things that overwhelm
darkness on the path
crosses the great divide
from the heart chakra
strictly for my own enjoyment.
when I was alone
learn to be ALIVE
of living things
move them out
there is death
to outshine others was to breed animosity
downy points of light
with joy
too many BOOKS to carry
children taken
mayo and hot dog buns
to drag things out further
money issues
stories my friends told
is bordering
strong
but I did
did not need supervision
my spirit
threaten
when the poems wouldn't come
I feel so unmoving
in my life
of Love
showing through the weave
an inky blanket
as a child or an adult
It covers itself
with so much
I will not
trapped in silence
curb my enthusiasm
the lack of their presence
too much
into the nostrils
the things that burden
the Arizona desert
she doesn't want to be alone
Scary things
the sun shines
foreign to me.
green light
I had to leave
calm down
in the regular corporate sector
don't say
school
I REFUSE to tone myself down
filled
misery loves company
life was safe
of the threads
gives me trouble
emanating upward
honey sandwich
the concept
it was only supposed to be a fling
fills my lids
The scariest times
Change for Them
the unrequited love
in the arm of the star loops
~~~~~
From Rachel's blog:
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009 WRITING EXERCISE # 20
[Click the link above for Rachel's personal update for that year's end.]
Ingredients:
1. Something very hot
2. The first object you see when you close your eyes and think of him/her
3. The not enough, list them and be specific
4. The too many things, list them and be specific
5. The first thing that ever scared you. Make it up.
6. What did you change to accommodate _____ ?
7. What inside you will never budge.
8. Where does the blue sky go at night?
- - -
Now, take all of the answers you've written, and move them around. They don't have to make sense. The morning skillet. Somewhere, at the end of the woods. This bone of survival. Love and vitamins and secrets. . .
List them. Then, decide for this group the title. It will be what makes this poem come together. Make sure the title is a little too long. Like, "The other things you took from me the night you came back to the apartment to get the last of your belongings out of the medicine cabinet."
Add lines. Move them. DO NOT TITLE and then arrange. Arrange. Title. Re-arrange. Re-write. Remember what never happened. Write whatever the hell you want. This is yours. No one else could have written it but you. This last exercise was inspired by whomever and whatever and wherever you choose.
~~~~~
Personal note on the process...
INGREDIENTS:
1. Something very hot
AZ desert
2. The first object you see when you close your eyes and think of him/her
green light from the heart chakra
3. The not enough, list them and be specific
This one geve me trouble. Not enough? Not enough of what? I am blessed to be very content with so much in my life that the concept of "not enough" is bordering on foreign to me so I really had to work on it and think of general things:
- the time when I was a child home alone and the frige was empty but for mayo and hot dog buns so I had a mayo and honey sandwich (not sure why I added honey)
- those times when love wasn't enough and I had to leave... one because of money issues and bad sex... one because it was only supposed to be a fling and I didn't have enough heart to drag things out further... others I'm sure but those two are the ones that stick in my mind
- seems like there should be more examples... times when the poems wouldn't come... when the music didn't lift my feet... when songs were caught in my throat trapped in silence
4. The too many things, list them and be specific
Another one that was hard at first... what does this mean "the too many things"? The connotation seems negative so it implies something that overwhelms like "too much" instead of "too many"... this is what my attempt came up with:
- too many THINGS... my spirit felt the need to take all the THINGS and move them out into the universe as though to be alone with just my body was the only way to really learn to be ALIVE and not just surviving and existing... to many SHOES... too many PANTS... too much FURNITURE... too many BOOKS to carry... the need to purge was strong
- the thing that overwhelms... like the unrequited love... the new job... school
5. The first thing that ever scared you. Make it up.
Yet another thing that my mind was like "What?"... Make it up? Scary things? The first scary thing? I'd rather tell my story somehow. Even then "scared" is such an odd word for me. The scariest times were when I was alone (as a child or an adult). Making it up proved to be hard for me.
6. What did you change to accommodate _____ ?
This whole prompt is filled with things I find hard. I know that I have at some point in my life changed to accomodate someone/something. The only thing that really came to mind was how when I worked in the regular corporate sector, I always felt like I had to tone down my brightness because to outshine others was to breed animosity.
7. What inside you will never budge.
This should have been easy but then again, no. I feel so unmoving about so many things. Related to the accomodation above, I REFUSE to tone myself down when I am doing something strictly for my own enjoyment. It used to really irritate me when someone told me to calm down or be quiet at a poetry reading when I was enthusiastically reacting to the person on the stage.
8. Where does the blue sky go at night?
This is a poem all by itself...
The blue sky hides in the arm of the star loops of Mother Milky Way... It gives itself to the faerie guides and crosses the great divide of infinity... It covers itself in an inky blanket of invisibility filled with downy points of light showing through the weave of the threads...
INSTRUCTIONS:
After all of the above I was to take it and move it all around. I didn't write a real list so it was a little different than I would have imagined. Instead of doing strictly what the instructions called for, I wrote a poem for each section first and that first series looked like a numbered list poem. For the record, I don't like the idea of the numbered list poem even though so many poets have performed really good ones over the years that I have thoroughly enjoyed and I have written and performed one or two as well. But, my latest incarnation of this format was inadvertently born. I decided that this was really eight short poems instead (see prior post).
TEARING IT ALL DOWN AND STARTING OVER...
In an attempt to be more in the spirit of the prompt, I dissected all of the above into small pieces forming a list of words and phrases The resulting list felt like a nearly intentional list poem so I am keeping it as part of this month's collection (#22 for the month, see below).
I then took the list and put it into an online list randomizer (https://www.random.org/lists/). I didn't like the way the shortened phrases looked shuffled so I redid the list as longer phrases and did the randomization again. The end result is an experiment but I think it turned out interesting.
~~~
Nearly Intentional List Poem
The Arizona Desert
death
the sun shines
a jagged knife
the edge of the ground
Supple waves
the nostrils of living things
My Eyes
Flashing
sparking
Love.
Not Enough
trouble.
blessed
content
so much
my life
concept
bordering
foreign
think
general things
The time
when I was a child
home alone
the frige
empty
mayo and hot dog buns
honey
sandwich
Those times
when love wasn't enough
I had to leave
money issues
bad sex
a fling
have enough heart
drag things out
the poems
the music
lift
my feet
songs
caught
my throat
trapped
silence
Too Many Things
overwhelms
"too much"
my spirit
felt
need
move
the universe
be alone
my body
ALIVE
surviving
existing
SHOES
PANTS
FURNITURE
BOOKS
carry
purge
strong
unrequited
new job
school
burden
Fear
Scary
story
times
alone
a child
an adult
latch
key
lack
their presence
the idea
life
safe
supervision
The darkness
the path
the stories
my friends
children
taken
women
ruined
stray
bullets
A heart breaks
sleep comes with difficulty
misery loves company
she doesn't want to be alone
Change
worked
regular
corporate
sector
tone down
brightness
outshine
others
breed
animosity
Never
Budge
unmoving
REFUSE
myself
down
doing something
strictly
enjoyment
Calm down
Be quiet
curb
enthusiasm
blue sky
night
hides
arm
star loops
Milky Way
faerie guides
crosses
great divide
infinity.
inky
blanket
invisibility
downy
points of light
showing
weave
threads
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