The quest to do prompt poems continues. After nearly 2 years hiatus from writing new poetry regularly is showing in my mind as I make these attempts.
I would love to see what you make from the prompt. Post it in the comments or post a link to your blog. Happy writing! :-)
~~~
Lionfish Made of Stars, Waves, and Wishes
Constellated into the form of something human,
these shining flashes of millenniums and light-speed
illuminate transcontinental currents.
This collection of thoughts and images
needs no currency
only the current seeing of familiar faces
which in the end is all I have to give.
I placed the shard of emerald heart stone
in its chest in vain hope
that it would remember love.
Without meaning to,
I took a cloud from the sunny part of its night sky
as a reflection of my own floating sadness
and possibilities of growth.
As sculpted,
it hovered between sky and earth,
between day and night.
It felt the shadow of a former being,
of a life lived once.
Memories gathered at the border of
its light and darkness
just out of its grasp
which made me wonder
if it had any idea what it formed.
Does it remember it was a prophet?
How does it feel in its current form?
Can it swim in crystal seas like before?
Does it know its real name?
In the presence of this Lionfish
there were more questions than answers.
~~~
From Rachel McKibbens' blog:
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009 WRITING EXERCISE # 10
List
1. A person (real or imagined) that you have not seen/heard from in a long time
2. the first object(s) that comes to mind when you think of that person (it could be the Zippo they always carried, a specific brand of shaving cream they always smelled like, a tube of red lipstick and an emptied shotglass...)
Write a poem or story about how this person(#1) has now been replaced, in your universe, by a sculpture of objects (#2)
It is up to you to decide the shape of the sculpture. It is up to you to decide if that sculpture walks, sleeps, eats, moans, goes grocery shopping...
If it can speak, would you finish a long-lost conversation with it?
What would you offer it? What would you add to it, if anything? What would you take from it? Where does it live? If it works, what does it do for a living? Does it know who it is the ghost of? Does it know its real name?
_____________________
Of blood and doormats
Her voice cracks from her mouth like a lobster. The organ hisses its good-bye song. A hive of blood and doormats, she tippy-toes down the aisle in a dress made of broken water and shotgun shells. Two mothers weep in the front row, noses pressed deep into their corsages. The limo driver polishes the rearview mirror as the groom's twisted arm squeals I do. I do.
- - -
(This exercise was inspired by Khara Koffel's exhibit and, specifically, "The Delicacy of Meetinghouse Road.") <-- a="" an="" but="" find="" href="http://www.kharakoffel.com/the-eventual.html" i="" image="" of="" particular="" piece="" target="_blank" this="" to="" unable="" was="">"in case of the eventual"
on the artist's website intrigued because of what it is.)
~~~
Personal note on the process...
First the "ingredients"
List
1. A person (real or imagined) that you have not seen/heard from in a long time
Lionfish
2. the first object(s) that comes to mind when you think of that person (it could be the Zippo they always carried, a specific brand of shaving cream they always smelled like, a tube of red lipstick and an emptied shotglass...)
The sky/universe/stars/clouds
Water/oceans
The list of people I have not seen/heard from in a long time numbers in the HUNDREDS. I am lightly linked to over a thousand people via social media but my actual interaction with people is quite limited. Today a heart I haven't felt beat in quite a while commented on one of my posts so I decided to use that person for #1. The problem with using Lionfish as the person for this is that the first thing I think of is the sky and that seemed too abstract or surreal but... used it anyway.
Then I read the actual instructions...
Replace Lionfish with a sculpture of the object(s) in #2... A sculpture of stars? I think I like the image, but how to poem this? So I looked at Rachel's inspirational artist for this prompt. The sculpture that intrigued me was a series of trophy cases on the wall with letters the artist wrote to her friends to be given to them after she dies.
I read Rachel's example and these can make or break me depending on the prompt and the day. She is such a powerful writer that her examples are a hard act to follow mentally. Then came the marination on the idea... had to take a chai break to process the possibilities.
ARGH... the chai break only gave me the first line... so I looked at the questions:
If it can speak, would you finish a long-lost conversation with it?
What would you offer it?
What would you add to it, if anything?
What would you take from it?
Where does it live?
If it works, what does it do for a living?
Does it know who it is the ghost of?
Does it know its real name?
The questions are almost a found poem in and of themselves. For lack of any better ideas, I took the questions and answered them to make the lines of the poem (all but the first one). I made each answer into a stanza. And thus, a poem was born. I have a different style than Rachel for sure. She cracks words together like volatile thunderclaps too close to the lightening. I am more of a whisper into the distant cosmos. It is what it is.
~~~
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