pen, {de:constructed}

you try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
to make yourself forget…
– Counting Crows

 


i.
-sieve.
it’s a sieve. it leaves
behind the ashes and
brings the fire. it stills;
it st(r)ains.

ii.
sword.
it’s a sword. it’s an s
word you can’t say out
loud, but can slash to
page. it can

fight.

iii.
smudge
yourself
sane.

iv.
it’s mightier.
it’s mighty her.

v.
hold a quill
(unstill)
and breathe the sky,
and you can fly.

vi.
ink.
(s)ink.
(bl)ink.
(th)ink.
(dr)ink
(in your own sweet song).

 vii.
a pen has been
at every declaration,
independence
or otherwise.

viii.
even
(the odd-ities of)
mine.

ix.
just ask that moon, who
marks my words indelible,
turns them to cold stone.
she knows things. she sings.

x.
marks the spot.
sign
(sigh)
right here on this
dotted
(knotted)
line.

xi.
all business.
all be is ’ness.
all be you, silliness.
all be you, sigh ness.

xii.
O, pen.
we who wield
have a penchant for these:
craving
chasing
{embracing}
killing
trees.

……………………….xiii.
……………………….once upon a tum
……………………….-bled time, a girl swirled her
……………………….self in indigo, and (un)wound
……………………….her way back to the
……………………………………………………sun.

 

..

.{After Wallace Stevens
KILLER prompt over at dVerse today, ala Bjorn. Come play! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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36 Responses to pen, {de:constructed}

  1. kanzensakura says:

    I totally LOVE your take on the prompt. This most definitely defines cubism in poetry. I have read about 30 definitions and treatises on cubism in poetry since Bjorn let us know the prompt for today. This poem nails it. It isn’t about shapes on a page, mishmashes of writing, adding poetic forms to the poems, it all seems t be about the immersion into the senses, the different perspectives on one subject. This is a splendid example of poetic cubism.

  2. This is absolutely a killer poem… so proud i could inspire anything like this. The way you have used the idioms to talk about the pen, the wonderful title, and the way you induced it with your own voice… absolutely fantastic.

  3. Brian says:

    Amazing poetry. Truly humbled and grateful for the chance to read this. I like how you echo recent prompts and poems through this piece.

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  5. Sanaa Rizvi says:

    Whoaaa ❤️ this completely blew my mind, De! Such incredible us of tone, image and diction! ❤️
    Outstanding work done ❤️

  6. You construct and deconstruct so cleverly, bring out meanings and associations.

  7. Misky says:

    A mesmerising collection!

  8. Wow, I love this…so many little hidden nuances hidden in there, De. This needs to be read over a few times to fully grasp the depth of your word play. Cool how you used the x, roman number to lead into that stanza.

  9. Grace says:

    I just love the word play from that gorgeous pen of yours De ~ The use of the roman number including X. marks the spot is specially clever ~

  10. thotpurge says:

    5 and 13… just too good!!! Fabulous response to the prompt!

  11. frankhubeny says:

    I liked the “mightier” and “mighty her”.

  12. Brilliant response to the prompt! LOVE every line.

  13. kim881 says:

    You really have deconstructed that pen, De! I love this poem. If it had been a pencil you could have included the eraser… no, seriously, I love the way you split that old adage ‘the pen is mightier…’ and that stanza about the moon is lunar! The last stanza is spectacular – reminds me of parts of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.

  14. Bryan Ens says:

    Wow! Some wonderful angles to this. Love how for part “x”, the “x” was not just the part number, but part of the poem itself.

  15. Brian says:

    Had to come back again and read this. I’ll be reading this many times again. It is so, so good. I really like xiii, the last stanza. It reveals to me a diary of change, connecting the moon to the sun in youth growing into an adult.

  16. Bodhirose says:

    What a fabulous collection, De! Loved the x marks the spot and really the whole poem is brilliant. Too many clever subtleties to list. I think you’re a genius!

  17. A De:electable and De:vicious pen:chant for poetry!

  18. This is wonderfully creative De. Love what you did with “ink.” You certainly have a way with words that enthrall and enchant.

  19. So many hidden ‘messages’ of a pen being mightier than the sword. Also to being a witness to important events and even one’s own writer’s block. Brilliant lines De!

    Hank

  20. rosemawrites says:

    This is one epic cubist poem, De! You surely nailed it!!!

    Love these lines a lot:
    it’s mightier.
    it’s mighty her.

  21. Fabulous work. Oh, I so admire your skill in writing this.

  22. lillian says:

    This is brilliant!!! All these applications to the word “pen”. Love it in its entirety and yes…I imagine you the writer swirling in indigo ink as you play with, hurl, delicately put down words! I especially like stanza ten (x) where X marks the spot! The stanza number leading into and being a part of this stanza’s sense. So very well done!!

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  24. Shawna says:

    I love this section:

    “it leaves
    behind the ashes and
    brings the fire. it stills;
    it st(r)ains.”

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