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!
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.
Wow, thanks, Toni. I must confess I wasn’t exactly sure I knew what cubism in poetry was…but you know how I love to deconstruct things, including language. 😉
And you did it so very well. One of the best out on the trail thus far.
Being “in” to imagist poetry, I found this to be perfection. I love the using of 10 words instead of 50, of stringing the small poems together like rare baroque pearls on a fine gold chain
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.
Thanks, Bjorn. Super humbled by your comment, as well. I freakin’ loved this prompt, though, which usually leads to some decent writing. Thank you.
Amazing poetry. Truly humbled and grateful for the chance to read this. I like how you echo recent prompts and poems through this piece.
Brian, I just read – and was STUNNED by – yours, so this comment humbled ME. Thank you.
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Whoaaa ❤️ this completely blew my mind, De! Such incredible us of tone, image and diction! ❤️
Outstanding work done ❤️
Thanks, Sanaa. 🙂
You construct and deconstruct so cleverly, bring out meanings and associations.
Thank you, Sarah. 🙂
A mesmerising collection!
Thanks, Misky. Always love a visit from you.
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.
I’m glad you caught that, Victoria. 🙂 Thanks.
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 ~
Thanks, Grace. The “i” plays a part, too. “i sieve.” 😉
Ha. I think the “iii” might play a part, too…”I-yi-yi!…smudge yourself sane.” 😉
5 and 13… just too good!!! Fabulous response to the prompt!
I liked the “mightier” and “mighty her”.
Brilliant response to the prompt! LOVE every line.
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.
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.
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.
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!
A De:electable and De:vicious pen:chant for poetry!
or De:licious!
This is wonderfully creative De. Love what you did with “ink.” You certainly have a way with words that enthrall and enchant.
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
This is one epic cubist poem, De! You surely nailed it!!!
Love these lines a lot:
it’s mightier.
it’s mighty her.
Fabulous work. Oh, I so admire your skill in writing this.
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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I love this section:
“it leaves
behind the ashes and
brings the fire. it stills;
it st(r)ains.”