04 October 2013

Baptism of Desire


Baptism of Desire

Afterwards?
the spiral of memory,
a wrinkle in time,
sun under wood,
meadowlands,
leaves of grass,
the wild iris,
the mist-filled path.

Hope was here
my mad love,
the heart aroused,
anam cara.

Ain't I a woman
yearning for the wind
in a different voice,
nothing left to lose,
outside history,
saved by a poem?


In response to Samuel over at dVerse Poets Pub who writes about the hidden poetry in books and asks us to use only the title of books to form a poem. It's tricky but I had a good time trying. And, since it's Friday, it's 55 words for the G-man. Anam cara is Irish for soul friend.
Authors in order of appearance: Louise Erdrich, Rosamund Lupton, Frank MacEowen, Madeleine L'Engle, Robert Hass, Louise Gluck, Walt Whitman, Louise Gluck, Joan Bauer, Shay Caroline Simmons, David White, John O'Donohue, Illona Linthwaite (editor), Tom Cowan, Carol Gilligan, Natasha Head, Eavan Boland, Kim Rosen

42 comments:

  1. Very nicely composed, Mary. I like:

    Ain't I a woman
    yearning for the wind
    in a different voice....

    You managed to work the titles into a poem that made sense! Nice.

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    1. Thanks, I had my table covered with lots of cut up papers with titles and shifted them around until the poem emerged. My Honey was scratching his head.

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  2. nice...the last 2 stanzas def rock it....the hope here in mad love...smiles....and saved by a poem, yes it has that power...smiles.

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    1. Yes, here's to mad love and being saved by poems.

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  3. That last stanza is hard to see it came from titles at all -- very good.

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    1. This process lets us hear them differently, at the service of another meaning. Cool.

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  4. What a wonderful collection of titles...loved this!

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  5. Ain't I a woman
    yearning for the wind
    in a different voice... yes, yes, yes.... i like much...

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  6. Oooh I love this, what a great selection and compilation.

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  7. You've masterfully crafted these titles together, and I love how this poem speaks to me.

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  8. It's tricky - but you've managed it with aplomb. I like the closing stanza too - and I also have a copy of Natasha's Nothing Left to Lose on my poetry shelf. I need to get it out again soon.

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  9. Nicely stacked! Great piece of poetry here.

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  10. Love what you did with your books titles ~ Last verse is my favorite ~

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  11. Fantastic. I love where the prompt took you :)

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    1. It seemed to suggest itself as I was re-arranging them.

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  12. Well done! This is the second one I've seen using this technique. :-)

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    1. Try it DJan- it's different for each one based on the books they have.

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  13. Lovely. Thank you so much.

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  14. Ah beautiful--just lovely--there's a terrific flow and wonderful message. Much enjoyed--thanks, Mary. k. ( And I so wish I'd thought of a wrinkle in time!)

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  15. Fun poem and I will try this in future; we have so many books it would be fun to gather titles to create a poem

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    1. It was fun- the first time I wrote the titles down, cut them separately and shuffled them. Did another today and I just re-arranged the books themselves- easier.

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  16. Very fun and creative. I'll have to try it. First I need to clear a space to do it...we seem to have Legos and Play-doh on every surface. :)

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    2. Might be fun to do with the kids using their books. There are some great poetry books for kids as well.

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  17. We may debate on about craftsmanship and how successful a particular poem is with respect to a form... but in the end it is about a personal evocation, and for me, this poem is one of my favourites from my last couple of days of reading. It starts from the beginning, a baptism, and wends its way through a lifetime in a few words, exploring the vagaries of the world, but in the end saved by the art of finding meaning in life - for what is poetry but that art of finding meaning? Wonderfully done, and thank you for sharing this...

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    1. Thank you, Samuel, your words mean a lot to me. I found this a satisfying, fascinating process. It let me take loved books and put their titles together in such a way that they come to mean something else to me. I've continued with other forays into the bookcase to see what more I can discover.

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  18. these found poems feel like wise snakes lying about our world in glowing bodies.

    i read it again and it causes me to laugh, how the world makes sense through you!

    xo
    erin

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  19. Oh... from the title, the amazing weave of life... and the "Ain't I a woman" as I think the first stanza especially is more "woman", but the 2nd and third could be both sexes. HOW absolutely amazing is this "found" poem. I have found myself viewing the bookstores and my own shelves a bit differently ;)

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    1. and it came out in 55 words? Wow. How cool is that?!

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