This month, our challenge was so much fun. Like, serious fun. We played with the concept of an “exquisite corpse,” a writing exercise where the story is passed around.
In our case, we did it by having one person write the first line and send it to the second. The second person then sent only their (second) line to the third, and so forth. In the end, the eight of us each wrote one line in what would become an eight-line poem.
When we met, we first read our lines aloud before typing them into a Google doc to share. Here’s what the first draft of our exquisite corpse poem looked like:
This month, odd one out, running short on days and sleep, (Liz)
This month, past meets pride, roots ripped from native soil still somehow grow. (Tanita)
The once-bright future dims. Shadows grow (Kelly)
But there, near canyon rim, in broken light (Sara)
the yearling hawk shrieked in futile fury (Andi)
and the steel-edged clouds looked away (Laura)
trees bow and bend on a blustery day (Tricia)
that rattles old oak leaves down the street. (Mary Lee)
And now? Each of us is editing the poem in different ways. I seriously cannot wait to see what everyone has done with it. As of Sunday, I had high hopes of writing additional drafts, but between my husband’s heart issue, outrage and sorrow at the news (Texas criminalizing trans youth and their families and healthcare providers as well as Ukraine), and my second boost shot for COVID, I had to let that notion go.
Here, however, is my edit of the poem draft:
This month
Odd one out, running short on days and sleep.
Past meets pride. Roots ripped from native soil
still somehow grow. The once-bright future dims.
Trees bend and bow—a blustery day.
Old oak leaves rattle down the street.
Shadows grow. There, near canyon rim,
in broken light, the yearling hawk shrieks
in futile fury as the steel-edged clouds look away.
Next month, we are writing dodoitsu (a Japanese form) based on ekphrastic prompts. You are invited to join us! Pick an image or photo and write a dodoitsu to share on the last Friday of March!
Here are the links to everyone else’s edits:
The Poetry Friday roundup is being hosted by Tricia at Miss Rumphius Effect. Here’s the link.
