[Newspoetry] 20 Little Poetry Projects

[Jay Morris]

----- Original Message -----
From: "gillespie william k" <gillespi at uiuc.edu>
To: <newspoetry at lists.groogroo.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: [Newspoetry] 20 Little Poetry Projects


>
> (I should point out that these are assignments for the 20 lines of a
> 20-line poem)
>
>
> On Thu, 16 May 2002, gillespie william k wrote:
>
> >
> > Twenty Little Poetry Projects
> >             Jim Simmerman
> >
> >  1. Begin the poem with a metaphor.
> >  2. Say something specific but utterly preposterous.
> >  3. Use at least one image for each of the five senses, either in
> > succession or scattered
> >  randomly throughout the poem.
> >  4. Use one example of synesthesia (mixing the senses).
> >  5. Use the proper name of a person and the proper name of a
place.
> >  6. Contradict something you said earlier in the poem.
> >  7. Change direction or digress from the last thing you said.
> >  8. Use a word (slang?) youUve never seen in a poem.
> >  9. Use an example of false cause-effect logic.
> >  10. Use a piece of talk youUve actually heard (preferably in
dialect
> > and/or which you donUt understand).
> >  11. Create a metaphor using the following construction: "The
(adjective)
> > (concrete noun) of (abstract noun) . . ."
> >  12. Use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual
associative
> > qualities.
> >  13. Make the persona or character in the poem do something he or
she
> > could not do in "real life."
> >  14. Refer to yourself by nickname and in the third person.
> >  15. Write in the future tense, such that part of the poem seems
to be a
> > prediction.
> >  16. Modify a noun with an unlikely adjective.
> >  17. Make a declarative assertion that sounds convincing but that
finally
> > makes no sense.
> >  18. Use a phrase from a language other than English.
> >  19. Make a non-human object say or do something human
(personification).
> >  20. Close the poem with a vivid image that makes no statement,
but that
> > "echoes" an image from earlier in the
> >   poem.


Slithering through the socks,
Toes carefully shoplifting,
Only those items that match your outfit.
Feeling out shades of blue and green.
"Just looking thank you ... Stephan the Sears sock salesman",
"These lawnmowers smell fantastic".
You've been 17 for a lot of years now,
Dadgummit.
That's what keeps you at this.
Gotta keep putting food on your children.
The clumsy guard-dog of Craftsman-land pants nearby.
Extending scapulae and lifting feet you rise,
Float above the tools, and toward the door.
"Hungry Sam strikes again!" you yell,
Only half-realizing the flavor that awaits you.
McCarthy socks were born with scent of rat.
The alarm sounds to you like freedom soft-boiled.
Raison d'etre overwhelming his desire,
He cries as you set free the packaged goods,
While o'er the socket-wrenches he remains