Cento Poetry!!!

A Cento Poem (or At least an attempt)

Well, son, I'll tell you: (Hughes)

Abortions will not let you forget (Brooks)

the pleasure of loneliness (Giovanni)

against the pain (Giovanni)

of loving you (Giovanni)

[and]

Because I could not stop for Death (Dickinson)

yours is the Earth and everything in it (Kipling)

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my Son (Kipling)

I took lines from some of my favorite poems to create this Cento Poem (collage poem). The first line is from Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son." The second line comes from Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Mother." Lines 3, 4, and 5 come from Nikki Giovanni's "Balances." Of course, [and] comes from my head. Line 7 comes from Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Lastly, lines 8 and 9 come from Rudyard Kipling's "If."

This Cento Poem (or poem quilt as I like to call it) somehow, by the grace of poetry, makes sense. Each poem ties into one another in such a way that allows for various lines to be pulled from their original setting and placed in a collage that flows. The first line of the poem is the first line of Hughes' "Mother to Son." In the poem the speaker is addressing the hardships of life and how quitting is not an option to her son. The second line is the first line of Brooks' "The Mother." "The Mother" is a poem in which the speaker addresses the issue of abortion and how mothers who fall victim to aborting their unborn child(ren), for whatever reason, place guilt upon themselves due to their child's missed chance(s). I chose Giovanni's "Balances" because I feel like balancing is very importing when dealing with life and death and the relationships we experience in between the two events, especially those between parent and child. In "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," the speaker tells the tale of how s/he, never really chose death, but rather it chose her. The last two lines from Kipling's "If" is the concluding message the speaker gives to his or her son following an instruction guide of how to live life.

By far, this is one of my favorite poetry exercises!

Spoken Word!

Kevin Young's "Lullaby" and Romare Bearden's "Early Morning"

Lullaby 

Sleep, shelter me.

Shuffle

me back into the deck

where I belong—

Sing no shout

your favorite song

until I fall

into your empty arms.

Let me be what

dust has to be, settling

over everything

& I promise to dream

of new houses & old

loves no longer. I swear,

sweet sleep,

I will summon no one

if you make me 

again mine.

Kevin Young's Watching the Good Trains Go By: A Suite of Poems to Accompany Collages by Romare Bearden is an extraordinary response to Bearden's works of art. Of course, I am very well aware that art generates and inspires art. However, Young's collection of poems in response to Bearden's collages exemplifies how brilliant art can inspire great poetry. Intuitively, my response to the poetry was to acknowledge  the heavy Blues aesthetic each piece contains. Just like Blues music, each poem expresses the speaker's raw emotion whether it be despair, hope, or  happiness. The reason Young's poetry works so well with Bearden's art is because Young's poems have layers to them like Bearden's collages. Obviously, Blues music is influential in both Beardern's and Young's work. I admire Young's poems because they add a contemporary twist to the genre of Blues poetry. Unlike traditional Blues poems, which are composed of repetition and have a specific rhyme scheme, Young's poems are not repetitious and are written in free verse. His use of line breaks is also very unique and mastered. The poet's style helps me as a reader to feel the emotion of the speaker of the poem. In the poem "Lullaby," the speaker metaphorically addresses Sleep as a superior with the power of allowing him or her to grasp a peace of mind. Out of all of the poetry responses, "Lullaby" is the most mellow. The poem shows the speaker softly requesting Sleep to allow him/her to return to his/her own peace of mind. For me, the poem raises the question: How important is ownership of one's self and being at peace with oneself? 

Kevin Young's "Watching the Good Trains Go By: A Suite of Poems to Accompany Collages by Romare Bearden"

The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes

The Poetry Game (Round 2)!

"A Children's Poem (realistically speaking)"

by El Williams III

Sporadic laughter
on early Sunday mornings
is always good

The flow of
green giggles makes
fantastical
the innocence of
the unsuspecting child

Like water,
the harmonic joy
should always be there

However,
life shares no empathy

The Poetry Game (Round 1)!

"A Poem, because I Can't Sleep (now)" 

by El Williams III

Behind the "Mighty Mo"
rises an attractive hotel
positioned to pay 10 times more
a compliment
than the insipid stream deserves

Elevated in luxury
(or what working folk would consider luxury)
the prying eye
is always
sucked into considering
what's on the outside

Soiled, but serene,
like bitter poetry
from the heartbroken,
the liquid flows
on and on

Soiled, but serene.

They never could understand
how something so natural
such as
God's work
or our love
could be contaminated

And neither could we,
but it's there.

Maya Angelou & Jean-Michel Basquiat Collaboration!

This is my very amateur interpretation of Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting for the cover of Maya Angelou's book of children's poetry "Life Doesn't Frighten Me." This piece came about as a project for my Art Appreciation class during my senior year at Cardinal Ritter Prep (Saint Louis, MO). I believe Angelou couldn't have chosen a more imaginative artist to produce the artwork for her book. Basquiat is one of the best. The poem itself isn't just a children's poem, it's an everyone's poem. The simple message of not being afraid of life is very powerful. Angelou is one of my favorite poets (of course) and Basquiat is one of my favorite artist!

Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

Shadows on the wall

Noises down the hall

Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Bad dogs barking loud

Big ghosts in a cloud

Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Mean old Mother Goose

Lions on the loose

They don’t frighten me at all

Dragons breathing flame

On my counterpane

That doesn’t frighten me at all.

I go boo

Make them shoo

I make fun

Way they run

I won’t cry

So they fly

I just smile

They go wild

Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

Tough guys fight

All alone at night

Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

Panthers in the park

Strangers in the dark

No, they don’t frighten me at all.

That new classroom where

Boys all pull my hair

(Kissy little girls

With their hair in curls)

They don’t frighten me at all.

Don’t show me frogs and snakes

And listen for my scream,

If I’m afraid at all

It’s only in my dreams.

I’ve got a magic charm

That I keep up my sleeve

I can walk the ocean floor

And never have to breathe.

Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Not at all

Not at all.

Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

- Maya Angelou

Gotta Love Dr. Seuss!

"The Soiling of Old Glory," Stanley J. Forman's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph. Boston, April 5, 1976.

Although this photograph deals more with American politics and history, rather than American literature (particularly poetry), I believe that any picture can be viewed as poetry captured. The irony of this photograph is extremely poetic. Of course, art inspires art. However, History and Politics inspire art as well. Embrace it and make it beautiful.