On this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for permission to steal.
Today's steal sponsored by Poets & Writers, where this week's writing prompt calls for a cento.
Latin for patchwork, a cento is a poem composed entirely of fragments and lines taken from other poems and/or written sources. As a fan of collage, this prompt really perked me up — and gave me permission to wander through poetry books and borrow great lines. I discovered the process of collecting (or stealing) is as much fun as writing (or, in this case, arranging) the lines.
Here's my cento:
This season won’t last 1
There are times when
the mind knows no wholeness.2
This is the enclosure (flesh,
where innocence is a weapon) 3
where the air has a texture
of drying moss.4
Dearest. — I remember how 5
my mind carried the night, wailing. 6
You’re only as sick as your secrets. 7
There is unexpected sun today, 8
or something like that. 9
Sources:
1. Margot Lavoie - March madness
2. Laurie Sheck - Nocturne: Blue Waves
3. Amiri Baraka - An Agony. As Now.
4. Susan Stewart - The Forest
5. Frank Bidart - Ellen West
6. Drew Myron - Lessons, winter
7. Brenda Shaughnessy - Your One Good Dress
8. Elizabeth Alexander - The Venus Hottentot
9. Adrian C. Louis - Looking for Judas
All lines, except 1 and 6, culled from The Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry.
It's Thankful Thursday! Gratitude. Appreciation. Praise. Please join me in a weekly pause to appreciate the people, places & things that bring joy. What are you thankful for today?