For long stretches, I don’t need tricks. Words arrive, phrases flow, and I am delighted scribe.

And then, the door closes with a thud. Block, stuck, mud, slog, whatever you wanna call it, I’m in it and need relief. When I want less pressure and more play I reach for tricks. This week I made a poem-scramble.

Here’s how: Take a poem, cut it up, rearrange, and make your own new poem.

1.
I started with Shelter in Place by Kim Stafford:

Shelter In Place

March 20, 2020

Long before the pandemic, the trees
knew how to guard one place with
roots and shade. Moss found
how to hug a stone for life.
Every stream works out how
to move in place, staying home
even as it flows generously
outward, sending bounty far.
Now is our time to practice —
singing from balconies, sending
words of comfort by any courier,
kindling our lonesome generosity
to shine in all directions like stars.

~ Kim Stafford

2.
I cut up the words, and assemble new, taking care to not “lift” too much whole cloth. If your first pass sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Check the original to ensure that you haven’t borrowed too exactly.

Here’s mine:

In Place, Shelter  

Any kindling is our courier
sending words of comfort
outward in all directions.

Every generosity
works out how to
shine like stars

even now
as we practice
how to move in place

how to stay in shade
how to love the lonesome
like moss to stone.

~ Drew Myron

Your turn!  Make your own scramble, (or even scramble my scramble). If you like, share your poem with me at: dcm@drewmyron.com   

Want more tricks?
Wordcatching
Cut Up
Overwrite
Headlines