by Cristine Swint
Most writing books, whether they are about poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, will advise the writer to begin with a great first sentence. Never mind the back story, just dive right in there and show us some action.
In Natalie Goldberg’s classic, Writing Down the Bones,* she showcases the poetry of Russell Edson, known as a prose poem virtuoso. Goldberg uses Edson’s poems as an example of strong first sentences.
Web Del Sol offers us a taste of Edson’s delightful poetry. Here’s a first line from Edson’s poem “The Wounded Breakfast”:
A huge shoe mounts up from the horizon
And here’s one found on The Poetry Foundation’s website, from Edson’s poem, “Sweet Tooth“:
A little girl made of sugar and spice and everything nice was eaten by someone with a sweet tooth the size of an elephant’s tusk.
The idea behind Russell Edson-type first lines is to let your imagination rip.
No holds barred. Just write it.
The prompt is to share your first line here in the comments section, and then take someone else’s, and write to that line. Write the line down, and then keep writing for ten minutes to see what happens. Then form your poem based on the free-write.
Another option is to combine half of one person’s line with your line, or someone else’s line.
Or you can write to your own first line.
If you do use one of the donated lines, be sure to link to the person’s blog or website and give credit. It’s about the community, right?
*Goldberg, Natalie (2005). Writing Down the Bones, p 72. Shambala.
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if i could wake the sun up now, i would
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When Godzilla flattens your car on Monday morning
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Balanced on the season’s seesaw pivot
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Five thousand ants careen down a hillside
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Now that you’ve heard her side of the story
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Dancing on back, Kali digs her feet mercilessly into my spine
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Wind tears silk petals from plastic stalks
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Dreams like dew in the early morning
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The drunks were inside at the bar
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every old lady lives in a shoe
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through rough patchwork fields
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The first exhibit is enough to put
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they towered before us clad in the colors of wonder
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• on a distant knoll in a sun-drizzled mist
• like a night breeze through my open window
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+ desert sky circles
+her daughter now motherless (first line of a second verse of a recent pantuoum)
So much of my poetry is haiku, so I have short first lines.
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She cradled the frozen bulb in her mouth
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I’m very certain she shined like lapis lazuli
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Here is my poem
I used “every old lady lives in a shoe”
for first line
by carolee
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Hey Wayne, Slow down and smell the poetry. Come back Thursday to share your writing!
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will do
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The water presses blue and deep against this dam
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don’t get caught leaving the trailer park at 4 a.m.
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We’ll love beyond the brazen fields above the starry fold
(from my latest poem)
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OH! Some really great lines here.
Here’s mine:
I took a stroll through my soul.
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[...] The first line was donated by throws his words, a fellow Portlander, via the first-line prompt at Read Write Poem. [...]
I know that life has loved me.
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that word you lost I found it under a rock
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[...] week’s Read Write Poem Prompt was “It’s All About the First Line.” We participants all donated a first line for other poets to use as a first line to write their poem [...]
Blood drips from my eyes
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drowning in a sea of blood
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less than complete he walked away
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If amnesia were a disease, I would excuse myself
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The cavity of the beast whispers of moonfish, thick-skinned and arrogant
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