by Dave Jarecki
What good things did the news show you today? Or yesterday? Or anytime in the past week? Were you able to spin the spin back into pure poetic form? Give me the news!
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Dave Jarecki writes poetry, prose and strategic communications from his home office in Portland, Ore. Read and listen to his work, as well as the work of guest writers, at DaveJarecki.com.
http://slowreads.com/verseLateSummer.html
The funny thing is, it may not be evident that I followed the prompt.
I tried to be first.
One of these sleepless nights for sure!!!
her’es mine: process notes and a link.
Here is my bit of poetic pseudo-science as inspired by the news:
We all go round in circles
A newspaper article from 1890 gave me Hints on Drowning
Thanks for the prompt… positively bursting to read everyone else’s!
Here’s my poem in progress. It’s the beginning of a longer series. I’ve taken to calling these things “texts” on my blog, as opposed to poems. And I’ve taken to calling myself a “text generator” as opposed to a poet. But who am I kidding, eh?
Oh, and this isn’t based on the news, but I did write some robot news briefs. I just don’t think they are finished enough to share them here.
Robot Cult
I start a new job tomorrow, so I won’t be around too much until this weekend, but I do look forward to reading people’s work!
mark Stratton replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Congrats on the new job!
Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Thank you. It’s actually a full-time Literacy AmeriCorps position, which means I barely make anything (i.e., my “living allowance” is nominal), and technically it’s not a “job.” (I am supposed to say that I am “in service.”)
Barbara_Y replied:
August 30th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
“Text Generator” does work for the robot poems. I suppose “textess” is too frilly, though it might just work for me. hmmm.
Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
August 30th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
My poem is titled Sunday Morning.
My response to your prompt,
railroad ambush
This poem is based on a headline found in the
GUARDIAN newspaper
SHAKESPEARE: ANCESTRY TRACED TO U.S. POET
It is inspired by Dave Jarecki’s comment in the Honesty prompt.
For Dave Jarecki
Revenge of a Woman Scorned
O mistress mine it is thou who hast shot
thine wing tipped poison into the heart of our fair faced progeny as he sleeps
Oh wretched canker blossom now he loveth not the Bard, thanks to thine evil witch hag curse
I,who hast bestowed upon him the gift of making
miraculous verse like ripples of silver and gold
in shimmer’d pearl utterance, am known not to mine rose cheeked kinsman, the youthful Alcaeus
who mirrors in feature and figure fine Romeo now destined to grunt and sweat under a weary life
How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have
a thankless child
Why,what an ass am I to have wed thee and not portented the heartache and a thousand natural shocks
Such wicked revenge is steeped in malice oh vile
strumpet and all for the sake of the second best bed
Note:From Shakespeare’s will
‘I gyve unto my wyfe my second best bed’
rallentanda replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 12:45 am
There are references to three Shakespeare plays
in this poem and one full quotation.
Dave replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 12:47 am
I’m glad William gave his wife his second best bed. A rollicking frolicking piece as always.
David Moolten replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 7:25 am
You have excellently captured WS’s voice; the intimation of the American poet as “a thankless child” is great.
Cynthia Short replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Terrific as usual! You actually had me laughing our loud…I could read it over and over!
Derrick replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Hello Rallentanda,
Whether the words be yours or Wills it is beautiful to read.
Therese Broderick replied:
August 28th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Rallentanda — I like how “traced to U.S. poet” has multiple meanings — traced to you, also to Dave to whom the poem is dedicated, also to most other American poets descended from Sh’s lineage of English literature. Indeed, Shakespeare might be traceable to ReadWritePoem!
ravenswingpoetry replied:
August 28th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Rallentanda, I am very intrigued by your poem and I have to say that your use of 17th century English did not sound cliched. You wrote in that tongue very well. I wonder if the original article is online anywhere? I can’t seem to find it when I Google around.
-Nicole
Nathan replied:
August 28th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Rallentanda, this is wonderful.
rallentanda replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Thankyou to all for your very generous comments
I am aware that not having a blog makes commenting very exposed. Before the new site I
never received any comments so I am most appreciative of any responses at all.
Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Rallentanda, I think the threaded comments make it easier for people to comment on your work without the comments getting separated from your piece and lost in the shuffle. Three cheers for threaded comments!
Great stuff all around from everyone so far – can’t wait to read with fresh morning eyes.
Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
You get fresh eyes in the morning? Mine are always the same stale ones.
Every word from the NY Times
WORDS OF THE TIMES
that’s how God made here
It was a fabulous prompt, thank you so much.
I am too zonked by this poem to attempt to code it and make it look pretty… so, without any pomp or circumstance…
Unfit for Trial:
http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/jjspoetry/2009/08/unfit-for-trial.html#more
This is Stills (see when it seems I am ok). http://www.ohikulkevaa.org/?p=1232
I met an interesting guy via a nytimes.com headline. :0)
http://freckledwriter.blogspot.com/2009/08/angry-hell-tell-world-and-from-his.html
I ended up writing two, ‘Yesterday was ice’ and ‘Children with imagination.
You’ll find mine in this post:
http://beyondtheblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/the-future
Enjoy.
I may want a do-over later, but this is what showed up for me.
I liked “putting the poet back in the news”
(or)
I liked “getting the news out to the poets”
(or)
I liked “barely working the prompt like I was asked”
(or)
well…here she is: http://intothewoode.blogspot.com/2009/08/readwritepoem-prompt-89-across-water.html
http://poemsotherwise.blogspot.com/2009/08/newspaper.html
Here’s what I have: http://disorder1313.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/how-bombings-rate/
Here’s mine, inspired by news about a field worker on the (impending) shuttle flight
I did a found poem with ten headlines.
‘the streets of peru’
http://wp.me/pyC7K-ov
angie replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 5:36 am
sorry–wrong link. I’m still asleep.
here’s the right one — http://wp.me/pyC7K-nz
Here is a found poem from Twitter. Striking how poetic people can be, if they only knew.
Tiny Bacteria Are Secret to Cicada’s Success
Hi,
Here’s mine.
http://melrosemusings.blogspot.com/2009/08/china-admits-death-row-organ-use.html
rallentanda replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Very clever poem but not a subject I like.
I prefer love blossoming in the desert so please
Beau Geste no more transplant poetry.
Derrick replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Sorry Rallentanda, but you can’t please all of the people ….! I’m just glad I managed something!
rallentanda replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:34 am
Correct cricket scores duly noted.
I have been doing a series of poems on truckers. Any news with them interests me. What I post here isn’t news specific but a generic one.
blowing over that mug of coffee
Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
“I have been doing a series of poems on truckers.”
That totally rocks. And drats!!! I wish I’d thought of it.
A found poem that I just could resist from the newspaper this week.
Pick-up Game
As soon as I saw this headline, the search was over for me. You can find my offering “He’s a Farmer ‘Til the End” here:
http://cynthiashort.blogspot.com
My poem “They All End Up Walking in Circles” was inspired by a study of people lost in the woods and elsewhere.
http://theresebroderick.wordpress.com
Wunderwaffen: Angels in fog
Couldn’t help myself and did two!
Here’s a one…
http://namingconstellations.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/silent-cries-from-a-beloved-country/
…and the other
http://namingconstellations.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/inspired-broad-shatters-australia/
http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/?p=180
Thanks for reading!
I wasn’t inspired by the headlines this week, but I wanted to share this instead:
http://ravenswingpoetry.com/2009/08/27/let-it-go/
rallentanda replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 10:59 am
I like your references to Plath, Van Gogh and
Lautrec and maybe Joplin?Powerful images.Last week it felt like Breugel.This week Van Gogh.You’ve captured the mood of those distorted yet beautifully tormented images and I for one can see the Van Gogh sky but you’ll never get me in front of a mic.
ravenswingpoetry replied:
August 28th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Rallentanda:
Thank you for the kind words. I’ve been digging a lot of Plath lately, and I can easily comprehend the effects of depression and downward spirals like what affected her — because I’ve been there. Last week, the old greats seemed to convene and pound about in my head. They didn’t stop this week.
You referenced one of my stanzas with Lautrec — I was actually writing about Jim Morrison there. But hey, they both had alcoholism and father issues.
rallentanda replied:
August 28th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Nicole you wont be able to find this headline
I must confess that I have indulged in some triple strength poetic licence here…that’s a nice euphemism isn’t it!
Here’s another from a story that I found disturbingly compelling:
DOROTHY AND THE FAWN
Here we go.
A Cul-de-Sac of Lost Dreams
Vinnie Kinsella replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I used the same headline. How could I pass on such a poetic phrase? I like what you did. It’s quite different from my response. Here’s the link to mine if you want to read it: http://vinniekinsella.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/read-write-poem-promt-response-for-sale/
I’m off-prompt this week, but sort of topical. It’s a back-to-school poem I wrote a few years ago: Balloons
Sorry – back to school kick-off meeting has me posting late.
I didn’t read my article, but I loved the title – I think it has some interesting potential, but needs work -comment away!
http://djvorreyer.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/readwritepoem-89-headlines/
Donna Vorreyer replied:
August 30th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
The poem is now on a protected page – if you would like to stop by, the password is readwritepoem
Thanks!
http://djvorreyer.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/readwritepoem-89-headlines/
Sorry – school starting. I read my article only after I wrote about the headline. Extreme difference.
See here. http://synecdochicstuff.blogspot.com/2009/08/heart-pain-googled.html
great topic this week! unfortunately i have had some projects going on and didn’t have an opportunity to address this past week’s headlines, however, i wrote this poem back in february and think it very much applicable to the challenge. it is more of a commentary on news rather than addressing the news itself, and was a feature poem on Poets Who Blog during national poetry month in April. thanks, hope you enjoy, and look forward to reading everyone’s writing! -lawrence
http://beatnikprose.blogspot.com/2009/02/american-news.html
Here is my prompt response. Enjoy.
http://vinniekinsella.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/read-write-poem-promt-response-for-sale/
Well, this is not my best effort. But all the BS news depresses me, sort of. Then I stumbled across an article in the Wall Street Journal. Have fun and don’t stand behind any bovines.
Cows are plotting to end the world.
Looking forward to looking at the entries here. Here’s mine, an erasure:
http://bluehookah.blogspot.com/
This particular headline has been stuck in my head since 2002:
Couple Embrace in Train’s Path
i found a headline that read “Giving the Earth a Worn-Down Feeling”:
http://alphabeticaprime.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/mime-twin/
This headline that inspired this poem was gut wrenching. This is a modern day horror. Twilight Approaches
Hello, I’m minutes new here and just happened to write a poem yesterday about a newspaper headline. No Web site yet — will Twitwall do?
Barbara Parry replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Sorry, first incarnation of that link did not work. Try this:
Oh, forgive me. Just, here it is:
Therese Broderick replied:
August 27th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
This list poem reminds us all that seemingly impersonal agencies (CIA, etc.) are composed of many individuals (all the kinds of people the poem catalogs), each of whom may possibly share in some of the guilt and shame (bit the apple) associated with wartime practices. I like the line “creased by the sheets” because, for me, the word “sheets” recalls the paper in the instructions. (Please note: as a USA citizen, I also share responsibility for what happens in my country. I can’t claim any moral superiority or innocence.)
Barbara Parry replied:
August 30th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Thank you, Therese Broderick. Readers and commenters are so appreciated.
Nathan replied:
August 30th, 2009 at 6:52 am
I like this a lot. The appearance of “birthing guidelines” is a wonderful way to vary the rhythm of the list.
Barbara Parry replied:
August 30th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Thank you, Nathan for taking the time to read and comment. What a nice place!
http://wecampbell.blogspot.com/2009/08/game-day-is-your-chance-to-get-things.html
Dream Flight, an erasure
http://paperdreams-jgc.blogspot.com/
this is my first time posting a poem on here! i really loved this prompt! i’m not sure how make the post a link… so …. any suggestions would be nice!
thanks.
http://realitysdeception.blogspot.com/2009/08/headline-news.html
My first submission to readwritepoem:
http://zouxzoux.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/delaronde-street/
How they spent their ‘God of Carnage’ vacation (Ki Tetzei)
http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2009/08/this-weeks-portion-god-of-carnage-vacation.html
It always amazes me how exhilarating, but completely consuming and exhausting the start of school can be. I posted a poem last night that was not ready – I was off on the wrong track with it, and too tired to know it. Forgive me – i have another one for this prompt on my blog today.
http://synecdochicstuff.blogspot.com. Memo to Forests Department Chief
rallentanda replied:
August 29th, 2009 at 2:50 am
PS
I love your daily literary quotes…inspiring
Here is mine…using the headline
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Poga Poetry
http://waynepitchko.blogspot.com
Here is mine using headline THE GREAT DIVIDE
Poga Poetry
http://waynepitchko.blogspot.com
Here is mine THE GREAT DEBATE
http://www.waynepitchko.blogspot.com
here is mine…again…having trouble posting
THE GREAT DEBATE
that should read headline….THE GREAT DIVIDE
http://wwww.waynepitchko.blogspot.com
I couldn’t resist another try when I saw: Freud’s Adirondack Vacation
I’m SOOOO LATE!!! I know.
But here it is:
A glimpse through the window.