by Dana Guthrie Martin
Poetry Prescription Forms, Only for Licensed Poets
One of the things we did at Wordstock in Portland, Ore. — besides the learning and the merry-making and the whatnot — was hand out poetry prescriptions to attendees. (We also left a few in public places for people to stumble across.)
The poetry prescription form is something I made up back in March. Kimberlee Titus Gerstmann and I were having dinner after a poetry reading, and I ended up writing her a prescription for writer’s block. I think I wrote it on a napkin or something, with a borrowed pen. I obviously wasn’t prepared, but I took care of that by coming home and, the very next day, designing my very own poetry prescription pads.
I’ve handed them out sporadically since then, and even made some for a few other poets to do with as they will. Now, with a version customized for Read Write Poem, we can all become licensed poets, qualified to dole out poetry-reading, poetry-writing and poetry-sharing advice to our friends, family, neighbors and — thanks to any guerrilla efforts members want to undertake — to unsuspecting strangers.
We have had a few guerrilla actions here at Read Write Poem before, but nothing that’s been formalized or ongoing. (I guess that’s in keeping with the nature of guerrilla actions.) But all that is about to change, because this post kicks off a new series here at Read Write Poem: Guerrilla Poetry.
How to play along
1. Download the poetry prescription form (PDF format) and save it.
2. Make as many printouts as you want. Do a little trimming, and you’re good to go.
3. Take the forms with you everywhere you go. Really — you never know when someone will be in need and when your poetic license will be their only hope for a remedy.
4. Fill in the form as completely as possible, putting the prescription in the open area just below the Px symbol. Make sure you sign the form, or it’s not legal. I mean, it’s not legal anyway, but it should be legal.
5. Think about creative ways to get the forms into the community. Do you want to slip some on cafe tables at your favorite place to eat? How about sliding a few into literary magazines? Into poetry books at your local library? You could even put them up on public bulletin boards. (Whatever you do, please don’t litter and don’t do stuff that’s illegal. We don’t want you getting into trouble or making big messes.)
Give us feedback, and let us know about your actions!
That’s it in a nutshell. If you have any questions, let us know.
And! We want to know what ideas you have for guerrilla actions with these forms, as well as any ideas you have for future guerrilla poetry actions as part of this series. So leave comments here to help us all generate ideas on both counts.
Dana Guthrie Martin is the founder of Read Write Poem. She writes things and stuff. Most of the time, her things and stuff happen to be poetry, or at least they call themselves poetry. She has a robot named Feldman. He’s writing a book of poems.
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You may have seen this post in your Read Write Poem RSS feed last week. That’s because I accidentally posted it a couple of days early, and then we ended up having to bump the piece a few days to allow for other content on the site. Long story short: It’s up now. So get your guerrilla poetry on!
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What are some prescription examples?
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Jerry, did you comment on this post? The comment appears to be gone. Oh noes!
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I love, love, love this idea!!!
I will print some up to take to two events I have coming up: a poetry performance on October 31 and a Creativity Workshop I am leading.
Brava!!
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Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
October 20th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Awesome, Julie. Take photos!
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I was just asking what some prescription examples might be.
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Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
October 20th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
You could tell someone that they need to read a poem, and give them a specific poem or collection to read. You could have them write a poem every day for a week. You could assign a poem in a specific form. You could assign free-writes. The shy’s the limit.
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What a great idea! I look forward to seeing what distribution methods people come up with.
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Dana Guthrie Martin replied:
October 20th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
We left some in a vegetarian restaurant in Portland, Ore,. on a bulletin board. I plan to put them up on every bulletin board I find here in the Seattle area. I also plan to take them to local libraries and bookstores. Go poetry prescriptions!
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This is so cool! Last week I forbid one of my students to listen to Pink Floyd’s The Wall because it sucks you down if you have one foot in the dark pool already- I should have written him a prescription!
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ren powell replied:
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:05 am
my kingdom for an edit button!
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Dr. William Carlos Williams used to write poems on prescription paper between patients. That may be why so many of his poems are about the same length.
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I’m printing some up to handout at a workshop I am leading in November! Thanks, DGM!
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[...] Last week Read Write Poem took on the concept of guerrilla poetry. Click here if you missed the post and want details about how to take part. [...]
What a timely idea for me! I am meeting with a teacher tomorrow to talk to her about how to use poetry in the elementary classroom. I’m taking a prescription with me.
Thanks.
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[...] poetry out to the public in new and surprising ways. Back in October, Dana provided you with poetry prescription forms so you could dole out poetry-reading, poetry-writing and poetry-sharing advice to friends, family, [...]