by the Read Write Poem Staff
Nicole Nicholson has a big challenge for us on Day 14: Write a cleave poem. What’s a cleave poem, you ask? It’s three poems in one.
The whole idea works something like this (quoting the creator of the form, Dr. Phuoc-Tan Diep): “In its most basic form it is three poems: two parallel ‘vertical’ poems (left and right)…[with] a third ‘horizontal’ poem being the fusion of the vertical poems read together.” He goes on to say, “One of my aims was to examine how something can be more than the sum of its parts and can be 3 in 1: synergy, fusion, co-operation, dialectics, marriage, interdependence, teamwork and The Trinity.”
More info can be found at The Cleave (including samples) and at the “cleave” entry at Writing.com.
Happy writing! (Editor’s note: A good idea, for those who fear the cleave is too challenging: Try a short one or simply try a form you have never tried before.) 
Reminders for everyone
Read the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Challenge Kickoff post for details on how the challenge works — and how you can engage with Read Write Poem this month, no matter what your personal writing challenge is for the month of April.
Please read this page to find out how Read Write Poem’s prompt posts work. Remember that work linked from any post this month is shared in precisely that spirit: sharing, as opposed to critiquing. If you haven’t done so already, please read all the pages under About in the navigation bar.
Yikes!
NaPoWriMo #14 Double Helix
haikujunky replied:
April 14th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
nice one Neil!
Internet troubles = conquered! The way I put this one together is a little bit complicated, but I hope it still makes sense and follows the spirit of the prompt…
The Red Line is Experiencing Temporary Delays
This week was a lovely little challenge!! Here we go.
ok ok i can’t get enuf of the cleave form… the cleave site was a open door of information… the whole philosophy behind it blends well form… thanks nicole a new found fountain of inspiration!!! i gotta admit i was gettin pooped with the daily posts… and trying to visit all the posts has been a real eye opener meeting a lot of new poets whose talents have been a blessing!!! happy day 14!!! small portions cleave
A call
Which frustrated the senses
Of touch just to hold
Of feeling just to molest
Of sight just to examine
Of hearing just to long
Of holding just to caress
Of listening just to hang – up!
my poem #14 backs up to use the “secret codes” prompt from a couple days ago …
http://caroleesherwood.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/napowrimo-14/
Wow! Super challenging, but fun nonetheless! Here is
Two Wrongs Made a Right
This is not a Cleave, but does bears a litle resemblance – a form of my own – symbiotic weaving, as it were.
http://synecdochicstuff.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14.html
“does bear” – good grief – one can’t correct!
Thanks for the prompt Nicole, sorry I got stuck.
Here’s my Fantastic Poem instead: POETS
Whoa, fun! I’ve poked at this slowly throughout the day, alternating extending each side past the other. This could benefit from my devoting more time, but I can’t right now: http://jasonriedy.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/cleaving-the-month-of-napowrimo/
Definitely challenging today, on a number of fronts– the new poetry form, formatting (!), and the subject matter I chose to write about. Guess I couldn’t go a whole month without writing at least one cancer poem… “Malignancy”:
http://caraholman.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/2010-napowrimo-14/
I love this “new” form! My poem, It Is Only Life and Death, can be read at musetomyeyes.blogspot.com. thanks again to all who have visited and left comments!
This was hard!
http://daily-yawp.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-14.html
I wrote a cleave poem April 3rd, not knowing that the form actually had a name. I saw in a collection of poems by Terrance Hayes.
My poem is called Sunshine: http://evelynnalfred.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-poem-3.html
I’m going to write another one specifically for this prompt, because it’s a challenging form.
Eyes off my cleavage: http://thekitchenbitchponders.blogspot.com/2010/04/national-poetry-writing-month-day_14.html
hosking replied:
April 14th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
This was a good one. When I told my hubby the poem prompt, he was wondering about the missing age.
Off topic again, but I would still like to share my work.I titled today’s product, Strangeland.
http://systematicweasel.blogspot.com/2010/04/strangeland-4-14-2010-poem-day.html
I am happy with mine!
http://amylevy.com/wp/2010/04/napowrimo-14-gasping/
I just Cleaved!
http://skankinmoon.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/anaheim-street
busy day today…so the cleave thing was difficult…so a haiku wita Cleave twist
http://waynepitchko.blogspot.com
This writing exercise felt like something between Mad Libs and the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle. #fail
http://scriptophobe.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14-fail.html
A few thoughts:
1. I’d never heard of or seen cleave poetry before this.
2. I really like the concept, and expect I’ll be working with it again in the future. (Thanks for suggesting it, Nicole!)
3. I found this really challenging (which is one of the reasons I liked it) especially under a deadline.
I was particularly stuck on process (write one and split v. write two in parallel and fit) and topic.
I ended up with a parent and child on a trip to a museum at the top of The Mall in Washington DC:
Air & Space
This is my entry: http://disorder1313.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/transliteration-of-catullus-xii/
This one was difficult. Whew! Interesting prompt Nicole Thanks.
http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com/2010/04/jars-and-filled-up-stuff-of-crappy.html
Not a cleave, but a poem none-the-less.
http://yearofthebooks.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/poem-a-day-day-14/
An interesting concept—I played with it and altered it a bit.You can find it here: http://word-painting.blogspot.com/2010/04/chinese-guild-luncheon.html
I can’t believe I actually figured out this form, at least for a rough draft. Thanks for a very challenging prompt!
While Archiving Pictures
Playing catch up…
http://estherpoyer.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/surrender-day-12-poem/
http://estherpoyer.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/vive-la-difference-day-13-poem/
Does anyone know how to format side by side in blogger? I was driven crazy trying to get this to look right, but I had to make a compromise. I really loved this prompt!
http://poiesis3.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-14.html
I’m not thrilled with this one; I’m going to try to come back later if I have time. for now, this will have to do.
http://healingforthehealthy.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-141-you-want-me-to-write-what.html
Okay, I wrote another cleave poem. This one is called Latitude. This is a challenging form, but I like it.
http://goo.gl/fb/y6yvz
Oh, I’d so wanted to give this a try, but I ran out of time! I’ll have to come back to this one….
Meanwhile, this is what came out of me thinking about running out of (or into) time:
http://www.shicho.net/words/?p=1076
Yesterday’s was my favorite prompt so far – but I HATED this one. Gritted my teeth and did it. This will probably lower my stock here, but…
http://novaheart.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/poem-41410-mover-and-shaker/
“Down the hatch”
http://www.redbubble.com/people/nebsy/writing/5004922-napowrimo-14
In remembrance.
http://pamelavillars.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/april-14-10-for-n-a/
Thank you for the introduction to a new form. I tried it here:
http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-14.html
But I plan to practice this one more. Great prompt!
missed yesterday but don’t want to quit: same indifference.
these prompts are souring on me a little. gonna write some more stuff on my own.
Not feeling the cleave just now…
http://triatriatria.wordpress.com/
Tria replied:
April 14th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Wrong link. Right link here:
http://triatriatria.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/becoming-an-island/
I really want to get this prompt right, but it might take me more than a day. So I wrote a haiku as my day 14 offering:
http://paperdreams-jgc.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-14-todays-prompt-was-beyond-me.html
An interesting technique; I wish I had more time to work on it, though.
“Sharecropper’s Cabin, Czech Parlor– two photos, 1800’s” http://www.cathymcguire.com/poetry.htm
I wish wordpress would let me cleave.
http://another2doors.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/science-project/
I toyed with several ideas for cleave poems today, but I just couldn’t make them work.
I am happy with what I came up with today:
http://kolokoli.blogspot.com/2010/04/making-friends.html
http://katharinewhitcomb.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14-decreation.html
I was undone by the cleave prompt. This poem plays around with another “form.”
On prompt, but a teasing and trying one it was (what with my delinquent tax filing procrastination and all). Here’s a short one. I will tackle a longer Cleave in the very near future. For now, here’s POLL DANCE.
http://rustbloommansions.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-fourteen-poem-14-cleave-poem-poll.html
Loloth Spider Demon
Angeliad of Surazeus
2010 04 14
http://open.salon.com/blog/surazeus/2010/04/14/loloth_spider_demon
Terrible sun spider with a thousand eyes
crawling up from gloom of nameless fear
roar loud as wind in wild tearing storms
as you weave mountains with your web
we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
Monstrous demon with gripping claws
shaking mountains with your eight legs
devour forests and drink bubbling lakes
as you suck light of stars in fierce hunger
for we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
I climb jagged mountain cliff of despair
clinging to rocks with trembling fingers
driven by hunger for beauty of her power
to see sun spider goddess demon dance
we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
Titanic spider devil with a thousand eyes
that reflect my small face in crystal gems
devour me not nor suck blood of my soul
as you weave vast roiling seas with thread
we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
Eilistraee silver-hair on zenith of a peak
of jagged mountain stretches out her arms
as mother Loloth wrenches mountain range
in world-shaking dance of destructive rage
sings we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
Beauty and love for life eating sweet fruit
in warm sun light illuminating our paradise
is nothing without horror and fear in death
as we eat mushrooms in caverns of gloom
for we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
Horrible devil sun spider who devours souls
crawl from cracked earth with roaring flames
and dance in maelstrom of hail on sea waves
destroying a thousand fragile cities of men
for we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
Love me forever my terrible mother of death
and give me strength and courage in fear
to wrestle those weak devils Beelzebub
and Azanoth and Moloch who worship you
for we love you Loloth in our horror of death.
This definitely was a challenging prompt. I decided to write a haiku: Love in the Winter
http://richelledodaro.blogspot.com
http://redshoepoet.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-challege-14.html
here is mine: http://teapartiesonneptune.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/lycanthropy/
I am so ready to sleep now. Is it May yet?
Today’s effort:
http://cosmicmermaid.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/lost/
Don’t know if I did this right but I thought about it tonight when my mom was with her youngest grandchild and I noticed the contrast between them.
Here it is.
Definitely not a cleave, but trying to write it late at night with no success made me irritable enough to produce this.
Paralysis
Inner fluids boiling over angrily
Bubbling over cranial pot
Screeching inside my arteries
Rivulets of blood on my back
The clash of elements
Rooted deep in my brain
Made useless with soddy emotion
Seized in a paralysing
Epileptic fit
While trying to bottle it in
April 15 ~ “Soul Friends” ~ http://treasures.edublogs.org/2010/04/14/readwritepoem-april-14/
Loved this one! Very much!
write although
Cleave
http://eveningpoems.blogspot.com/
(I had trouble with the formatting on this one because I don’t know html code)
Here’s to a kinder challenge on Day 15. http://tinacelio.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/cleave-me/
Ohmy, this was a very big challenge indeed. I wrestled with it for a while before I actually wrote anything. Ahaha
http://wintermintfruit.blogspot.com/2010/04/hearth-and-hail.html
Cruising comes easy these days
Shipwrecks have gone out of style
Survival skills, smoke signals
are land-lovers fare
search parties have more to do with
lost loves than loves lost
at sea
http://web.me.com/susansonnen/Susan_Sonnens_musings/Blog/Entries/2010/4/14_NaPoWriMo%2C_Day_14.html
Hey, I tried.
This is my cleave poem, but instead of side by side, the alternating stanzas are opposites all the way down, the a single final stanza kind of binding the ideas in one.
Yin Yang Dance
Angeliad of Surazeus
2010 04 14
http://open.salon.com/blog/surazeus/2010/04/14/yin_yang_dance
Dark vast as endless nothing flows
bubbling from sunless heart of earth
in roaring lava gush of devouring flames
that crush fragile civilizations of men
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Light sweet as timeless everything shines
reflecting from shimmering sea of eyes
in ringing river gush of nourishing waves
that refresh fragile civilizations of men
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
Cleave world of my heart to release
wings of flight so I may leap from earth
and soar gliding wind searching for truth
to know complete complexity of reality
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Meld universe of my soul to contain
aching sorrow of joy in bittersweet hope
and stride exploring deserts and gardens
to find holy grail in heart of one I love
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
Kill cruel thieves blinded by selfish greed
in war of strength to conquer empire
with sword forged from metals of earth
and drenching soil in blood of despair
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Birth hungry babies opening new eyes
in laughter of wits to celebrate rebirth
with flute enchanting hearts for desire
and soaking soil in rain sprouting seeds
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
We fight wrestling over lake and trees
breaking each other with vicious hate
to crawl wounded over rocks of despair
and howl naked at cold eyeless moon
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
We kiss dancing by lake among trees
caressing each other with tender love
to climb strong in limbs of satisfaction
and sing gowned at warm dreaming sun
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
Devils roar kidnapping angels in chains
whipping backs as they swing pickaxes
slaving in mines of Hellas for diamonds
lost in underworld of hopeless gloom
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Angels sing releasing slaves from chains
healing bodies as they all hold hands
dancing in palace of Heaven with crowns
home in paradise of illuminated peace
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
Destroyer of worlds devours human souls
shaking earth and drowning continents
and swallowing people into jaws of death
as earth spins wild around flaming star
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Creator of worlds transforms human souls
through ten thousand generations of flesh
evolving atom to egg to fish to human to god
as earth spins gentle around glowing star
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
Shiva dances on pyramid of all-seeing eye
inside ring of fire under gushing waterfall
transforming our world in five billion years
as people are born and die in waves of hope
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Kwan Yin dances in temple of fountain pools
chanting on lotus bloom offering ripe peach
preserving garden of earth till sun explodes
as people are born and die in waves of love
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
Satan tricks men with illusions of power
and deceives minds with blinding greed
as we fight each other for control of ghosts
but crumble to dust in silence of death
in Yin Yang dance destroying to create.
Jesus guides men with visions of love
and enlightens minds with knowing desire
as we help each other build cities of peace
and crumble to dust after children are born
in Yin Yang dance creating to destroy.
There is no light of love without dark of hate
and there is no dark of fear without light of hope
as heat and cold give each other strength
for life and death cycle atoms in chaos forms
in Yin Yang dance binding our hearts as one.
Just under the wire, EST.
http://avniously.blogspot.com/2010/04/cleave-parle-g.html
http://sky-lined.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-14.html voila
My offering for day 14:
Hesitation
This was a big stretch…so I have to try it again!
weeeeee!!!! it may be a vacuum( sucks)
http://motherveg.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/napowrimo-14-you-want-me-to-write-a-what/
My #14 is posted. Like many of you, I could not cleave to the cleave. I took a stab at a cinquain (new to me) instead:
http://robin-turner.blogspot.com/2010/04/story.html
Today is the day when I couldn’t meet the challenge. I couldn’t make the cleave work in the time allotted. It sounded forced or corny or both.
Poem #14. “Untitled.”
Posted at: http://troysworktable.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14.html
Just returned from a poetry reading, and a recording studio meeting to produce my first CD of ‘100 Poems for Children’. So back online.
My latest poem picks up the theme with a fun piece entitled ‘Online Babysitters’.
Check out their babysitting skills at http://www.gregoconnell.com =)
This was a tough one.
But a subject presented itself at the last minute
“What of the child that lived?”
http://mmw113.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14-what-of-child-that-lived.html
Ack! I couldn’t write a cleave…so I wrote a Sonnet for a Cleaver instead.
http://mylineofwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14-will-to-weave.html
Just getting this in under the wire, but it is still 04/14 on the west coast! Blogspot didn’t let me put space between the two vertical poems, so I had to differentiate by color.
http://freckledwriter.blogspot.com/2010/04/mnemodermia_14.html
Well not every day can be genius
http://nothinghypothetical.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/imperfect/
One Photo: Two Views
- after a photograph by Evelyn Hofer
Through the shop window A dark bulb hangs
a man bows his head behind clean panes
acknowledging a row of fine hats reflecting a parked car
offered like fresh meat against the disappearing street
Everything is for sale caught off-guard
but the question remains amidst the limits of the frame
which will he choose: Dusk makes its quiet way
silk or cloth – Will it fit across the glass threshold
snugly on his head bringing shadows to deep
as he strolls to the theater recesses of such ardent ears
And why is only one light lit Absentmindedly, he hums to himself
if the store is open? Night begins counting the cash
Here is my # 14. Not with the prompt, but I had fun with this one:
Poem Line:
http://brokeness.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-14-poem-line.html
“Plato de Segunda Mesa” Thanks Nicole! This was fun!
http://rosettathurman.posterous.com/napowrimo-poem-14-two-poems-about-fried-chick
Unfortunately the concentration on form made it extremely hard to be creative lol. Here is my attempt at The Cleave
.
http://ingeborgsblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-april-14th-cleave.html