~Greg Cipes
This week, I did an experiment instigated by Donna JT Smith. I used fourteen lines (listed farther down) as my springboard for a poem about "ferocious women." Thanks for the fun, Donna!
No Exaggeration
by Tabatha Yeatts et al
When the wild song has rushed by in a blur of green and gold,
Leaving behind the gray-awful, like smoke from a fire,
Dreaming women wake the world
To wear a little chest to put the Alive in.
From their concentrated, radical core --
Fearless women reach out,
Drink the wind, eat the masks,
Bring you Truth, not coffee,
And soft smiles for dessert.
Intertwined, we exalt--
Ferocious women
Tell the stories.
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Here are the Poem Potpourri lines that I used wild and ferocious poetic license with:
Buffy S: "ferocious women who never bring you coffee" - refrigerator magnetic poetry
Donna S (me): "always leave a wild song" - refrigerator magnetic poetry
Linda B: "dreaming women do art in poetry" - from her pile of poetry blocks
Buffy S: "where wizards and wolves rush by in a blur of green and gold and gray" - patched together from Kate Dicamillo's Where Are You Going Baby Lincoln
Kay: "ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones" from Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
Linda M: "waking the world to a new day"
Margaret S: "steam that climbs like smoke from a fire" - this was in the comments the first week, and I'm not sure if it is a comment or a line... but I'm using it!
Carol V: "fearless women reach out, connect, and find joy in life's intertwined moments" - Connecting the word "fearless" that April had used last week.
Tabatha Y: "little chest to put the Alive in" - Emily Dickinson
Joy: "wear loose clothing and a smile" - from a thought and some connections
Jan GA: "I feel like there should be more stories out there for girls, and I try to tell them" - a quote from Hope Larson from the book COMICS CONFIDENTIAL.
Mary Lee H: "ferocious women do not exaggerate" - from Mary Oliver's UPSTREAM on page 109, "I do not exaggerate."
Brenda H: "make a ferocious dinner that eats masks, drips truth and saves softness for dessert"
Keri L: "radical at their core" from her husband's magazine, "Guns & Ammo"
Kiesha S: "ferocious women would rather drink the wind" - a line from Mary Oliver's (Why I Wake Early) titled "The Arrowhead"
Diane M:"Out of endurance, exaltation" - a line from the poem "Monadnock" by Robert Francis.
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Beyond Literacy Link has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Carol!
21 comments:
From first line to last, you pulled something spectacular from the challenge. Well done!
Powerful poem, Tabatha! I like how you broke down and smattered (is that a word) the key words around until they mattered and yet could still be identified from their original phrases. Great quote to start, and amazing song to finish! What a rich post. Thanks for "playing" today! Let's think about "You matter to me." Wouldn't that be a good line for another challenge?
"Eat the masks" -- YES! What a powerful image and metaphor for what's happening right now.
Brava! Last two stanzas are especially powerful. :)
Ferociously fantastic, Tabatha! Love reading this mashup poems - inspiring lines from inspiring women! =)
It's been so exciting to see how different poets have taken the same phrases and created such very different but always inspiring poems! And yes - we will tell the stories!
Oh, my gosh these poems are so awesome! I want to be an instigator now. I love how you braided the lines together. Each poem so different but all with the same intensity. I love your first line the best....it pulled me along for the entire ride. Bravo!
I love seeing how the same lines get woven into a different beautiful piece of art. Wonderful! You even used the Emily Dickinson line. Bravo!
Each unique poem has been a wonder, Tabatha. I love the arrangement of lines.
Love the form of this Tabitha!
Tabatha, what a great poem you penned from the lines provided. The song adds something special to your post.
From those fabulous lines you've put together a fabulous poem.
I am loving reading about all of these ferocious women today! Great poem!
fabulous! I'm loving the variety of responses.
Love it! Proud to make the TITLE of this one with my line!
Great work, Tabatha!
So powerful! Well done, Tabatha!
Truth, not coffee! One of these days, Tabatha Yeatts, you and me are going to get together for TEA. Thank you for this poem! xo
Yes, thank you, Tabatha. Just what I/we needed to read. I'm impressed with all you ferocious women poets who wrangled this project!
Wow wow wow--
this whole project is almost more complexity than I can cope with this week, but thank you, thank you for marching forth ferociously, with unmasked truth and no exaggeration.
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