Saturday, June 6, 2009—The challenge: Create a poem using only the titles of books. With thanks to Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect and Julie Larios at The Drift Record for this one. Their poems “Nobody’s Fool” and “Naked” are must-reads, regardless of whether you try the challenge. If you do decide to play, the one rule is to provide the titles and authors of the books you use. Post a comment with a link to your poem if you’d like to share one.
Using titles for both kids and adults, and including the title of a writer’s reference guide, I ended up with this poem/love note:
‘Tis a dangerous age,
I know this much is true.
The joy of keeping score,
the rules of survival . . .
woe is I,
abide with me.
Out of the dust,
great expectations:
my grandfather’s blessings!
The audacity of hope!
Guess how much I love you?
Eat, pray, love,
Madeline
Books used:
‘Tis by Frank McCourt
A Dangerous Age by Ellen Gilchrist
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
The Joy of Keeping Score by Paul Dickson
The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
Woe Is I by Patricia T. O’Conner
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Postscript to yesterday’s post on Buried Alive: The Elements of Love: Check out Tricia’s conversation with Ralph Fletcher from her April Poetry Makers series at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
Martha, this is genius! In that first line, you’ve even combined two titles, something I wasn’t able to do. My favorite, though is “Out of the dust,/ great expectations….” What I love about this challenge is how it forces poets to make those “leaps” in direction that they might not normally take. Neat!
Thanks so much, Julie. You are right about the leap. I actually started with a humorous something, beginning with “Dear Garbage Man”! Then when “Tis” and “Woe is I” came along, so did this Madeline. A whole different direction completely.
Thanks again for sharing the exercise over at your site!
Hi Martha, here’s my poem from a bookshelf:
On the road, Tobacco Road, things fall apart.
One pair of hands, unraveling the good earth.
Waiting, I capture the castle: A taste of power.
You must remember this nectar in a sieve.
Books used:
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Tobacco Road, Erksine Caldwell
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
One Pair of Hands, Monica Dickens
Unraveling, Elizabeth Graver
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Waiting,Ha Jin
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
A Taste of Power, Elaine Brown
You Must Remember this, Joyce Carol Oates
Nectar in a Sieve, Kamala Markandaya
Love this one!! And how you’ve combined titles in each of the lines (3 titles in nearly all lines)! Thanks for joining the fun!
Martha, fantastic! Like Julie, my favorite lines are Out of the dust,
great expectations
Amazing how you kept this wonderful voice consistent throughout.