Thursday, February 14, 2008

second thursday...let's see what you've patched together!

Normally, we will have a week to play with other people's poems (THAT did not sound good...). However, since I was so excited about the new blog (thank you, thank you, thank you to polkadot witch for her help with my way cool banner!), I got a little carried away and off schedule. So, today, Valentine's Day, is post your patchwork poems day!

All this week you can place links to the patchwork poems you created. Please be sure to credit your many muses! And, hey, if you can't get enough patchworking, and you create another poem, link it up!

Next Thursday, the 21st, we will post links to poems of our own that we offer up as fodder for new patchwork poems.

If you would like to be listed as a member of patchwork poetry, email me at jillypoet@verizon.net!

Thanks for poeming with me!

22 comments:

Carolee said...

here's a link to the patchwork piece i assembled from everyone's original work: free fall

gautami tripathy said...

I enjoyed writing this!

remnant of violence staring out of nought

gautami tripathy said...

i look forward to read everyone.

Christine Swint said...

I'll be back later. I just wanted to say that the site looks fabulous! I love the header, the colors. PDW sure has a way with the visuals. Or did she wave a wand over the page?

I think this is going to be my Thursday delight-teaching yoga then coming home and patching a poem together. Love it! Thanks. :)

jillypoet said...

Here is mine. I seem to have a religious theme going...Never the Fish: God Speaks to Mary

paisley said...

out all day, so i will not be around to read till later,, but here is the link to my collaboration... thanks again.. this was fun.....

blessed mother

Carolee said...

i don't have a wand, but i do concoct some pretty wicked potions, christine. :)

i've enjoyed zooming around on my broomstick to see everyone's poems and i'm feeling a little confused because we're all adapting the "centos" style to fit our own needs, which is good, except that when i go visiting, i don't remember what's what.

for a true patchwork poem, we use only other poets lines and don't change them at all, i think. (maybe jill can clarify.)

i didn't stick to that 100% so i announced how i adapted the form. i said something like "i changed pronouns, verb tense and punctuation."

as we continue to work together, it would help me if we talked a little bit about our process in the post with the patchwork poem. if you can. if you want.

this time i just dropped a comment asking about process b/c i like to see how people work with the words.

Carolee said...

oh-- and this week, i illustrated the things i changed in a pasted version of the poem at the bottom of my post. that's not what i'm asking people to do; that's a little over the top. :) i just did that this week b/c jill was curious.

Christine Swint said...

Here's my link:

Loneliness in marriage

BTW, I agree, that we need to discuss the parameters, or guidelines, of what we're willing to go along with in terms of donating our poems.

I like the idea of sticking to the original lines, and altering only the bare minimum for cohesion's sake.

I would even go along with altering and adding nothing, At least we'd have continuity across the poems of each participant, enabling a better comparison of results.

Either way, I had a blast. I love entering another person's mind through the poem, and then rearranging things. I feel like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, only way cooler. :)

writerwoman said...

Thanks for all the great lines, fellow poets, and Jilly for creating this site.

Here's mine:

Uninvited

Carolee said...

for me, i'm not concerned how people use my lines or even in each of us using the same "rules". my hope is that when we visit a patchwork poem, we know how that "quilter" has chosen to assemble our pieces.

maybe just introduce the patchwork piece by explaining the method that created it? then we'd each be able to work in a way that works for us even if that way is different each week?

jill? jill? i warned you i opened a can of worms. sorry!

we're all so good at playing nice together i know we can have fun no matter what the rules are even if there are no rules except: credit your sources and tell us how you did what you did.

Christine Swint said...

Hey, I've read everyone's poems, and each one is beautiful and much different than the originals. Thanks, Jill, for offering us this chance to open up our creative minds.

Christine Swint said...

Hey, I didn't mean to sound like a grouch about rules and regulations. I thought PDW was miffed about not following the correct patchwork procedure!

I love this process, and hope we continue as is!

jillypoet said...

hey everyone! i'm back from a crazy day. here's my two cents...while i'm not much into rules (unless we're talking clean up your toys, kids) i do agree that we should follow the general guideline of a cento, or patchwork poem: a poem created from the lines of other people's poems. i'm sure there's another collaborative process wherein you use parts and pieces, phrases and ideas of other people's poems, but for my purposes in this experiment, i intended for everyone to use whole lines of other people's poems. i think there can be some latitude in pronouns, verb tense, but to be a true cento, there shouldn't be any "messing around." i was tempted, for example to change "its" to "her" but did not because i am really trying to learn as much as i can from the form.

so, yes. for cohesion's sake, as mariacristina said, let's say we alter or add nothing. let's stick with the true cento form. then we'll have "continuity across the poems of each participant, enabling a better comparison of results." (couldn't have said it so well, so borrowed mariacristina's words!)

is that ok with everybody?

if we want to alter from our course at some point, we can. i'm all for collaboration in many forms!

thank you all for participating! this is such a fun process!

paisley said...

i took tons of poetic license with the lines this time... much more than was necessary last time..
i am not willing to settle for something that is true to the line, but has little or no voice,, cohesion or meaning behind it..

this time i pared the lines down to the fewest possible words,, not changing tense or adding to in any way,, just sculpted them to suit my needs...

i for one will feel a bit more inhibited to post if the rules become too stringent,, as i am not in the habit of posting "writing exercises"...

i enjoy the input of the lines,, and the ability it gives me to look in other directions than those that my muse alone offers me,, however i would rather have the freedom to create what i see fit to create,, not something that simply complies to a series of rules... and ends reflecting just that...

i live with no rules and write the same way,, anything else is less than acceptable,, in my little corner of the world...

jillypoet said...

I guess you can call me a purist! Here's a quote from the definition of a cento, linked in the sidebar: "The purist refuses to change even the tense of a verb--the trick--the challenge--is to create a new verse, while staying true to the original lines as they are placed into their new mosaic."

That was my own goal in trying this form.

I'm just happy people are enjoying the process!

Carolee said...

christine--i wasn't miffed. not at all. sorry if it seemed that way.

i was just curious how everyone was working and wanted people to share their process so we knew what we were reading: a true cento (a couple were), a cento with a tiny bit of tweaking (me), a found poem, a poem launched with the lines, etc.

i don't have a problem with any of those options, just wanting some insight from each poet as to how she'd proceeded.

jill--thanks for clarifying. i'll do my very very best to continue to use the lines as they are. that will be my goal. although i may have to repeat my disclaimer week to week.

paisley--i like this insight into your process this week. and process, since these lines are not ours, is the crux of the matter. you should never do anything you feel would compromise your standards.

i'll just put it out there that sometimes struggling within limitations can stretch us creatively. that's what this does for me. it's been a writing exercise all along, not just now that the guidelines are better defined.

and i have to disagree with you: all of us live with rules in our lives and in our writing, but that's a philosophical debate that falls well outside the parameters of patchwork poetry. i don't want to hijack this wonderful collaboration to wander down that rocky path. :)

whenever something new begins, the community that participates helps shape it. i think this is a great conversation.

maybe jill wants a blog that's strictly purist patchwork poetry. maybe she wants a blog that's got some purist patchwork mixed with some found poetry and other collaborative efforts. i'm willing to follow her lead.

gautami tripathy said...

This is an interesting argument. Sorry for getting here late. I am yet to read all the entries. Hence I do not think, I should comment here.

However, I will say my bit.

As I understood it, we are supposed to take parts of the works offered and work our poem around it. That to me is not changing anything. I do not know or should I say, did not know what a cento meant but I assumed that we should not change anything.

I was tempted to. Sometimes we need to change the tenses, verbs etc to suit what we want to convey. I think that is an easy way out. Sticking to the original is much tougher.

I think initially we should stick to it slowly diverging from it. Otherwise the very purpose of exercise fails.

My two bits!

PS: Paisley, you do take part in most of the "writing exercises".

:D

Christine Swint said...

To me, when creating a cento, the end result is almost surreal. I think that's what draws me to it. Just like in a mosaic, not all the edges line up evenly. It's a matter of suspending the ego, the controler, in order to allow something new to come out. In that way, the writer can ease up on the usual grammatical standards, or even the desire for flow and continuity.

I'm going to try a new poem this weekend, with the same poems, but not altered one iota. (I just had to say iota. I like that word!) I am a peaceful warrior, and this is a challenge I accept! (Just did many Warrior I and II today. Hee hee.

Christine Swint said...

Here's another version, with no changes. I did eliminate all end punctuation. Does that count?


marriage crisis

jillypoet said...

mariacristina, i agree with you wholeheartedly! it is a magical process. i love the challenge, and, so far, i have loved the outcome. it is refreshing to have all the words laid out for you and to have your only job be the placement. of course, i like writing from my own words, too. (not to offend my muse...)

i am going to try another cento. thanks for inspiring me!

writerwoman said...

I'm fine with tenses being changed in what I donate. I don't believe I changed anything in the lines I borrowed. That was the fun of it. I had to keep searching till I found the perfect line to fit.