Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

How To Write A Poem

Learn to distinguish
Voices
from voices.

Don't say, "who, me?"
Yes, you
with the whole of Heaven at your back.

Call out
mockery,
injury,
flattery,
churchmen...

Love the truth.
Light your own flame.

Burn hard.
_________

At The Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, the fiercely fabulous Mama Zen wants us to peez shut mouf, stuff a sock in it, and stfu already! 35 words or less, she says, and I made it in right at 35.
_____ 

28 comments:

  1. Great approach to the prompt... point taken.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well done. (I'm trying to be Hooveresque here.) An idea.

    k.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW!!!
    This is exactly the you I am coming to know and look forward to!

    ReplyDelete
  4. And it is also Joan of Arc, you talk seriously with a great sense of play.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Even in 35 words, you come out blazing with both barrels. This has such impact, both as a Joan poem and as a metaphor for a lifestyle for any intrepid soul to adopt.

    PS. Had a little laugh at the Zen Cones tag!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love these lines:

    "Love the truth.
    Light your own flame."

    a lot said, in those few words :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. You said it girl, and you said it all in 35 words. Images rocked too! Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  8. OMG! Even in 35 words, you knock it out of the park - with Heaven at your back. Can you still do it in ten? hee hee. But I'm betting you can.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Shay -- The ending of this poem was so great...and very inspirational. I hope that was your intent:~)

    You did a great job with the prompt and the word limit. Word limits can be a bitch now and then. Just knowing you have one can freeze the fingers. Obviously, this did not happen in your case!

    ReplyDelete
  10. And I want this on a poster:

    "Learn to distinguish
    Voices
    from voices."

    Maybe with "Burn hard." at the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Burn hard." You said it all, girl!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love it! I confess, I had to count and even cut a word with this brief assignment.

    ReplyDelete
  13. After reading your comment to me ...I have to be honest your title made me laugh because of the whole no-go on the dining table word-regurgitation! lol Sorry I had to say it...in the light of how to right a poem!! :)

    I love what you've done here, Shay, seriously...cause that's what you do...always...you own your words so well...powerful 35 my poetic friend!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You use words so well. With this one you shot from the hip..I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the last three lines, Shay. Wonderful.
    K

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love your whole page! This poem was very direct and very well put!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Rock on! Also, don't examine what you write, just put words on paper. It'll always be there to fix later.

    And, as Christian Slater said in the movie Pump Up The Volume: Talk Hard.

    ReplyDelete
  18. "Love the truth.
    Light your own flame."

    Just wow--love this!

    ReplyDelete
  19. "Burn hard."

    that sums it all up nicely!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Heaven at your back and burn hard!
    Cool! I was much more literal!

    ReplyDelete
  21. 35 words can apparently say quite a lot. And, bonus points--it's not a haiku!

    ReplyDelete
  22. "Light your own flame"-- LOVE that. Very nice.

    And your "7 Things" a few posts back was A-MAZ-ING!

    xo jj

    ReplyDelete
  23. "Write your own flame/Burn hard." God, if that is not the essence of you and your work, Shay, I don't know what is. You truly wear the armor of the poet and challenge the world. Your spirit is alive, charged. By giving this advice, you are revealing yourself, and I liked that approach. Peace, Amy
    http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/07/28/corner-shelf-onstage/

    ReplyDelete

Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?