Tools of the trade
imprints of speech
functions of speech
nooooo not the furniture game
the face of the earth
i am code
forest creatures
Almanac of birds
emergence collection
eat
void poems — how to write a…
what a waste
i wish i was a mountain
i want to be the moon
job qualifications
combining collection
writing accompaniment
— miscellaneous resources
PORCH HAIKU — Hayan Chatarra
On the porch
the men argue,
the cat sleeps.
On the porch—
we shut up for a minute
to hear cicadas.
On the porch
listening to the radio—
no survivors.
On the porch
I watch a dog
eat from the trash.
YOUR TURN
Step 1 — choose a place: A bench or a bus or a lawn or a road or a forest. It can be anywhere. You could make it a place you often are.
Example: In the park
Step 2 — build some haikus. A haiku is made out of three short lines. Often, the middle line is the longest. What happens in this place? How succinctly can you conjure the image?
Example: In the park
a dragonfly is born,
a child watches.
In the park
I climb a cypress tree
to be alone
In the park
a tennis player grunts
and hits a backhand
Step 3 — Extra marks if you can create a moment of surprise somewhere in one of your haikus. In Hayan’s poem, it comes in the third haiku, where the peaceful porch is suddenly intruded on by tragedy.
Example: In the park
a branch cracks, and soon after
so does my ankle
EAT — JOY HARJO
Grasshoppers devour the sunflowers
Petal by petal to raggedy yellow flags—
Squash blossoms of small suns blessed
By dewdrops flare beauty in the morning
Until an army of squash bugs land
And eat, then drag their bellies
From the carnage—
Field mice chew their way
Into the house. They eat anything
Sweet and leave their pebbled shit
In staggered lines to the closet door.
Hungry tree frogs cling to the screen.
Their curled tongues catch anything
With wings driven to the light—
We find a snake hidden on the porch,
There are rumors in the yard
Of fat mice frolicking here.
The night is swallowing
Daylight.
We sit down to eat.
YOUR TURN
Step 1 — choose a verb. A word for something that human beings do. You could chose Sleep or Speak or Wait or Want or Reach or Hold or Touch or Hide. Or come up with your own.
Example: Avoid
Step 2 — choose a scene to set. Where is your poem going to take place? Make it somewhere that has other living things in it, not just humans.
Example: By the river, next to Tescos carpark
Step 3 — do some mind mapping / brain storming, Start with you verb. What comes to mind when you think about this verb? List words / synonyms / phrases/ memories / examples of the verb in action. Don’t merely list words. Invoke elements of reality. Nothing is wrong or right except in so far as it does or doesn’t come alive in you.
Example: procrastination, danger, judiciousness, cravings, dodge, not running people over, worry, like the plague, with a ten foot barge pole…
Step 4 — make another mind map. This time focus on the place you chose. Go there in your imagination and write down anything you see. Pay particular attention to what is alive. Don’t focus on people, but instead on animals and plants and other features of the place. What time of day is it? How does the sky look? Temperature. Details details! List whatever comes to mind.
Example: muddy ducks, seagulls, ants, downpour, storm, warm, muggy, midges, puddles, cats
Step 5 — time to put it all together. EAT is a story made out of images. Each image involves something eating. So, your turn. Come up with images that involve beings (not humans) doing your verb in your place. Make a story out of them.
Example:
Step 6 — The first time Joy Harjo refers to any human beings in her poem is right at the end of her poem. A single simple line, set apart from the rest. ‘We sit down to eat.’ End by describing yourself doing or being about to do your verb.
Example:
