NAPOWRIMO CONTEST // 26th APRIL 2013 // YOU ARE STILL THE SUNSET FROM A PUBLIC OFFICE

And now the prompt. This one’s a bit tricky. Back in 1977, the poet Ronald Johnson first published “RADI OS”, an “erasure” of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. Basically, Johnson took a copy of Milton’s long poem, and systematically erased whole words and even lines, while maintaining the relative position of the remaining words. You can see a brief excerpt here. Today, I challenge you to perform an erasure of your own. Go ahead and copy and paste the text into a document, and then start whiting-out words. Or make a photocopy of a long poem you like, and mark over words on the copy. You can form a whole new poem just by taking words away! Once you’re done, you can leave the spaces as they are (I rather like the “ghosted” look of all that empty space), or take the left-over words and keep playing with them, reforming new poems from them. Happy writing!

 

 

fire is your faithful friend

black eye-liner to go off to war

to the left edge of the galaxy

( the humidity of the garages )

our souls gasping for breathing

for a temporary occupation

it was an endurance race

take me to the blind with you

i’ll be the airship in your inconsolable storms

( give me 50 cents )

couldn’t realize your mirrored earrings

were shooting subliminal flashes

couldn’t realize the lines of your sight

you are a woman a woman a woman

we will put beds everywhere

we will fly dirty mattresses

( the smell of bleach spreads )

we will sleep with our clothes still on

we will be gipsy herons

but all the sparks you make

is not productive enough

such a shame now that you were so near

but you are still the sunset from a public office

( jesus christ hanging on the walls )

you are mine

to betray and shine

i will always keep your eyes as an amulet

in the hidden pocket of my coat

and you will come back from the world

maybe

one day

you will come back home

a.aime 

( translated, adapted, erased and changed )

NAPOWRIMO CONTEST // 16th APRIL 2013 // A VICTIMLESS CRIME

And now our (optional, as always) prompt. This is an oldie-but-a-goodie and it ties in nicely with our featured link! Today, I’d like you to write a “translation” of a poem in a language you don’t actually know. Go to the Poetry International Language List, pick a language, and then follow it to a poet and a poem. Generally the Poetry International website will present a poem in its original language on the left, and any translation on the right. Cut and paste the original into the text-editing program of your choice (and try not to peek too much at the translation). Now, use the sound and shape of the words and lines to guide you, without worrying too much about whether your translation makes sense.Once you have your rough “translation,” you could leave it at that, or continue to shape the poem. It’s up to you. Happy writing!

 

ORIGINAL FORM IN ROMANIAN: Această tristeţe nu este a mea by Doina Ioanid ( this sadness is not mine )

Această tristeţe nu este a mea. E a bătrînilor care nu mai pot urca scările, a copilului care nu poate vorbi, a bărbatului furios de propria-i neputinţă, a acestei primăveri tîmpe ce se hrăneşte cu morţii mei, a femeii care nu-şi mai poate seduce bărbatul, a zilelor ce nu reuşesc să rămînă, a fetei devorate de lumina nordului. Această tristeţe nu este a mea şi cu toate astea nu pot să scap de ea.

 

I WROTE A NEW POEM KEEPING JUST THE SOUNDS OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE WORDS IN AMERICAN ENGLISH ( SO ITS NOT A TRANSLATION, ITS MY WORK )

 

NEW POEM : A VICTIMLESS CRIME

a coast, trust anew in me. and bats won’t care my pot or scars, an eclipse cares a new faith for me, barbarians furious about their repellent properties, accept your primary time, honest, a victimless crime, a female care, my truelove knot is seducing the barbarians, sailor flashes, it’s raining, war cry, a clash dissolves the north light. a coast, trust anew in me, see how cute is the new girl with pot and scars, at the sea.

a.aime