Sunday, September 20, 2009

Poetry Train Monday - 119 - Terribly Lucky



I'm currently reading Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer for the Dewey Reading Challenge.

The writing is so exceptional that I could craft found poems from every single page in this 382-page book.

Here is one little nugget.













Terribly Lucky


By her twelfth birthday
My great-great-great-great-great-grandmother
Had received at least one
Proposal of marriage
From every citizen in Trachimbrod

She forced a blush
Batted her long eyelashes
Said to each, Perhaps no
Yankel says I am still too young


They are so silly, turning back to Yankel

Wait until I pass, closing his book
Then
You can have your choice
Of them. But not while
I'm still alive


I would not have any
One of them

Kissing his forehead
They are not
For me
And besides,
laughing
I already have
The most handsome man
In all of Trachimbrod


Who is it?
Pulling her onto his lap
I'll kill him

Flicking his nose
With her pinky
It's you, fool

Oh no
Are you telling me
I have to
Kill myself?


I suppose I am

Couldn't I be
A bit less handsome? If
It means sparing my life from
My own hand? Couldn't I
Be a bit ugly?


OK, laughing
I suppose your nose is
A bit crooked. And
On close examination
That smile of yours
Is a good bit less than
Handsome


Now you're killing me
laughing

Better than killing yourself

I suppose
That's right
This way I
Don't have to feel
Guilty
Afterward


I'm doing you
A great service


Thank you, then
Dear
How can I
Ever repay you?


You're dead
You can't do anything


I'll come back
For this one favor
Just
Name it


Well, I
Suppose I'd
Have to ask you
To kill me
Then
Spare me
The guilt


Consider it
Done


Aren't we
So terribly
Lucky
To have one another?


- Jonathan Safran Foer, 2002

For more poems, Ride the Poetry Train!

Stan Ski says The rest of us just die waiting for the perfect partner.

Jane Doe says I love how you take these books and turn them into poems.

Vita Stunder says Lovley :)

11 comments:

Stan Ski said...

The rest of us just die waiting for the perfect partner.

Akelamalu said...

There's something for you at my place m'dear. x

Jane Doe said...

I love how you take these books and turn them into poems. Very creative!

annalarssonphotography said...

How creative!
Lovley :)

gautami tripathy said...

I love the way you do the found poems!

glaring nightmare

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on The Great Imagination Award. Was a great comment :) Aloha

Dorte H said...

I didn´t even know he wrote poetry. I knew he wrote well, however, and this poem certainly confirms that.

Thank you for sharing.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Stan - Thankfully, some of us find him (or her.)

Akelamalu - Thanks! ((hug))

Jane - This exercise has been extremely eye-opening for me.

Vita - Thanks!

Gautami - It's been fun to do this all year. In January, however, I'll have some new creations coming.

Thom - Thanks! So many of them had me laughing.

Dorte - The author didn't write the poem, he wrote the prose. Then I took his prose and fashioned it into a found poem. I've been doing found poetry all year, sometimes with my own pieces, sometimes with the prose of other writers.

quilly said...

This very well written, fun-to-read poem reminded me very much of the banter between my love and I.

quilly said...

Oh! and the reason I came by -- congrats on winning The Great Imagination Award!

Anonymous said...

Ah this was so nice and different....
Loved reading it!