Poetry Train Monday - 118 - A Map to Anywhere

For my found poem today, I've taken an exercise from Now Write!- edited by Sherry Ellis - and fashioned it into a poem.















A Map to Anywhere


Why are you writing this story?

There comes a point
In the life of many narratives
It helps
To think about this question

You are writing

Not that
There should
Necessarily be
Direct correlation
Between invention
And autobiography, but
Any fiction writer needs to
Engage
The stuff of his own
Real-life predicaments
In order to write
Work that's strange
And alive

Why write?

I suggest the following
Exercise
For stories or novels
That strike
You as competent
But tidy
Dull
Or inert

Are you this story?

At the very least
You'll have
A clearer sense
Of why the tale matters
To you, so
You'll be able to
Crack it open
On an
Emotional level

...why you..?

You'll also come to a
Stronger understanding
The power of setting
Individual perception
The interrelationship between
The two

...why this..?

Take a piece of paper

Use the whole sheet

Draw the map
A meaningful landscape
A neighborhood
A park
An empty lot
From your childhood

This story - why you are writing

Take twenty minutes
Fill in as many specific
Details as
You can

Story writing

Mark the location
Three significant incidents
On the map

You write

Imagine yourself into
One of those incidents
Write a list
Sensory details
Sound
Smell
You associate with
The experience

This is why

Using the most
Evocative details
On your list
Write
The incident
As a two-page scene

Why you write

Finally, write
Another version
Of the scene
Reimagine the experience
From the point of view
Of your central character

Why you are writing this story

- Paul Lisicky, 2006

Photo by Charles E. Doucet

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Mary the Teach says I like it! :)

Akelamalu says Nice poem Julia. :)

Vita Stunder says Great poem Julia!

Poetry Train Monday - 99 - Smiles Saved For the Banquet

Here is my latest found poem. I've taken this from a writing exercise I did almost a decade ago, when I found a wonderful writers' group in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

We met at one another's homes, once a month. We would do writing exercises, and then share pieces of writing we'd been working on. I so enjoyed finding this group. They helped me stay sane when I'd moved from the Big City of Toronto to a fishing town of 8000.

This poem visits one of my favorite stories - the King Arthur/Guinevere/Launcelot love triangle.

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Smiles Saved For the Banquet


Arthur
Turned in the archway
His face shadowed
By the lowering sun

"It is said
You are often found weeping."

"By whom
My lord?"
Guinevere asked
Her tone flat

"By the court.
The servants.
By most,
In fact."

"It is a lonely time
For me, these
Wet months. It
Turns my mind
To my own home."

"So many years away.
It still brings tears?"
Arthur
Took a step into
The room, still feeling
The heavy distance
Between them.

"A woman's world
Is her home,
My lord.
I have no children
To comfort me
Here. My mind
Turns to those days
When I thought
A child was part of
My future. That
Is all."

"So you
Do weep
Then?"

"All women weep
Sire.
Especially
In our rooms
When we are left to
Ourselves.
We save our smiles
For the banquet
And the garden.
We allow our sighs
When we are
Private.
Tis of no
Consequence."

"It is to me,
Lady."
Arthur
Walked to his queen
And stood before her.
"I should like
To take you from
These shadows
If they wring such
Sorrow
From you."

- Julia Smith, 2009 / original piece written April, 2000

Painting: Queen Guinevere by William Morris

Michelle Johnson says I felt as though I was transported back in time.

Thomma Lyn says Wow. I love the Arthur / Guinevere dynamic.

Anthony North says Ah, so much of western cultural output comes from the Arthurian legends.