Memoir (Cento)
Your hands touched
everything. Will you
be a fountain
or a sea?
A woman sleeps next to me
on the earth. Now
nothing else keeps my eyes
in the cloud.
Each rock is news.
* * *
A cento is composed of lines from poems by other poets. This was first posted
in April, 2015, and originated from pieces in:
77 Poems, Alberto de Lacerda
Because the Sea is Black, Blaga Dimitrova
Body Rags, Galway Kinnell
Song of the Simple Truth, Julia de Burgos
Love Poems, Anne Sexton
For further information and examples of the form, you might peruse the Academy of American Poets site: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-cento
O at the Edges 
I will have to ponder that question, “Will you be a fountain or a sea?”
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There are days when I’m uncertain. 🙂
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That is clever – great photos too
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Thank you. The photos are from morguefile.com.
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Enjoyed your “Memoir” – for me the catch is in “nothing else keeps my eyes in the cloud” – presenting the quandary is this is desired or not so desired?
I’m also captivated by the lower image – inside a lighthouse looking upward? Whatever it is actually, it also serves as visual metaphor for twisting lines from various sources into a cento … all those boards fitting together, anchored by sparse bits of cable and bolts. Lovely!
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Thanks, Jazz. I do so appreciate these quandaries. The second photo seemed to capture that – which is up, where is down…
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I will have to try a cento. A friend whose college aid package included working for Lick Observatory made a wonderful “found poem” from the titles of the research papers she was cataloging, not as hard as you would think considering they were about the universe and stars.
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Yes, try a cento! They’re fun and challenging. I always feel slightly guilty about them (as if I’m not actually writing), but to be honest they take as much or more time to produce as any other poem I write.
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love this kind of recycled poetry
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It’s fun to assemble a whole from disparate pieces. The challenge is making them fit. 🙂
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yes, time I tried it again
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Each rock is news? how awesome considering that actually, each rock is olds!
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Groan! And thanks for. the chuckle.
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Love the poem and thank you for educating me on the form. ☺
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Try it. You’ll like it, Michael.
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I found the concept immediately intriguing, and plan to give it a shot. Thanks again.
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Wonderful. And you’re very welcome.
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” “Will you be a fountain or a sea?”” – Sea.
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Good to know.
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I have never heard of this before but you executed it brillantly. I will have to give it a try thanks for sharing !
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New techniques, styles and forms often crack open doors to somewhere I’ve never been. Much fun.
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“Each rock is news”. Oh, how I love this line.
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Anne Sexton gets credit for that one!
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I love this! Tender and spacious and full of imagery from the natural world. I’m left feeling calm and curious. A well-rounded poem, well done, well done, well done!
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Sometimes the imagery speaks for itself. And thank you, Lorien.
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Really beautiful! What a wonderful and unique idea. I love the picture!
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Thank you. I wish I’d taken the photos – they’re from morguefile.com.
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Love it!
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Thank you!
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