Awakened, He Turns to the Wall (Cento)
Then, everything slept.
Where were you before the day?
You see here the influence of inference,
whereby things might be seen in another light,
as if the trees were not indifferent, as if
a hand had suddenly erased a huge
blackboard, only, I thought there was
something even if I call it nothing,
like the river stretching out on its
deathbed. No one jumps off.
* * *
A cento is composed of lines from poems by other poets. This originated from pieces by: Larry Levis, Jacques Roubaud, Lorine Niedecker, Gustaf Sobin, Denise Levertov, Elizabeth Spires, William Bronk, Vicente Huidobro, Ingebord Bachmann
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 
Interesting! I am learning something new!! Dwight
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It’s a great form, Dwight. And I get to know the poems from which I harvest lines much more intimately.
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Very nice!
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But the title is yours? That in itself is a poem. I just listened to Remains if the Day and your title could be the summation of Stevens arc in the story.
Is each line a line from another poem, or do you have the flexibility to split lines according to your whims? It has such a curious effect. Like looking into a kaleidoscope.
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Yes, the title is mine. I try to use intact phrases, but don’t restrict myself to “lines” as they appear on the page. And of course different poets’ phrases are joined, and line breaks are placed for maximum impact. So it really is a patchwork of words. I don’t use individual words plucked from here and there, but will use lone words if that’s how they appear in the originating poem. They’re much fun, and a bit challenging. My goal is to produce centos that sound like something I would write.
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It is so intriguing, Robert!
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It helps to have a bunch of books lying around. 🙂
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I’m laughing now.
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I learned something new. Thank you.
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You’re very welcome, Malakhai. It’s a fascinating form to work with.
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Beautifully done
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Thank you, Barbara.
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Thanks, I have never heard of this form of poetry before.
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It is a fun and challenging form to work with.
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I know it looks like it would be. I need to write that down, and work on one.
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I picked up a few books of poetry along with my usual 7 or 8 fiction . I love words and I love reading. My problem is retaining what I read. This is intriguing (Nadia) and I would love to read some more from you and whoever else is going to try writing a cento.
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I’m certain to produce more of them – they’re too fun to resist.
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