Chill (Cento)
I shiver a little, with the evening,
and you print a shadow like a thin twig.
Wait for my death, then hear me again.
He believes a pomegranate is a thesaurus,
the thundercloud, tomorrow’s puddle. Is
this hunger unlike that of others?
When a drowning man calls out,
his voice follows him downstream.
Why am I grown so cold?
A cento is composed of lines borrowed from other poets. “Chill” owes its existence to: James Wright, H.D., Ingeborg Bachmann, Eduardo C. Corral, Blaga Dimitrova, Forrest Gander, Yusuf Komunyakaa, and Adelaide Crapsey.
“Chill” first appeared on the blog in March, 2016, and was subsequently published in Long Exposure in October 2016.
O at the Edges 
pomegranate as thesaurus … hmmm … will chew on that awhile!
I like the thought of voice moving downstream after a drowning body calls out – that last words hang in the air for just a bit longer. Yet indeed, a chilling thought.
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Trying to weave a common thread through these lines from such diverse poets is great fun. I never know what to expect, and the lines seem to fall in place and offer readers (at least I hope) something more to discover.
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Your Centos are always intriguing!
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They often take more time to produce than my own original creations. Funny how that is. 🙂
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How interesting … I had not heard of the centro form until now. I love this. It has great imagery.
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Centos are great fun to assemble. It helps to have a lot of books lying around…
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I have done something similar with song titles but only the once!
https://poetryandpaintingsblog.com/2018/12/05/a-sentimental-journey-with-21-old-songs/
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I’ve thought about doing one with song lyrics, but haven’t gotten around to it. One of these days! I like your song title poem!
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Thank you 🙂
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I read this, your Cento, on Wednesday, and your definition of a Cento as well… And that night (early morning Thursday?), in my sleep, I was trying to create a Cento of Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, and Edward Lear… Yes, I was two poets short, but still, such inspiration! I think, next time I dream, I will try to apply to the Okaji School of Poetry… 🙂
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A dream cento! I’ve revised poems in my dreams, but have never assembled a cento while asleep. That would be an accomplishment!
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