Two Poems Up at The Literary Nest

My poems “I Feel the Wind” and “Believe Me” are live at The Literary Nest. Both are golden shovel poems, a form created by Terrance Hayes, which uses a line (or more) from an existing poem. Each word in the line is used as the end word in a new poem. Thus if you use a ten-word line, the poem will consist of ten lines. You might read this article to learn more about the form.

The source for both of my pieces was “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks. The great Ruby Dee recites it on YouTube.

19 thoughts on “Two Poems Up at The Literary Nest”

Congrats!

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robert okaji on October 1, 2020 at 3:48 pm said:

Thanks very much, as always, Andrew.

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- Andrew McDowell on October 1, 2020 at 3:52 pm said:
  
  You’re welcome.
  
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Congratulations!

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robert okaji on October 6, 2020 at 4:41 pm said:

Thanks, Leslie!

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Well done. I have always liked this form. (K)

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robert okaji on October 3, 2020 at 6:41 pm said:

Thanks, Kerfe. I’d never tried writing in this form. It’s interesting to work through.

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- memadtwo on October 3, 2020 at 8:52 pm said:
  
  I’d say you figured it out…
  
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I find that a tight structure can, paradoxically, free up my creativity. Did you find that here, I wonder?

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robert okaji on October 6, 2020 at 4:45 pm said:

Forms open new doors for me – force me to choose different paths than I would otherwise take. It sounds contradictory, but constrictions blast open new worlds. My go-to form is the sonnet. Whenever I feel stuck, or just can’t string words together, I write a sonnet. Sometimes they’re not good, but the floodgates open!

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- Dave Kingsbury on October 6, 2020 at 5:07 pm said:
  
  Beautifully explained and very encouraging – it appears the focus on form can release content flow!
  
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  - robert okaji on October 6, 2020 at 5:15 pm said:
    
    Each form offers different releases. Sestinas, for example, force the poet to repeat end words multiple times. The question is how to do so without being obvious and boring. Ghazals require repeated words/phrases, with a rhyme. in writing these, the first thing that comes to mind is often trite, too easy. So we dig deeper, and after multiple excavations, hit the jackpot. If we’re lucky. 🙂 But it’s all about the writing, the trying.
    
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    - Dave Kingsbury on October 6, 2020 at 5:25 pm said:
      
      Thanks, I shall certainly investigate further – starting with my old copy of “Poet’s Manual and Rhyming Dictionary” by Frances Stillman!
      
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      - robert okaji on October 6, 2020 at 5:42 pm said:
        
        That’s wonderful, Dave.
        
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