Oct 12, 2015 Original Poetry, Writing 201
Wide Awake, Dream in Lilac Time
©October 12th, 2015
By Vijaya Sundaram
Wide Awake*,
I shut my eyes
in order to see.*
Visions of
Outsider Artists
hang like menaces.
What lies
Within us, and
Within us,
What lies!
Between the lashes
Of your eyes,
Dream in Lilac Time:*
Illusions of perspective
Unmatched in translucence.
Casual waves from the
Pattern of punches.
Selfies might be another matter.
Here, then are faces!*
The face as of a dream, the face of an immobile
rock.*
How quiet the truth and falsehood
Of different selves!
_____________________________________________________________________
Note: ALL THESE LINES are from the following:
A sticker for the Wide Awake Bakery (owned and operated by my brother in law) (on our refrigerator)
I shut my eyes in order to see is from Paul Gauguin– refrigerator magnet
What lies within us is from Emerson — refrigerator magnet
All the rest are from a magazine I used, opening randomly to lines and phrases in different pages — Artscope Sept. Oct. 2015 (dubs itself “New England’s Premier Culture Magazine”).
“Dream in Lilac Time” is the title of Gail Skuder’s foot-wide scroll-artwork, described as a “physical manifestation of lyric and melody.” (from the same magazine, Artscope)
*Here then are faces and The face as of a dream, the face of an immobile
rock are lines from Leaves of Grass:: Poem of Faces by Walt Whitman
Tags: #Writing 201, chiasmus, faces, Found Poetry, Hallucinations, Visions, Walt Whitman
Oct 12, 2015 Original Poetry, Writing 201
I have NEVER done “Found Poetry,” nor have I ever attempted chiasmus as a device, although I knew of it, and had encountered it. It seems that these days I’m doing things that I’ve never attempted. In any case, today’s (Day 6) assignment, in brief, was:
Create a “found poem”
Make it about “faces”
Use “chiasmus.”
I’ve typed up the text of my found poem, which I assembled from tea-bag covers, junk mail, an art catalogue, and a plastic bread-bag. Not having a working camera currently, I took an awkward picture with my MacBook Pro’s PhotoBooth. So, the picture below looks, let’s face it, bad and blurry. However, I shall remedy that when I can get a clearer image with a working camera. In any case, here’s the image, and then, my typed-up text below it, for those who cannot discern the words.
(Oh, and I was thrilled to FIND my chiasmus in the process of looking for words! The first line occurs on line 10 (after the heading, which is “Not When Pigs Fly”): The Power of each woman’s face. The second part of the chiasmus occurs as the punchline, the end: “Face each woman’s POWER.”)
Here’s the poem, in its entirety:
Not When Pigs Fly
©October 12th, 2015
By Vijaya Sundaram
We are women —
Friends of the earth,
Hope,
The People,
wise,
The Majority.
We shall converge on LITTLE DREAMS,
GIVE Clarity.
No Blisters.
Guaranteed.
VISIONS OF THE UNCANNY —
THE POWER OF each woman’s face
EXHIBITS passion,
SUPPORTS MEMORY.
SURVIVING THE ELEMENTS,
ULTRA CONCENTRATED,
OUR MUSIC ROLLS ON.
WE ARE PEACE.
WE ARE the Earth.
face each woman’s POWER!
Tags: #Face, #Hope, #Peace, #Writing 201, chiasmus, Dreamer of Dreams, Found Poetry, poetry challenge!, The Earth, The power of women