Saturday, September 29, 2012



Lené Gary from the blog Counting Petals was kind enough to send me 
the following link to a site displaying spine poetry, the process of creating 
a poem by making a stack of books and reading the spines. I actually 
found this  to be a fascinating progress. It was almost a physical manifestation
 of the process of editing a poem described in Ted Kooser's wonderful 
book The Poetry Home Repair Manual in which ( my interpretation) 
you might move the first line to the end or vice versus or remove
 lines entirely even it is the best single line in the poem or the line that was 
the original impetus for the poem if it prevents the overall
 poem from jelling. I have done this in my own work and felt 
it helped and I removed and rearranged books here for
 the same reasons. I also think this would be a great way 
to get your creative juices flowing before you own writing.
So here are my versions of spine poems. I suspect I will
 create more. Since I used my collection of SF, horror, fantasy and 
poetry  the poems may have a bit of a morbid cast
( insert Vincent Price like evil cackle here ) enjoy.





Thanks Lené


A Wine of Wizardry
Whispers in the Night
Stories That Could Be  True
Death is a Lonely Business
And Afterward, the Dark


Reluctant Voyagers
Pilgrims Through Time and Space
Other Dimensions
The Hounds of  Tindalos
Shambling Towards Hiroshima
Disclosures in Scarlet


The Wind from a Burning Woman
Her Smoke Rose up Forever
Beyond Remembering
Only Begotten Daughter

Monday, September 3, 2012

 
 
Crows are back, Carrack Carrack
The great phalanxes of autumn slipped back unheralded until today,
now they make the aspen tremble, with their heavy bodies, strident calls.
 
Silent  magpies assemble, white chests still gleaming with the rime of winter,
watching these noisy posers, who carried spring home on sleek black wings.
Spring is back, Carrack Carrack