The Artist
This poem was written for Read Write Poem Prompt #33: Wordplay is the New Black. We were encouraged in this word limiting exercise to find a way to compose poems out of a limited number of words. Some possibilities included: Shufflewords, taking words out of a book, using random words flying around in one’s brain. I devised my own way, which was to limit myself to words founds in the lyrics of R.E.M.’s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction. I used the lyrics available at Kipp Teague’s RetroWeb site and wrote a hay(na)ku chain. Enjoy.
-Nicole
——————————————–
light
open-armed
haloed garden colors
rivers
caught in
my painted palms
mountains
harnessed in
my misunderstood eyes
oceans
sky-blue
hidden in dreams
wind
ribbons holler
in the east
my
task – to
read this scene
and
testify in
painted paper prayers
Written 6/28/08
© 2008 Nicole Nicholson. All Rights Reserved.
Stumble It!
Another Haynaku chain, I love it and you did so well working with the word restriction!
cool idea for a constraint on a constraint! hmmn i love radiohead’s newest in rainbows–may have to try something like this!
i es like
wind
ribbons holler
That is remarkable! I think I will try to do this too!
from the palms of my hand, you stand tall
What an intriguing source for this exercise–had to click over to it!
) Lots of wonderful imagery here, and the end is just stellar…
my
task – to
read this scene
and
testify in
painted paper prayers
“Painted paper prayers” has a lot of depth and resonance… it reminds me of saint’s images, prayer flags, rituals of burning prayers on paper. Great piece!
Thank you, all. One advice I would give for this kind of exercise – give yourself plenty of time and let the words that you were meant to use float to the surface. This was written after the fifth attempt. Luckily Mr. Stipe has a rather broad vocabulary.
-Nicole