Cut Up, Cut Down, Cut Away
What's your trick?
To get out of my head and onto the page, I sometimes need to 'trick' my mind with a Cut Up Poem.
Some writers cut words from magazines and arrange them into lines and stanzas. Others gather, scatter & place their own orphan lines (phrases they wrote but haven't yet placed in a piece) to use as a foundation for a new poem.
Whatever your method — cut up, cut down, cut away, cut back — this approach steers the mind into new territory. The best part of this prompt is the bubble of fresh associations and unexpected themes. You may be surprised where the poem takes you, and even a 'bad' poem is good exercise for the writing muscle.
Traveling, Questions While
Was I born this blistered, all cramp and knots?
Did I grow from scrubby plain to bear
every prickle, thistle and thorn?
Even now, after so many years, I still
travel through noise and discord, winded
and drawn across endless landscape.
Is sadness a habit?
I did not calculate the heart
how heavy this muscle
prone to stutter and stall
how tired and worn.
Who knows why you love
why you can’t and why
you keep trying?
Consider how you carry your
own weather, stormy or steady, how
you study the horizon for every change.
What if you lost your self in the distance
spending your silence on the rise and ache
of this long answerless road?
— Drew Myron
Try it! Share your cut-up poem in the comments section of this blog post.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 8:34PM
Reader Comments (4)
Great idea. Too bad I donated over 500 hundred books last year. Great post!
Hey, it's good to "rehome" your books.
You just never know — one person's castoff could be another's poem making material. :)
I never thought about doing a cut up poem before of my own orphaned lines. That's actually a great idea. I'm starting to get a decent pile of 'orphaned lines' that I still love but don't have a home in any poem yet. I may have to try this!
Lissa,
It's so much fun! And it's a good springboard to something unexpected.
Enjoy, and share your results with us!