This is a different sort of writing. A different sort of writing practice. I wrote a cento.
Cento, from the Latin word patchwork. A collage poem, a cento is a poetic form that is composed of lines from other poets’ poems. A true cento is formed entirely from other poets’ lines.
After Votes Are Counted, A Low Simmering Hatred Boils Over
a cento
Weep for the country in its present state.
So fallen! So lost! The light withdrawn –
All night I dreamed of roses
Of morning, the languor of another morning.
Today the headlines clot in my blood.
We need to know in America there is still
blood
for forgiveness.
Let’s look at our loneliness in this desert
The deep night, and birds singing, and clouds flying,
And sleep, and freedom, and the autumnal earth.
When the few true defenders of love and justice survive to tell the tale,
Then, perhaps then, God Bless America.
~~~~~~
from the poets George Horton, John Whittier, Sophie Jewett, Cesare Pavese, Naomi Shihab Nye, Shann Ray, Raul Zurita, Rupert Brooke, John Fuller
About Bo Mackison
