PETTY THEFT
the
snatch
was
a
fluke
the
move
abandoned
denied
for fun
and
fickle income
and
that
power
It was just the only option we
had.
I
feel really weird
Still
it took
risk
© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012
I never should have let myself wander into the poetry section at Barnes and Noble yesterday.
I walked out with three new books: THE BEST OF IT by Kay Ryan, WHERE I LIVE by Maxine Kumin, and NEWSPAPER BLACKOUT by Austin Kleon.
If I accidentally start writing more like Kay Ryan and Maxine Kumin, I somehow think that won't be a bad thing.
And newspaper blackout poems? Those are just plain FUN!
In 2010, I tried a newspaper blackout poem, but after reading Kleon's suggestions for composing, and more of his poems, I decided I would try again.
Writing a newspaper blackout poem takes a lot of trimming back. (This reminds me of Janet Wong's advice here, or Susan Taylor Brown's advice here.)
Writing a newspaper blackout poem means being open to surprises. This article was about a band, and I wound up with a poem that sounds like a punk kid who, after getting caught stealing something, wavers between, "It was an accident!" "I didn't have a choice!" and "I know it was wrong...but it was also kind of fun..."
Murder yesterday, theft today. What will tomorrow bring?
Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku)...and YOU?
