April is National Poetry Month, so let’s celebrate with the responses to the prompt from March, in all of its glorious wonder. Contributors were asked to provide five words in this format: Adjective, Noun, Verb, Adjective, Noun. You can learn more about the poem and the 20 contributors at the end of the post.
sparse words paint vivid pictures
(a collaborative poem)
careless cowboys singing stupendous sonnets
pestilent guitars loan slow liabilities
recalcitrant ideas spawn useless nonsense
singing Enya soothes my soul
obsessed man plays devious game
rough stone greets random parallax
antique cardboard rusts brown sugar
old washer rattles moldy basement
strong coffee awakens sleepy people
warm bread comforts hungry noses
facetious umbrellas steal beloved elbows
sultry trains await hidden futures
bored crows crowd crowned corn
lofty towers descend yellow corridors
green grapes dance purple grapes
shining shamrocks shade green gypsies
blue kittens run wild toys
spoiled felines crave warm sunshine
talented calligraphers create beautiful art
brilliant words beckon beautiful poems
lively tunes speak grand patterns
opalescent eyes dream golden harmonies
life-giving water sustains life-giving women
feisty females make fabulous friends
delicious nerds dance willing flowers
crazy hearts run roaring times
busy bees hover soft sky
shuddering poplars share modest dreams
colorful birds sing perching branches
free souls want only time
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THE POETS
Jen Tissot
Mindy Hoffbauer
JS
Laurie B
Coriander in the Spice Rack
Robin Murphy
Sue A. Fairchild
The Jackalope
Kay Ross
Chris Johnston
A. Moses
LDA
Lynne
Jack
Ty
Justin Rielly
Yvonne DiVita
Christina
J.M. Roth
JudyW
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THE ARTWORK
Thanks to artist Mark Groaning for sharing the image used with this poem. I gave him just the poem title, and he sent a few photos to choose from. This was the first that came through, which is the one I used, and it was perfect.
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THE POEM
For our March prompt, contributors were asked to provide five words in this format: Adjective, Noun, Verb, Adjective, Noun.
I’ll be honest. As I compiled the 30 lines from 20 contributors, I experimented with tweaking the verb tenses and adding in articles to make more “sense”. That’s no uncommon to do with this prompt, and sometimes I make tiny tweaks in the final poem to help the pieces flow. But in the end, this poem wanted to be presented to the world raw, each line as it was contributed.
I agree. Everyone who reads this will see and hear and feel something different, and that’s the point of these Exquisite Collaboration Poems. But one thing is for sure…sparse words paint vivid pictures. (See what I did there with the title?) The only changes I made were to punctuation and capitalization so it flowed visually.
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OUR POETS HAIL FROM
Rochester, NY
Ohio
Fredonia, NY
New York
Maine
Watsontown, PA
Houston, TX
Hong Kong
Fairport, NY
Minnesota
Binghamton, NY
St. Cloud, Florida
Bangor, Maine
Penfield, NY
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This Exquisite Collaboration Project is based on the Exquisite Corpse, a technique created by Surrealists in the early 1900s, in which participants add to a work with no one seeing what the other participants contributed. My goal is to encourage non-writers and artists to embrace their creative selves in a safe, supportive, “you can’t fail” environment. What began as a way to maintain some sort of connection with other people during the early days of the Covid lockdown has continued to unite strangers from around the world in creative collaboration.
Click here to read the series of Exquisite Poems and to find the links to the current prompt so you can join in the fun.
To learn more about my workshops and upcoming events, or if you’d like to learn how I can support you on your own creative journey with one-on-one coaching, visit my website.
Notes From The Funny Farm 