Thursday, September 12, 2013

erasure

 
For the 6th week of the Our Lost Jungle Poetry Form Challenge, the form is erasure.  The poet takes a previously written text and begins to erase text to create a poem. Color or images may be added for a visual effect.
 
I used a page from the book Kansas City Jazz From Ragtime to Bebop--A History by Frank Diggs and Chuck Haddix. I tried to keep the relationship of the words within each line accurate words in the picture, but the spaces between lines are more representative than exact.
 
I enjoyed this form and playing with some photos to go with the poem.  Here is the text:
 
hooked on the blues
 
pecking out blues on the old
upright piano
practiced on the sly
 
Seeing
great territorial bands
inspired to become a musician
 
straggling home in the early morning light
with pockets full of money
 
Finding work scarce
 
stranded in Tulsa
 
auditioning for the piano spot
"I can play those tunes."
 
"Man, we've got a cat here.
 
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4 comments:

  1. Might be your first time but you nailed it! Beautiful picture, too.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Debi. I like this form because it gives me a chance to play with both poetry and photography!

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  2. Michelle, this is wonderful!
    I especially love this line:
    "pecking out blues on the old
    upright piano
    practiced on the sly"
    (which at first I read as "practiced on the sky," which was a charming thought, also)

    And that last line! Delight!

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  3. Thank you, De. I may have to keep "practiced on the sky" for another day!

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