Prompt: Today, I challenge you to write a poem backwards. Start with
the last line and work your way up the page to the beginning. Another way to go
about this might be to take a poem you’ve already written, and flip the order
of the lines and from there, edit it so the poem now works with its new order.
This will probably feel a bit strange (and really, it is a bit strange), but it
just may help you see the formal “opening” and “closing” strategies of your
poems in a new way!
I decided to go the revision route. Here is the revised poem. The original draft is below.
Which one do you like better? I'd love to hear.
Happy National Poetry Month!
Green (2)
down the river
a leaf
I will float
into the green
green world
I will bend
my body
into the wild
under shadows
of tree canopy
lichen
mown grass
corn stalks
I will wear
tree frog
warbler
cedar
chartreuse aspen
just before fall
soft underside
of mallow leaves
pea shoot
spring leaf
sagebrush
I will robe myself
Green (1)
I robe myself
I robe myself
in sagebrush
spring leaf
pea shoot
chartreuse aspen
just before fall.
I wear
cedar
warbler
tree frog
soft underside
of mallow leaves.
I grace my self
spring leaf
pea shoot
chartreuse aspen
just before fall.
I wear
cedar
warbler
tree frog
soft underside
of mallow leaves.
I grace my self
with corn stalks
mown grass
lichen
shadows under
tree canopy.
When I walk out
into the wild
no one will see me.
I will blend my body,
fold myself
mown grass
lichen
shadows under
tree canopy.
When I walk out
into the wild
no one will see me.
I will blend my body,
fold myself
into the green,
green world.
I will float,
myself a leaf
down the river
I will float,
myself a leaf
down the river
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