The obvious challenge of writing a poem every day for a month is finding inspiration. I know if I get desperate, I can resort to random prompt generators, but I'm planning to save those for emergencies.
Today I'm inspired by music. Most of my favorite songs are by artists whose lyrics are poetic, and one of my favorite bands for good lyrics is U2. I love "The Fly" from their Achtung Baby album, especially the lines: "every artist is a cannibal/every poet is a thief/they all kill their inspiration/and then sing about the grief." For a long time I wondered if those lines were true about myself, because so much of my earlier poetry was based on angst. It took me years to find I could coexist in a state of happiness with my muse.
A couple weeks ago I was listening to this song and started thinking about the concept of cannibalism in writing poetry: stealing lines from songs and arranging them into a poem.
This is rather rough, but I had a lot of fun doing it. In order of appearance, I cannibalized the following: "The Sounds of Silence," by Simon and Garfunkel; "Sorrow," by Pink Floyd; "Wishing it Was," by Santana and Eagle Eye Cherry; "Strength, Courage & Wisdom," by India.Arie; "Temptation Waits," by Garbage; "All My Trials," by Peter, Paul and Mary (and various other artists); "Canned Heat," by Jamiroquai; "I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying," by Sting.
Sing About the Grief
Hello darkness my old friend
sweet smell of a great sorrow
lied the truth I can't pretend
putting off my living for tomorrow
I'm waiting for my moment
too late, but never mind
I know this anger's heaven sent
got to leave the darkness sometime.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
clever!
Amazing how the lines come together to make sense. Love your audio, too! Thanks!
very creative!!.. that was really good putting those one-liners together.. also enjoyed the voice as well...best 30 days to you .. never felt so good abt grief...
oh that was an excellent compilation.. .and the audio really brought it to life...
Post a Comment