SESSION ONE: WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT
Often, people enjoy reading poetry, but feel shy about writing their own,
particularly in front of a group. This 'Collective Poem' technique helps
new group members, like lemons, to be rolled gently and warmed to extract
more juice. I call these poems 'Collective' because:
a) they are usually written by three people (a poetry collective).
b) they often seem to tap into a Collective Unconsciousness.
c) 'teaching' poetry always reminds me of "King Arthur" in Monty
Python And the Holy Grail.
KING ARTHUR: "I am your King.'
OLD WOMAN: 'I thought we were an autonomous collective'
Creating a Collective Poem.
Each poet writes the beginning line of a poem, without consulting the other
poets about the subject of a poem. It must be an original beginning (not
quoting someone else) and it has to start with a capital letter and end with
a comma
When each poet has written their 'first line' they fold the paper down, so
the next poet can't see what they have written, and pass their poem on. Then
it is their turn to write the middle of a poem, which starts with the word
such as 'like' and uses a simile (or a metaphor, if they prefer) and ends
with a comma. They still do not tell anyone the subject of the poem.
They fold down the paper and pass the poem on. Then it is their turn to write
the end of a poem (remembering that the previous line ended in a comma) ending
with a full stop. when everyone has written a beginning, a middle and an
end to a poem, unfold the paper and have one person read the poem.
SOME EXAMPLES OF COLLECTIVE POEMS:
(taken, with thanks, from the Mayville Community Centre Poetry Workshop,
Woodville Road, Islington, on June 15th 2007).
The subject for the first round of collective poems, was 'woe' (suggested
by Roger).
WOE
Rain on Leaves in the garden,
Like storms gathering,
And there it is - to sow woe.
Woe rhymes with no
like torrential rain outside
But no one knows
Trees carry green healthy leaves,
Like dead leaves in spring,
through clouds disappearing.
The say 'Wednesday's child is full of woe,
like going upstairs without the need to go,
Birth trees sing with their joy,
and carry heavy loads
of singers' woe
When the poem is unfolded and read by one speaker, it is easy to see how
much work the reader does in interpreting a poem, making logical and poetic
connections.
It is also easy to see how speaking in one voice gives the poem authority
(it must mean something, because someone is reciting it and someone
has written it).
Finally, it teaches the importance of structure in shaping a poem and invites
the next step, which is rewriting and editing the poem to heighten the sound
or the sense of the poem.
Collective Poems are about exploring the Collective Unconsciousness of poets;
they are meant to be anonymous and they are a useful tool for beginning writers,
to help them avoid writer's block and to teach them technique and editing
skills.
In some instances, if the work is good, and the poets' have done three sequences
of Collective Poems, it is also useful to gather the poems and have each
poet read out their own beginning line, middle line and end line. Though
they thought they were writing random lines for each poem sequence, the three
lines written by an individual poet (beginning, middle, and end)
will share a common theme and be recognizable as poems.
EXAMPLE (from above)
The Mayville Poet's three lines , written for three separate poems, put together,
form her own poem, and brings the poet's own sense of rhythm to the poem:
WOE
Rain on leaves in the garden
like torrential rain outside
through clouds disappearing.
After the poets have had three times of writing poems, and
are comfortable with themselves as poets and working together as a group,
start the fourth poem by asking them to write a first line, and fold down
the paper. Ask them to forget what they've written, talk a bit more about
similes and metaphors, ask them to explore an image, a scent, a colour, an
equivalent in another form to the topic the group has chosen for the subject
of the poem (in the Mayville group, the theme was 'Love'.
Ask them to fold the paper down again, to cover the second section of the
poem, and talk about the need to have a summing up, a conclusion, a focus.
What do you want to say about this subject - how do you capture the essence
of love.
Once people have written the last line, have them read their own short lyric
poem. They will all surprise you, and the conventional structure of a beginning,
middle and an end to a poem adds a narrative through-line which makes every
poem have energy.
These aren't just poetry games, or poetry tricks. They are important exercises
to teach (or remind) poets the importance of allowing the audience to make
their own connections, but also the importance of poetry 'sounding' like
a poem and 'looking' like a poem. If it looks like a poem and sounds like
a poem and has meaning for both the poet and the audience, it is a poem.
As I said, I asked the Mayville poets to write a three line poem about 'LOVE.'
Every poem was wonderful, and I can't give you any examples, because every
poet took the poem away with them.
THE SECOND SESSION: REVISING
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