Writing Poesia

I arrived at my Spanish poetry lesson with three new pieces. Eager to receive the careful correction of Angeles (my teacher) and to reflect on the process, I was simultaneously somewhat anxious. I am concerned that, among other things, my limitations with language also crush my creativity. She tried to assure me this was an unwarranted concern. (I am not convinced, but I trudge onward.)She led me in three exercises that were delightful and stimulating for their variety and for what they demanded of my vocabulary. The prewriting before the exercise was a perfectly vigorous warm up before each workout.

The first was to take multi syllabic words and to pick up from the last syllable to form a list of 20 words to assemble into a poem. For example:
Silla
Llama
Madrugada
etc. (see the photo and my poor spelling)

I love the randomness of the constellation of words I ended up with. The result was an intentionally absurd political poem featuring a wolf, a swallow, and, of course, a monkey.

The second activity was to take prepositional phrases and begin the next phrase with what followed the preposition. For example,
The long ride to school.
School with its bright colors.
It’s bright colors against…

The final step was to add one sentence following each of the phrases to fill in the whole story. Excellent.

The third was to imagine three different characters waiting 30 minutes for a bus for three different reasons. Then, I needed to select one and invent the rest of the narrative. In the end, this became a commentary on labor issues. I hope it is more subtle than it feels.

I am even excited about my homework, particularly for the imperative to produce.