Here’s a definition and a little background, Cento: Poetic Form, from
Academy of American Poets, poets.org. In a nutshell, a cento is a poem
comprised solely of a group of lines, each borrowed from a different writer.
I created the class, “Election Blues,” to help me break
through the stunned quiet enveloping me after the election. When Marcia
suggested centos, I felt immediate relief. I could draw on the strength and
power of other writers to “get back home.” That day, I grabbed the volumes
within arm’s reach off my bookshelf, women I admire and love (with the
exception of WCW—he appears in only one of the centos):
Audre Lord
Kay Ryan
Ruth Thompson
Joy Harjo
Colleen J. McElroy
Emily Dickinson
Maxine Hong Kingston
Bhanu Kapil
Sylvia Plath
Joan Swift
Malinda Markham
William Carlos
Williams
Because I was simultaneously teaching a Tarot writing class,
I instinctively used Tarot reading principles as I began the process of making my centos.
When reading Tarot cards, you usually start by focusing on a
question of the heart, shuffling the cards, and choosing cards blind (meaning
the cards remain face down while you are choosing so the images are hidden
until you begin the reading).
When drafting centos, I used the randomly selected volumes of poetry as my
“deck.” I focused on one person related to the election at a time, put my hand
on my heart, and opened to the mix of emotions I was feeling. Each time I let
the book in my hand fall open and let my eye fall on a line.
Once I had copied down roughly ten lines, one from each
volume for each person I was writing a cento for, I brought my writer self to
bear on rearranging the lines into a meaningful order that best reflected my
various states of love, gratitude, fear, and concern.
I was surprised by the richness and seeming appropriateness
of the images and lines that fell, though after having worked with the Tarot
for so long, I was prepared for
synchronicity. Poetry, like Tarot, works powerfully by association and context,
so when you plug in a question or a focus for a Tarot reading, or you plug in a
title or person as the focus for a cento, the associations boomerang back to
that central question, person, or title, causing us to look deeper.
Of course you can argue that any random group of lines can
be made to mean one thing in one context and something entirely different in
another, but it didn’t stop me from trying the form and enjoying the
inadvertent “reading.” I hope that beyond speaking privately and specifically
to me, just as a Tarot reading would, the centos still work as poems on their own. You’ll have to let me know.
I’m honored that five in the series, “A Thank You Letter to
Barack Obama,” “An Open Letter to Donald Trump, “ “An Iris for Hillary,” “Emerald
Dream, For Michelle Obama,” and “Ghost Ribs, For Melania Trump” have been
chosen by Nicelle Davis for an event in Venice, “Poetry Postcards at Beyond
Baroque: write your political concerns to representatives.” The event is hosted
by Nicelle Davis, Armine Iknadossian, and Quentin Ring; please do join us if you are in the area this coming Sunday, April 30, from 1-4. Our generous hosts print up the
poems and provide a space for folks to
gather, address postcards, pen messages to representatives, and read a little poetry aloud. Here’s the Facebook
link to “Poetry postcards at Beyond Baroque.”
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| Hall and Pryputniewicz blockprint |
In case you can’t make it to be with us this weekend, I’ve recorded three of the centos, “A Thank you Letter to Barack
Obama,” "An Open Letter to Donald Trump," and "An Iris for Hillary," as MP3s you can access from my Events page on my main site.
Next time you find yourself poetically blocked or lost I
hope you’ll try writing a cento. Take your beloveds down off the bookshelf and
lean on their strength! Or set the arrow of your intention and curiosity along any line: humor, love, spirituality,
sport fishing—you name it—and see which harvest of poetry lines your deck of books
brings you.
Related links:
I’ll be participating in the Ten Thousand Waves reading at
the Museum of Women in Liberty Station, organized by Katya Williamson; I hope
you’ll join us! Here’s the description from the flier.
Ten Thousand Waves:
Come join us for an afternoon of original prose and poetry. We hope to inspire,
raise awareness, comfort, entertain, and enjoy each other’s company.
4:30-6:30 on May 13th
Women’s Museum, Liberty Station
2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16
92106, SD
Admission: $5
Losing Joan Swift:
In early March, I was heartbroken to learn that the gifted
poet Joan Swift passed away (pictured here on the back jacket of The Dark Path of Our Names, photo by Mary Randlett, 1985). I can’t begin to express my gratitude for Swift's poetry. I first encountered her work as an undergraduate student at UC Davis in
one of Sandra McPherson’s seminars. What a blessing to have been unwittingly
working with Joan’s lines to create the centos in January and February.
If you wish to attend a memorial celebration and reading for Joan Swift, here's a link to an event posted by Poets and Writers, a May 16, 2017 event in Seattle.
