the woods of rorschach

by Jennifer Hines
artwork Tea Rorschach
from Flickr





apples lie in a wooded womb,
centuries old its heart, where a woman walked
evening away eating octopus as beef.
gruff, shaking hands reached for the snail’s borough
inadvertently spinning moon and sun before the taj.
kempt hornet’s nest smoked out by the indian fell,
much like ice cream with cherries, while the man
operating his pipe wilted a flower into a honey pot trap.
quietly he walked along the porcupine grass at wood’s rear
stopping before a poodle chasing a butterfly with its snout.
until the mouse’s teeth like a lion’s became a shiv
waxing his leg did he become a pole jumper, a funny xerox.
yapping from downward facing dog his outstretched arms felt the dance of a hornet’s buzz.

I wrote this poem using 21 images that came to mind after viewing the above picture. I incorporated them into an ABC poem where each line starts with a letter of the alphabet and ends with the next. For example, my first line starts with a and ends with b. The second line starts with c and ends with d. And, so goes the pattern to the end. Hope you enjoy.

1 comment:

Naquillity said...

paisley said...

this looks like a lot of fun,, i want to try it soon.. you did really well keeping it together too!!!

Thursday, March 13, 2008
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Blogger TC said...

I'm always amazed by all of you who can follow formats so well!

Do you feel like it hampers or helps your creativity?

Thursday, March 13, 2008
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TC, I would have to say it hampers and helps creativity. I enjoy trying new forms out so I don't get stuck using the same old format. I feel like it keeps my poetry a bit fresh. Thanks for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
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Anonymous Christine said...

I just wrote one of these too! They are very challenging. This was a great form to choose for the rorchach tea stains, and your title is perfect. I would love to see these lines illustrated in a graphic novel. Wouldn't that be cool?

The words you found for some of the more rare letters are spot on. Can't rave enough about "the woods of rorschach.

Love this:
inadvertently spinning moon and sun before the taj.

And this:
until the mouse’s teeth like a lion’s became a shiv

Better stop, before I've copied and pasted all. :)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

July 4, 2008 at 9:38 PM