Craft & Play Vol. 57

Parts of British Columbia are on fire again, and a blanket of smoke has descended upon the lake, perfectly reflecting the fog that has been swallowing my mind. I sit outside, and I try to write. Ants crawl on my leg as though I am already dead, but still looking for a crumb of words, a morsel of language.

Writers, by nature, document and journal. It is like breathing, like what Julia said to me the other day while I was taking my daughter for her vision therapy. No matter where I go, I always bring a notebook even though I end up not writing. Last week, Julia talked about the distractions that take us away from our work. But what if you are working through some difficult emotions, and your body doesn’t feel hunger or sensitivity for words? The good news is, you do not have to create something out of nothing, as inspiration is everywhere, even when you fall into the bad habit of scrolling at 1 am again.

Which brings us to this week’s prompt. When your well is dry, you have to learn to replenish your well from others. Documentary poems are an interesting way to synthesize everything you take in while doomscrolling. Juxtaposing your poetry alongside quotes from news primary sources can lead to some unique writing. For this week, we used quotes from Robert Pattinson’s Odyssey press tour interviews to craft our poem.

Instructions:

1. Choose a topic you’d like to focus on. It should be some sort of current event/issue. Documentary poems are often very political, but you can pick anything you like

2. Gather quotes from your sources and paste them on the page. Make sure to keep track of where they’re from so you can cite them.

3. Write your verse around it. Don’t worry about things flowing perfectly.

4. Once you’ve got a draft, revise until you like it!

Here is our docu-poem:

The Muse asks the poet, "Where the hell have you been, Loca?"
The notebooks have been left outside by the rain,
pages warping like waves from a storm
running out of Zeus' mouth—
the gods are angry with me for laughing
when this is a serious business, after all,
remaking words into myths should come easily
to someone like me.
Instead, I chortle in the face of the Muse as Antinous proudly declares:
“I think they will be rooting for him. I keep comparing it…
it’s kind of like Jacob in Twilight"
And at that fur started to grow behind my ears and mind,
crowding out the words I need capture the moment
when Antinous devoured Odysseus' cattle
without impunity, but how will one go about butchering
a cow with a ball point pen. Where do you start?
The neck, eye, or stomach. Can you take a bit of flesh each day
like ripping leaves out of your lettuce? Or should we cut it
in two, right down the middle, to make a diagram?
Maybe what they say is right. The Odyssey is just about Penelope, torn
“between the two guys and I’m just trying to like help her
make a decision.… It’s like, it’s fine. He’s dead, get over it,”
And so I lie on the floor like a starfish looking up to the sky,
contemplating the choice between an ancient mob boss and a loving
husband, wondering which has the greater metaphorical impact. Perhaps
it isn’t a choice at all. Perhaps I should get over it, grow calluses on my fingers
So when I hold the pen, I thought it’d be quite nice to see it in Ithaca.
Maybe my poem will be the bad guy this time.
"And he’s like a little sleazy,” The actor said. “I kept saying at my costume fitting,
I was like, ‘I really want to have leopard underpants.’
I want to have it just coming out of my skirt, a little sparkly fur.”

Quotes from Robert Pattinson’s interview

May you all have a blessed weekend!

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For our paid subscribers, this month’s zine, Poet’s Odyssey, is available for download here.