Imitating poetry
Read this Joy Harjo poem here: How To
Harjo is our current United States Poet Laureate. Write your own list poem about resisting fear, or making art in the chaos. A list poem is a series of free
associations. Do not worry about the final form of this writing, rather, let go and allow yourself to explore your own experiences.
What histories sustain you? Who are the people who support you? What are your own particular “good morning songs”?
There is NO right or wrong here. These writings will build into the next steps we take in the class.
How to Write a Poem in a Time of War
BY JOY HARJO
You can’t begin just anywhere. It’s a wreck.
Shrapnel and the eye
Of a house, a row of houses. There’s a rat scrambling
From light with fleshy trash in its mouth. A baby strapped to its mother’s back
Cut loose. Soldiers crawl the city,
The river, the town, the village,
The bedroom, our kitchen. They eat everything.
Or burn it.
They kill what they cannot take. They rape. What they cannot kill they take.
Rumors fall like rain.
Like bombs.
Like mother and father tears swallowed for restless peace.
Like sunset slanting toward a moonless midnight.
Like a train blown free of its destination. Like a seed fallen where
There is no chance of trees or anyplace for birds to live.
No, start here. Deer peer from the edge of the woods.
We used to see woodpeckers
The size of the sun, redbirds, and were greeted
By chickadees with their good morning songs.
We’d started to cook outside slippery with dew and laughter, ah those smoky sweet sunrises.
We tried to pretend war wasn’t going to happen.
Though they began building their houses all around us and demanding
more.
They started teaching our children their god’s story,
A story in which we’d always be slaves.
Sample Solution
There are a few distinctions to be mindful of when writing a copycat poem. A mimic poem, also called an imitation poem, is an experiment in which you examine an existing poem and adapt its form to your own work. A parody is a witty poetry that is more than just that. It’s meant to parody or criticize another work. Weird Al Yankovic has built a profession out of reworking lyrics to popular songs, such as “Perform this Way,” his new spoof of Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way.” It’s also vital to distinguish between mimicry and plagiarism when referencing other people’s poetry.
