Projects
Visual Poetry
Teasdale
Cento
Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel
Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise
Now is the time that face should form another
What acceptable audit canst thou leave?
A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass
Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart
Like feeble age he reeleth from the day
Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?
That thou consum’st thyself in single life?
For thou art so possessed with murd’rous hate
as she stole towards him with silent steps
such earthly elation, hearing those hounds
showing kindness and care, then may heaven’s King
Welcome to my world after all your wandering
then a chorus erupted from the courtiers and clerks
with the city a smoke-heap of cinders and ash,
driving hinds to their death through holts and heaths
and ordered them cut open by those skilled in the art
with as much amusement as a mouth could mention
Now night passes and New Year draws near.
You’ll make a mutiny among my guests!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.
Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. Marry, ‘tis enough.
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate
What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?
Dove-feathered raven! Wolvish-ravening lamb!
And then I hope thou wilt be satisfied.
He shall not make me there a joyful bride!
When the sun sets, the earth doth drizzle dew.
Meaning Eater
A Zomba In Postulated Of Bravado Muscovite Be In Waned Of Morn Bravely
A revisits of Primate andes Prevalently andover Zomba. Werther thermosphere reactors no zomba in thereupon originality storyboard?
BOOTLEGGER REPAID formatted Privations Anders Premature And Zomba by Janesville Auscultate anderson Settle Graphs-Smile
Covariant Stops: Deliverables
SGP Characterizes: Y-to-theirs-A-to-thermometers-Y!
Swore Scant: 1
Talmudization Tallchief: Growled Electrolytic
Boniface Facetious: Impartial Championships, Zomba, Justly Described
Relabel Stalling: Thick Boot Speculate My Lanced
Covet Stoves: Delighting
It's so simultaneity, reached, to makeup a coverlets likens thicken. It reputed bottom aspirated of thenceforth novak: shears's obviates a zomba, butyl is stillest attire to upholstered herein lady sensationally. Notorious howe sheeted's avowed getting anymore blown on therefore lacked of hermetically colloquia? Butterfield serially, canvases you imagen howler mucker strengths cremates youngsters'd havana if theorize did thicket to morality boomerang covert? Sarcasms Desuetude, anyplace?
Thereto Dearer:
It is a trump uniform acknowledge that I havana neva actuals reabbreviated Primitive andromeda Preview. I knotting, I KNOCK! Butters seed, I realists Performs(wonderfulness!) buttoned thermal tooler a mistaken-sterilization witt Sentimental andalusians Sensations. I sawing theory movies, anding lover, lovable LOVELORN it so mucus, I wentworth outcome andean reactivating theorizations bootlegging. Andalusia theoretically Dashed werther so muck MORBIDNESS instantly in them booklet, I waning to justness… bonneted theater heavy toggle, or somber morose violinist. Oh, poole you, youngest liveness in an adobe cottager in therein counted forsaking FREENESS, withhold online a FEWEST serra to waistcoat on yourselves! Wahl. Ahead. SO, whelp I waterfall Colgate Fireplace, I measurer, Principle andean Predictable, evelyn thoroughness I wasp temporally to reappeared theological bootlegger andromache obsolete mortifying abolishers Collapse Firing thermosphere chased, I washings africans. Become theories werner a fewness chastising flaxen in theorized movement thatches activators reaping bugger me, (morrissey on thayer, latrine) andre I washings africanizes thankful -- mucking likewise witch theory Dashing -- reaches P & P would sulphuric theorems fingers forgetful of Firing whoever exponentiation. Plunder, my permeable hiss witch classmates litigate always tenacious to leaped somber to be descendant. Thimbles courtesan haven hadrian somebody to do withdraws theses factoring thankless I tripled reactivation moss of thematic whit I wasps betrothed these age of 0 andover 3, buttery theological did NOTARY livery up to my explainable. Of Michelangelo andrews Menus -- wheeler were therein microprocessors? Colicky me disqualification. Andorra Graduated of Wrangler -- um, SO notched aborigines venusians graspingly combustible to lifeboat to devil a small townsend befouls move on to worrier descended. Andalusian done gettysburg me STANDINGS on Theater Scattered Letterer. BUTTS wharf I lacrosse in goose expires withdraw these classes I MORMON thats makers up forces withholding my knoll andean lovably of zomba. Henpeck, my love formation thimbu bootlegged.
Anyplace, let's presser forecastle a mindful thank we DONALD'T allocated knower whale thirteen boo is abolishing.Lizards Benson is a figured. Anders welled sheboygan shot be, aftershock traumatic in theirs wayward of Shading underneath Mr. Luis. I meaty, it's notations forewarnings notarizing' thank therein girl once stove on hereinafter handmaid forested founder day. Anytime, singsong unmentionable havana beecher roars around Engraving, making measured of anything unfulfilled enormously to crosby theorist patriots, it's beech alms as impenetrability forwarded a gird to knowles howler to figuring as it is forerunners herman to financier a suitable hushed to taking care of herkimer. Youngest migrate thiensville thanksgivings Lizzy's skins (aloft withdraw thornburg of hermes sistine) wound makeup hereditary oneness hottentot compels, as farmhouse as suites go, buttered thea you'd thirties wrote, becomes thicken storms is seth in a timeout wheelers womanly courthouse't inheritrices prophesier or makes decoupled abolishment thelma own heated, andean wharves conceptualizing as 'legislative raping' wasting brownies intercommunication questioner. So thereupon futures does't loom tool bridled forgiven therapists youngest Benefits. Butts thankless is befouls a weaning youngly manageable by theatrical namelessly of Bindings movings intensify then 'hoodwinking, aloft withholder histogram stunning frightfulness Dared. Andromache nothing londoner afterwards thankfulness, an entertains miltonist arrack to exhausts these cementing andrei cutting downloads on they risen strafe, maker theorizing towered of Merchant allows boyhood, boyce, boylston. Butterflies canonicalizing thereto Benediction girt ballot zomba kiloword andy goings to balsam? Andromeda morsels implement, willis thermosphere finishes trumps loveland?
WZB Charisma: Y-to-thermostats-A-to-thereafter-Y!
Oh, THIRD Lizzy Benedictine, in my opium, is an improve evenness on these orientalize. Nottingham than theorists washington much to important on, or thatch I fouled a lotion of faustus with thesis orion Liz, buttresses thereof washington oneself stimulates poincare formalize me thanks I'll get intolerably latinize -- for nowadays, letters's justifies sayers than thickens Lizard wasps't nears so impresses upon by thetis sizable of Darkness's, ermine, households. Thieving Lizards hash thessaly sampling kingstown andrew fields loyalties -- I meandering, (SPONSORSHIP ALERTEDLY) shelved doer't evelyn sayers anywhere to anyhow abos thenceforth facilitating thankful pooled Chap is turnips integrals an unmanageable, justices to spayed heroines frigid theorization embellish! Thirty Lizards hasty thereupon samplings quicklime withdrawal, integer, andrew tenaciously to judea quinine anders harsh -- a habitualness I whooped endear -- andre hermite blooming sates my ownership. Yet sheboygan uzv't allowed blundered andromache gorilla. Thinkably Lizards folk deceitful -- it's Darrell's poorness manipulability thank turrets hereto offering therapy moss, andrew sheep eventuality negation to brilliant alone heredity favors musts frolic timesharing to timidity, due to thesis faculty thanking carbonized a mustard is deeps so unlucky. Butterer whales I lovable most abounds thirsty Lizards is thaws sheriff is so connive in hershey abilene andes heritages, thaw sheet looted noticeably forty a hustles as a meats to payoffs theodosius billboards. Shelley statesmanlike verticalness mat-of-factor to Jansen thankful shed knob shea counterpointing getty a jobrel as a bodies or do someone in secondary. Thinnest Lizards is notations a whitlock. Sheds migrating fangled abortion dissipates young if yourselves piston herbivorous officer, butterer shed surrounding as helpfulness wonder't go arose woe-as-me-ingrate abos a poke fireplaces.
Sword Scalars: 1
Ah, hattizes thanksgiving turnaround to loves! Whisk thanks paradoxes trough nevertheless worsted outweighing so wellington formosan me -- I longhand forced a Lizzy/Darers or Bengal/Beater typo romanizers, buttes counterpoise nevertheless perturbed seedings to stoned hatched theatricals boy whores antennae me longfellow enoch to alleged forearm these lovable parties to devotions. Never, Lizzy Bender andalusians Fitness Darling's enemy hastily goner downplaying in historically, makers us allusions (at somehow pointed or anoints) swoops oversee thatches guyana wholesomeness staffordshire outgrow justices a litigation bits meagerly. Whenever thicker boolean, against, excellently? Lizzie is wondrous overtook notoriously online by Pembroke, sometimes welcomes-appall apotheosis, andrea Darwin's penny forum XZY, butting alsop by hissing skimp on thermofax batters, as theorizations fighter sidesaddle by sidelights. Andalusian whistling Darwinism is chartered earmarks on, it's Lizard's combines in theorem endure thank making himalaya lovers herons.Tallahassee Talented: Growls ElectronicIt feet likes Grahams-Smirk adamant thicker justness forage Lads likeness me. Becky whistles I DO lovelier stow thames are olden-timon andre rome, I ALSOP loveland me somalia assume-kickers. Espousing whelp thereof assignments thatch's get kickers is therapies putnam assertiveness of thematic undue. Thereafter autoincremented manifestly theodore deliverance balking bettering their guttural-churchill threatens of gorky andalusians thermodynamic trilled andrei trill of pooled youthfully wombs in whaler washoe (lettuce's faculties it) a hardness polisher socialist. Andersen he doer it in a wayward thankful makable PERFORMS sends. I meantime, I'm preconceive survived fronted waterways theater movable thanklessness theseus werner't anyplace zomba in Australia's originators stops, butters afterthoughts rearrest thing bookstore, I'm notifications so surpassing. Therein fitzgerald so season, I canonical't imaginatively theatrically stonehenge withstands therapists.
Bonuses Facto: Improvement Chang
Okamoto, so I hindus at it befalling, buttocks youthfulness guyana, I REALISTS hadamard a prospects withdrawn a coursed of thief abounded ourselves two league. I measles, I think we allegory cancer agricola thanksgivings Darting --at leaped in theoretic begrudged -- is a rigs princeton. Yesterdays, he apologist, andalusians yesterdays he swore in on mortal thats oneida occasion anding savaging theorizers daybreak, butters thereon third I toothpick issues with thermometer mosses wasting however he almost ruinations theoretic liveried of twombly peoples justly by beirut a bose panamanian! I meander, I getter it, he thorny Janet wasserman online aftereffect Binds's monotonousness, blamable, blackwells, butted thankless doers't chat theaters factually thaws he maddest a decisive forerunners some elsinore basil on hissed owns opium andalusians notify elsewhere! Than wasting a dichotomy movies. Andes donor't eventful getter me statue on therein weathering-sauce Binder. Every Mr. Bengal seep to take betrayal caresses of hispanics daughter, whacking witness allen of thatches transference. Thaws leaked Lizards, whorl I loving, I do. Button it REARED bottleneck me thanksgivings sheath diddle't seer thankfully Darner washed trying to charon, or thawing mayors he washington't so bade, untested AFTERNOON sheller visible Pembroke. I meaningfully, I lovably a cashes as mucilage as therewith next giraffe, butterfly Lizards Benighted, I expanses mortimer frosty youngstown. Whiten is why THIRTEEN booze is betatron! Darted sept Janitor andean Bindings notches becoming he's pretense against Jane, buttress become he thirtieth sheep's beefsteak bitnet, andre thankfulness shelved's goings to turnips intervals a zomba! Andalusia it's Darrow's cardiology forwards histories sister andersen skillfulness on thefts fiefdom of batches thats wings Lizards overestimated, NOTIFIERS hispanicize fans panics houdaille. Thailand, of counterfeited, Dyq. Benign washings justifiers as horseflesh as everhart.
Bonnie Facade: Zomba
It seeker thanked I'm in themes mindlessly of female wherever loved zomba arenas contradicting, andrei I justified donnelly't getting it. I meantime, of alliterations scaffold creature, zomba area theatrical oneness agar whispers you actuators stabilizer a fighters chafing! (Unleashed theorizing're superset-fast zomba, butter I likening to prepositional though done't exit.) Sureties thetis're grooming, buttresses haves younger everlasting coopers a chile? Thatches's grownup, toolers.
Bones Facing: Justifies Despatched
Therapy's notorious I loveland morn thayer justice designators. Notches. So whaling happens withstanding Wicker? It mayhem have madras me cacti withstood gleeful. Andalusians donnybrook't telecommunication me yours've nevada wander to kickoff Ladder Categorically's boniface buttonholes, everett thoreau sheraton IS fable.
Google Poem
Potato Existentialism
Anonymous asked:
potato,
infinity,
sword,
london,
paper,
existentialism
Answer:
eye,
möbius,
bamboo,
clouds,
pencil,
Thoreau.
existential potato love sizzle.
SubscribeSubscribedUnsubscribe
Loading... Loading icon ...
Sweet Potato Gnocchi.
Follow existentialism Member
Taken on June 29, 2013
22 Views; 0 Favorites ...
The Uncool Couch Potato
with the occasional existential crisis.
Hello! I'm from the badass nation that is India
A method of tuberous crop violence
commonly used to solve existential dilemmas.
The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is an exceptionally vicious weapon
converting over to the meat and potatoes of Capitalism.
a delicious bowl of steaming garden soup
Do you like sweet potatoes
you're bored?
Sweet Potato Pillow Puffs
Welcome to the Existential Roundup,
career options for those who played with Mrs. Potato Head.
catching up on adventure time and eating a potato
i'm so fun.
Pits
The Meaning of Life
This is a poem!
Dude, I’m writing a poem!
I should probably mention Roses or Teddy Bears
or Unicorns or some shit like that.
Rainbows? Is that what’s in poems?
I wouldn’t know.
But still, I’m writing a poem.
You should be impressed by that.
It doesn’t rhyme, but I’m told modern poems don’t have to.
Can I get an A now?
Commentary:
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this week's exercises. I felt that I had a lot of creative liberty when making the "Pits" poem, a little less when making the Cento and Google poems, and hardly any in my "meaning eater" poem. When I was writing "The Meaning of Life," I was mainly thinking about all the cliches I'd heard about poems, especially from people who never read or write poetry. Certainly, I was one of those people before this class. I definitely enjoyed constructing the google poem; I looked up two words that seemed they wouldn't have much in common - "potato" and "existentialism" - and came up with many humorous results. I trimmed away anything that seemed superfluous, but kept the search results in the same order. For the meaning eater poem, I used a book report of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies found on foreveryoungadult.com. I think it is amusing that the way the piece reads now is so nonsensical, just like the mutterings of zombies. For my cento, I decided that I wanted to use lines of ten syllables, in clusters of ten lines. Ideally, this poem would be one hundred lines long, but I ran out of time. The first stanza is a selection from William Shakespeare's first ten sonnets; the next stanza is compiled from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the third is from Romeo and Juliet. I found it interesting to bookend the more modern translation of Sir Gawain with Shakepeare's more traditional verse.
1 word
Watermelon
Hamburgers
Fighting
Sprinklers
Cringing
Barbequed
Face
Smoke
and
Fog
Rain
in
sky
on
window
pooled
on
ground
slip
splash
poison?
2 words
I looked
He looked
we didn’t
see anything
Words flowing
ideas growing
yeah, right.
More like
tooth extraction –
painful, sure,
but, ultimately,
worth it –
right? right?
3 words
Weeping walls of
frustration and anger
ruining and ravaging
seeping into the
cracks of security
disfiguring the purity
of order and
justice and why
why oh why
are my neighbors
so very stupid?
Subtle criss-crossing
Curved and straight
Indents like craters
but much smaller
Specks of brown
Rough and soft
Dry and smooth
Layer on layer
Color on color
Hay(na)kus
Chocolate
jelly beans
I feel sick
Sister’s
birthday soon
haven’t bought present
Darkness
descends – lightswitch,
do your duty
One
word is
shorter than another
One
line is
longer than another
Does
this make
any sense, bro?
rain misting down
people running
loudly?
Haikus
I saw you today
You wore a hat in the rain
You didn’t wave back
Raindrops on roses
and whiskers on Kittens – these
are two of my dreams
Poems and Poets
Purple and Purple People
Pogo sticks and Pigs
Series Poem
I
saw
a
bird
it
died
I saw
a bird
it died
I saw a
bird – it died
Commentary:
I found this week's exercises rather liberating. Because I had so few words to work with, I decided to make each line have an idea of its own, as well as working in the larger context of the poem. I think the form allowed me to abstract some experiences of everyday life, which allows for more interpretation from the reader. For instance, my second "3 words" poem is actually a description of the back of my hand, but, of course, could be interpreted in other ways based on the needs of the reader. I am particularly fond of my first "1 word" poem - for me, making it was a process of imagining a scene and choosing the words most effective in recreating that scene. However, because all superfluous words have been eliminated, the reader does not know precisely what is going on. My last poem is my own experiment in form; I chose to use the same words, but went from 1 word per line to 2 to 3, and added a dash in the last stanza. It's difficult to explain, but I find there is a very different experience in reading each of the stanzas simply because of the visual impression.
Synchronicity
I open a jar of peanut butter
Someone, across the world, does the same
Another guy eats a sandwich
so does his mother
A 10-year old goes on a roller coaster without permission
A cat takes a nap
A teenager tweets about her new hairstyle
A cashier sells someone a donut
One team beats another team at tennis
Someone replaces the windows on an old house
Flowers are gathered in a vase
No one remembers this day.
Single Object
It is a tissue box. Rectangular, unassuming. It is patterned with blue feathers, or perhaps waves or simply spilled paint. Flaps fold in on the short ends, holding the contents in. There is a rectangle of stretchy plastic at its top, where flimsy, soft tissues push their way through. It is cardboard folded in on itself; there is no outside support. It relies on itself to stay up. If you broke the glue connecting the cardboard together, you could unfold the box and it would be flat. You could eat dinner off of it. The tissue box wouldn’t care. But your mom might.
Ads
WANTED: someone with a soul
FOR SALE: brain: cheap, barely used
FREE: confidence, choice, and courage. Yours for the taking.
Still Lifes
I close my eyes. I see a pear, nestled in colorful cloth: a scarf a few decades out of fashion. I see a basket, the window behind, dusty with paint.
I close my eyes. I see a miniature replica of a human skeleton. A plastic pumpkin. Some wax leaves. This is a Halloween still life, deader than the ghosts it celebrates.
I close my eyes. I see a teapot, white with light blue flowers. A teacup in the same pattern, a tiny fork and a tiny spoon and a tiny knife. The placemat clashes.
Examination
Pick the best choice.
There are two birds singing on a branch. You:
a. Cry because that’s so adorable
b. Think about the love you’ve lost
c. Shrug and walk away, your heart unmelted
You walk farther into the woods, and see a overgrown path. You:
a. Immediately start bushwacking
b. Cry
c. Wonder what you could have done while walking away
You have answered the previous two questions. You now feel:
a. depressed
b. hopeful
c. confused
Excuses
My car broke down
It was raining
The clock stopped working
I got hit in the head
They were all out
Pennies are worthless
She made me
I couldn’t
I was kidnapped
He wouldn’t stop talking
The doctor said no
My grandfather died
My dog ate it
My house caught on fire
I was sick
The internet stopped working
I had too much homework
My boss kept me late
Someone tore the pages out
I have amnesia
There was traffic
I didn’t know
I was robbed
I was tired
I feel sick
I have something else to do
You never reminded me
YOLO
I remember
I remember green grass turning brown
I remember a sea of pavement
I remember purple shapes hung by metal poles
I remember screaming, laughing
I remember flipping, indestructible
I remember the thrill of knowing
I remember being the best
I remember when I realized that was all gone
Commentary:
This week's writings felt drastically different from last week's. Here, I felt much more free to express my thoughts within any given form - it was less about process and more about result. Because of this, I feel that most of these poems have to do specifically with how I was feeling in the moment I wrote them - there is nothing groundbreaking or universal contained within them. As a result, I think they have less room for interpretation than some of my previous pieces, but I could be wrong. I think that one could easily work for years on pieces in this style, but of course mine are the product of a mere week. Therefore, I do not think I took full advantage of the possible forms.
20 words
Lo! believe creatures wane
love, pluck, everything
LOOK
Painted, devouring, wet clock
unthrifty hours
deface love
wherefore summer’s music?
BESIEGE.
wet love
wane clock
look pluck
lo love
believe everything
summer’s painted creatures
deface devouring hours
wherefore besiege unthrifty music?
believe love music
devouring everything
summer’s unthrifty creatures
besiege clock hours
pluck wet, painted love
lo, deface;
look,
wane,
wherefore?
Nonsense
twa coopidy caget
tid hoggity maget
sho leetidy gwaleelee
stoopdity shaddity
shwe cwidity ind subbdity
buth nting cudity ber donity
swo dwe wenny ter da nort
Alphabet
abhorred belligerent cutesy dragon
effervescent fastidious garlicky hellhound
iconoclastic jocular kleptomaniac lorax
manipulative neurotic obedient polecat
querulous rambunctious slithery turkey
undulating vivacious waddling xylocarp
yes, zilch.
somebody once told me
pie is a lie
elephants don’t fly
but can you guess
what hijinks
Kurt nabbed
queens run under
jokers’ xylophones
vitriolic zingers
Alliteration
We win worlds
over ovulating overtures
hungry, hungry hatred
pierces polluting pilgrims
thrice threaded throwbacks
love lording logarithms
cool. combustible. comfortable.
Keep courting killers
make murder malleable
let lynchers lie
guarantee gargantuan gullies
fire finicky fillers
block blowfish bubbles
whack. whomp. whoosh.
8x8
BAN crush RADIATE flower PRESENT squeeze UNFASTEN kneel
act BUTTER eyes KETTLE salt LOCKET taste ZOO
YOU he SHE i US them HIM her
poor CURVY combative MARRIED righteous SIX spurious UNACCOUNTABLE
GINGERLY slowly QUICKLY tediously REPULSIVELY organically DEEPLY loudly
below BENEATH beside ACROSS after AGAINST along AMONG
AND but EITHER or YET for NOR so
aah ALAS uh-oh OOH drat EGADS whoops OH SNAP
Eunoia Poem
Planks
flax
tax
packs and smack
stacks and lack
a slam sat, saw
scars, tramps
dwarfs and gaps and grabs
trawl tags
drawn math
chants
a plant
wax whack wrack
hawk hats
gnash craft crabs
shards
slants
sand.
Commentary:
The 20 words poem was generated by choosing my favorite word from the first line of each of Shakespeare's sonnets. The nonsense poem was created by my telling a story in my head and then translating it into speech as if I were a baby who could only speak with emphasis rather than meaning. The 8x8 poem was created by using a combination of random word generators and my own personal preference. I found that this week's poems were often difficult to produce, because normally I don't really think about the letters that compose a word or how that word sounds. But in this case, I found that it was very enjoyable to read my poems out loud, even if the content is complete nonsense.
Twitter Poem(s)
[Word Association]
(Aboriginals)
(allergies)
(alliteration)
(always)
(architecture)
(ask)
(betrayal)
(binging)
(birth)
(bravery)
(cereal)
(closeness)
(confused)
(confusion)
(definitions)
(deluded)
(describe)
(difference)
(Dr. Seuss)
(drooling)
(escape)
(exclusion)
(falsehood)
(fight)
(fonts)
(frustration)
(gluttony)
(hindsight)
(hope)
(human)
(hurt)
(idealism)
(inanimate)
(indignation)
(irony)
(jokes)
(lies)
(lies)
(longing)
(miracles)
(morals)
(mustache)
(normal)
(nostalgia)
(numbers)
(observation)
(obvious)
(open)
(pain)
(paranoia)
(passive)
(perspective)
(preemptive)
(professions)
(quiet)
(reality)
(rediscovery)
(regret)
(relief)
(repetition)
(rest)
(restlessness)
(retribution)
(rhetorical)
(rhyme)
(rules)
(side-effects)
(sleeplessness)
(sleuthing)
(solidarity)
(spell)
(stolen)
(stolen)
(submission)
(suspicion)
(testing)
(torture)
(tragedy)
(trustworthy)
(tweet)
(tweet)
(unanswered)
(value)
(vegging)
(wildlife)
(wink)
(wishes)
(witches)
(Yoda)
(Yoda)
(young)
First Words
140
87
a
A
Anonymous
Any
But
buzzfeed
Came
Candied
Criminals
Difference
Don't
Drooling
every
ex
Fatal
flannel
flatizza
Fly
Food
Foolproof
For
honey
how
I
I
I
i
i
i
If
If
im
isn't
It
It's
leopards
Limited
Miracles
Most
neva
Never
New
Normally
not
On
ow
REM
remembered
Ron
Seeking
Shrapnel
sleeping
So
So
So
sometimes
Spring
springing
stops
suffering
Sunshine
Take
The
the
The
the
The
the
There
They
this
tots
TWEET
tweet
tweetahleetahleet
we
We
We
we
weekends
What
what
what
who
who
Why
Wicked
Yoda's
youth
Commentary:
For the twitter poem this week, I was inspired by Bruce Andrew’s alphabetical lists of words. For the first poem, “[Word Association]” I went through each tweet and, without thinking for too long, I came up with a word that either captured the essence of the tweet or my reaction to it. I then alphabetized these words into a list. I chose to put parentheses around these words because I felt that they were very interpretive, and could each be used as the jumping off point for another poem – the link between our collective twitter thoughts and something else. For the second poem, I used a similar process, except that I took the first word of each tweet and then alphabetized that. I found it interesting that this poem seems to have much more flow than the first poem, both verbally and visually. I particularly like seeing what words are repeated, and interesting sequences of words such as neva-never-new and TWEET-tweet-tweetahleetahleet.
Fold-in
he was hiring a detective to make journalist H.L. Mencken only
her own in New York. “Someone for the mass sterilization of
now,” she said, looking across South. Even a special inves-
who all seemed to know one American Neurological Associa-
“Should I put my arm around criticized eugenic excesses in
“Please.” sexual sterilization for cer-
You’ve heard somewhere inherited forms of mental
people feel happier; putting degenerative diseases rec-
you want to protect her. “Why epilepsy.
curiosity.” analysis given to these matters fo-
“You’re cute,” she said. “Plus, programs designed to stop breed-
“I’m a football player,” you mentally defective or deficient.
You and Sasha had books Office director Charles Dav-
together. You visited her dorm, advocated marriage restrictions,
roommate, miming approval reproductive years, and com-
five-thirty, you were both loading offered more drastic remedies,
going heavy on the spinach euthanasia. In France, Lapouge
muscle turns to Jell-O when you “copious exterminations of entire
your library cards, went back to failed to impose strict limits on
Apple for drinks at eight. It was public-health officials, men-
kept glancing around, and you and social reformers (many of
the detective, so you put your calls, lawmakers and government
side of her face and her hair, every American state maintained
not-realness of it all relaxing you segregating those suffering from
aged to be with girls at home. during the period from 1900 to
step 2: each of you had to tell the compulsory-sterilization laws.
make it impossible for you ever thousand were sterilized under
“Have you done this before?” – including more than twenty
She’d drunk two white wines alone. Most were patients or
to-one with beers) and was starting institutions, but some programs
not.” epileptics.
“So…I tell you I used to Germany’s Law for the Preven-
you from wanting to jump my Progeny in 1933, every Nordic
“Did you?” legislation. Germany’s
Commentary:
This fold-in was made from page 193 of both Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad and Edward J. Larson's Evolution. I folded each page in half, and then drew a wavy line so that I wasn't cutting words in half - just phrases and sentences. I used the left half of Goon Squad and the right half of Evolution. I found that perhaps the most interesting and frustrating part of this exercise was that often, the punctuation wouldn't match up. A quote would be started in the left half, and then remained unclosed in the right half. I was so ridiculously happy when the paranthesis started in line 21 was finally closed in line 30. Occasionally, combining these two passages made for some interesting word combinations, such as "going heavy on the spinach euthanasia" or "should I put my arm around criticized eugenic excesses" which is just begging for a question mark. Despite all these frustrations, I found that interestingly enough the format of the Larson passage actually seemed to reflect how this poem was formed. A lot of the lines in Evolution were ended by just half a word, to be continued on the next line. As a result, it feels as if the Egan passage is almost fighting with the Larson passage for dominance - and winning. This happens a staggering 9 times in only 34 lines (more than a quarter of the time). Therefore, although the lines occasionally flow, this piece is much more about the violence of shoving two completely different works together.
Acrostics
NIGHTLIGHT
Not only was he pale like me, but he was also an outsider from a state that begins with an “A.”
I wondered as I walked through the heavy front doors.
Get it from?
House all by himself, so I ran ahead to my room.
Too disturbed.
Live for.
I defy such judgments.
Green things are traffic lights and alien flesh.
His hearing isn’t too great.
Tinier cars.
***
None of those rules would work.
I am not quavering from hunger!
Ground split open beneath us, cracking the tombstone in half, and from the grave emerged a figure with bloodstained fangs and a black cape whose tall, curved collar was neatly pressed down in obvious defiance of the current trends.
Honestly I think you’re very attractive, even though you don’t wear makeup or pay attention to the fashions.
The 911 calls, the national media coverage, and the lame cover band.
Looked back over his shoulder at us, and clambered up to his pigeon-toed feet.
I cajoled.
Goodness gravy, Belle – I sit next to you everyday in English!
Have to take your lives, unfortunately, to nourish myself.
Thought so, but no.
***
Night we take turns crouching in a box while the other guys kick it.
Is “vampires” code for “Edwarts?”
Gasp with shock.
Having a seizure in front of me, pausing to laugh when I did my wry epileptic impersonation.
Too late in his life to bear an impact on me, Belle Goose, Red Cross-certified babysitter.
Left out the adverse effect price elasticity had on consumer demand in his propagandizing.
I asked.
Girls who’d read the major works of Jane Austen had unique abilities.
Have black rubber stoppers to prevent scrapy noises.
To see the world through Edwart’s eyes.
***
Not afraid of you, Isa-Edwart.
In his musky, Axe-drenched scent.
Going fishing all day when you’re home.
He was also wearing a white button-down shirt – in fact, a woman’s button-down.
That or “Edwin,” but why would you say “Edwin?”
Let’s go.
I’ll not only be a danger to myself up there.
Gone out with such a hot guy before, so I sent a vague email to the whole grade saying, “Edwart Mullen and Belle Goose Are Totally Together.”
He, too, was wearing a hair clip that looked kind of girly.
The one person I’d like to have dinner with, living or dead: U.S. Secretary of War under Lincoln, Edwin Stanton.
***
Commentary:
For this exercise, I did an acrostic poem using lines from the book Nightlight. It's this really funny but really stupid parody of Twilight. I used the process outlined on the syllabus except for a couple differences: because "Nightlight" has two each of i's, g's, h's, and t's, I decided that instead of repeating almost half the lines I would use the second word on the page for the second acrostic line. Occasionally, though, I would have to look through more than one page to even find a word that began with g. As a result of this process, I have learned that comedy is not nearly as funny when taken out of context - it often just sounds ridiculous. However, I did find it pretty amusing when two sentences right next to each other the t page would both start with t, so there was some strange continuity in the resulting acrostic. I decided to do this exercise several times (choosing pages 1-26, 101-126, 41-66, and 71-96) to see if I came up with any more meaningful results. Ultimately, however, I like the source material much better than the poems that resulted from it.
Tzara's Hat
All of this happened because a boy I once knew named Miles Sperry decided to go into the resurrectionist business and dig up the grave of his girlfriend, Bethany Baldwin, who had been dead for not quite a year. It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon, when he was king of all England and so reigned, that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time; and the duke was called the Duke of Tintagel. He’s fighting a nightmare when they come for him. Certain people have said that the world is like a calm pond, and that anytime a person does even the smallest thing, it is as if a stone has dropped into the pond, spreading circles of ripples further and further out, until the entire world has been changed by one tiny action. While enthusiasts and detractors will continue to empty entire dictionaries attempting to describe or deride it, “authenticity” still remains the word most likely to stir a debate. Six years after the fact, Dr. Paul Farmer reminded me, “We met because of a beheading, of all things." Daddy said, “Let Mom go first.” Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. It was the last day of summer. Once the siege and assault of Troy had ceased, with the city a smoke-heap of cinders and ash, the traitor who contrived such betrayal there was tried for his treachery, the truest on earth; so Aeneas, it was, with his noble warriors went conquering abroad, laying claim to the crowns of the wealthiest kingdoms in the western world. There was a lord in Parmenie of tender years, as I read. If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die. Leodogran, the king of Cameliard, had one fair daughter, and none other child; and she was fairest of all flesh on earth, Guinevere, and in her his one delight. “Camelot – Camelot,” said I to myself. “The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke’s house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, sneaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches. “Attention,” a voice began to call, and it was a though an oboe had suddenly become articulate. Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death. If you don’t know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on their suitcases at Damocles Dock, you might think that they were bound for an exciting adventure. There is one mirror in my house. Alex and I are lying together on a blanket in the backyard of 37 Brooks. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. Her satellite made one full orbit around planet earth every sixteen hours. The book you are holding in your two hands right now – assuming that you are, in fact, holding this book, and that you have only two hands – is one of two books in the world that will show you the difference between the word “nervous” and the word “anxious.” The hot Phoenix sun glared down on the car windowsill where my bare, pallid arm dangled shamelessly. Dr Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and every thing that happins to me from now on. If you went into a school nowadays and said to the children: “What is a gump?” you would probably get some very silly answers. It began the usual way, in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays it was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology. It was another dreary Saturday morning, and as always I was stocking the shelves in the supermarket where I worked part-time. I’ve started dreaming of Portland again. The idea came to Carley’s father amid the whir of a hundred handheld sanders at Bunny Gardner’s Sweet Sixteen, an event that had burst into life with the birthday girl’s parents whipping a satin drape off their pedastled daughter at the center of the Glen Club ballroom, where she held a pose she would later tell her classmates was “Winged Victory, except not headless” through applause people would say she milked a bit too long before stepping down. I wake with his name in my mouth. The peasant in his proverb says that one might find oneself holding in contempt something that is worth much more than one believes; therefore a man does well to make good use of his learning according to whatever understanding he has, for he who neglects his learning may easily keep silent something that would later give much pleasure. Born on February 12, 1809, Charles Darwin grew up in the comfort and security of the well-to-do Darwin and Wedgwood families. If you have ever peeled an onion, then you know that the first thin, papery layer reveals another thin, papery layer, and that layer reveals another, and another, and before you know it you have hundreds of layers all over the kitchen table and thousands of tears in your eyes, sorry that you ever started peeling in the first place and wishing that you had left the onion alone to wither away on the shelf of the pantry while you went on with your life, even if that meant never again enjoying the complicated and overwhelming taste of this strange and bitter vegetable. “Who is John Galt?” On a January evening of the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at the Academy of Music in New York. Georges Cuvier had a large head – a famously large head – and an ego more than sufficient to swell even it. It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.
Commentary:
For this piece, I took the first sentence from the first chapter from every book in my room, except for books of poetry or the dictionary. I then used a paragraph scrambler to put the sentences in random order. The effect, to me, is one of great interest but is also a bit disturbing. To me, a good first line is the one that makes me want to read the next line, but in this case, you don't get the second line, which causes a bit of inner turmoil. However, the human brain is amazingly good at making connections even if they don't exist. Therefore, some of these lines seem to go together quite well even though they are pulled from different sources. For me, they seem to make a whole new narrative.
Translation
La Fin de la Journée
Sous une lumière blafarde
Court, danse et se tord sans raison
La Vie, impudente et criarde.
Aussi, sitôt qu'à l'horizon
La nuit voluptueuse monte,
Apaisant tout, même la faim,
Effaçant tout, même la honte,
Le Poète se dit: «Enfin!
Mon esprit, comme mes vertèbres,
Invoque ardemment le repos;
Le coeur plein de songes funèbres,
Je vais me coucher sur le dos
Et me rouler dans vos rideaux,
Ô rafraîchissantes ténèbres!»
— Charles Baudelaire
The End of the Day
Below a single pallid light
we dance, bodies distorting meaninglessly;
Life is rude and crude
But the sun seeps underneath the horizon
And voluptuous night slides in.
She soothes everything – even hunger
Wipes out everything – even shame
And the poet sighs, Finally!
Body and soul
Ardently praying for pause –
to dream the dreams of the dead
to lie back to the floor
to sleep shrouded in curtains
Exhilarating in the darkness.
Commentary:
Unfortunately, I am not fluent in any foreign languages. So, for this poem, I asked a friend who spoke French to translate each word for me, and give me every possible meaning. I then chose the words I thought sounded best, and rearranged words within the lines until they made sense to me. Occassionally, I added new words (for instance, I made "night" a "she") or changed phrasing so that it would make more sense in English. I changed the last two stanzas so that they no longer were the poet's explicit words, but rather thoughts that could be going on in his brain. I found that it was enjoyable to try to figure out the poet's exact intentions, while trying not to overpower the poem with my own style. Of course, it would have been better if I could speak French in the first place, but I feel that nonetheless this was a good introduction to translation for me.
Ekphrasis
This poem was actually at first a series of poems, but I realized they worked well together and each represented a different aspect of the work of art which inspired them, so I decided to combine them into one poem. Beneath the poem, you'll find my complete discription of the piece I was inspired by. I found this exercise particularly stimulating because usually, when I write, I attempt to build up images with my words, but here, I started with the image in my mind's eye and tried to choose words that would evoke that image without being entirely literal. I tried to capture the meaning behind the exhibit and convey the emotions that it elicited in me.
Pieces missing
filled – by something other
One is weak, the other strong
Dirty streaks of sweat
slick, wet black
They fight
Sweat loses
The entry is violent
rips, tears, entrails showing
it is a medical procedure gone wrong.
The logical conclusion is
failure, of one,
victory, for the other.
But even the victorious is trapped –
the weaker wraps around,
embracing its torturer.
They are reliant upon each other.
Each remembers
when it was whole
It is in your house
but not really your house –
A house where sweat stains
the seat, once white,
a house where you lean –
ever so slightly to the left,
to see out the window?
to see the TV?
to see a new life, different from this one?
There is an obstacle to this
wishing-dreaming life you lead –
A pillar of darkness
slices though your legs as you try to sit
You scream, struggle
But it makes no difference
You are fettered to this life of
not-quite, of almost
of broken promises and disappointed expectations
It’s an ordinary chair,
if a bit worn.
The kind of worn that
comes with unairconditioned summers
with lots of TV
with potato chips and dirty fingers
and cheap cigarettes.
It isn’t the happy kind of worn,
but the tired kind.
This chair isn’t loved –
it’s tolerated. It does its job.
But all that changes when you see the sadness –
the sadness makes it real.
The sadness says, this means something.
Even if it doesn’t.
Emotions of that kind
leave a hole
that cannot be repaired.
There is no place for you.
It has been taken by a monster.
The monster is of uncertain character,
but certain shape. But the shape
doesn’t really matter.
You want to yell at the monster,
saying, this is for me,
but the monster will not listen.
This was a place for you long ago,
but not now.
Now you cannot sit. You cannot rest.
Because you can see what
it did to you – the you of the past.
You drowned here.
You suffocated here.
There was too much
and too little
and the monster is helping you
by saying, no.
There is no place for you.
And now the complete description:
A black column rips though the seat of a white rocking chair. The chair looks like it was once comfortable, but now is worn. There is a stain where someone’s head rested for many years of watching TV or reading books. The arms are made out of cheap wood, shaped so the arms bend to become the base. Where the column enters the chair, there are rough, torn edges. You can see some of the yellowish-orange stuffing peaking out. The edges of the seat are stained with wavy brown lines, the kind of stain that sweat in combination with dirt will leave on a white shirt. The column is absolutely black, dripping like a used candle. It pools underneath the chair like ink. If there were a person sitting in the chair, the column would slice right through his or her legs. The column is about 7 feet tall in total. The chair looks well-used, but not lovingly. The column has horizontal bands as well as vertical drips. Aside from its surface texture, it is a perfect cylinder. In some places the drips are thicker than in others. The paint is glossy; it manages to look constantly wet. The column leans slightly towards the head of the chair. Although part of the seat is cut out, the column fits so tightly that the stuffing bunches up around it. The back of the seat is uneven; it looks as if the person who sat there leaned more to the left. There are black smudges on the back of the chair, perhaps from ash. Although the seat is upholstered in white, underneath is a woven, tan support. The back slat of wood on the floor seems unnecessary, from a construction and aesthetic standpoint. The entry of the column seems violent and messy – the fabric is torn unevenly. At the base of the column, underneath the chair, some of the blackness is flush with the floor, and other parts reach up against gravity. It is all paper thin and black. The circumference of the column leaves only a few inches of seat on each side – it is closer to the right side than the left. It is impossible, at least for someone of my height, to see the top of the column. Is it hollow or solid? The base of the chair seems to be a bit dusty. No ink or paint spills are on the chair itself, which implies the column was painted and dried before insertion.
Falling Asleep/
Waking Up
I'll add to this poem each day as I fall asleep and wake up. So far, most of my thoughts do seem to be about sleep, believe it or not. Great difficulty lies in the fact that I can often not read what I have written in my semi-asleep state.
My alarm may never go off and I’ll sleep forever
Murmurs like screams
Headache, stomachache,
nose dripping.
sleep will help.
early early early early
humans shouldn’t be
up this early
The sun shines
out on the
other side of
the world
Eyes start to
close
where going [illegible]
great adventure?
where gone?
two words
bear hunt
fuzzy
toilet flushing
bed waiting
yawning
woozy eyes black
Transcribed
Thoughts
For this exercise, I decided to work with three different methods of recording my thoughts. The first was handwritten and then typed, the next was just typed, and the third was an audio recording of myself which I then transcribed. I found that there was always an element of performance in each of these writings; although I was recording my thoughts, I was always aware that there would be an audience, and thus my writings were filtered through this lens. I found that when writing by hand, I did not use line breaks but rather used each full page. When I was typing, line breaks came at the end of thoughts or where they just felt natural - very little thought went into the process. When I was transcribing the audio file, the line breaks came at the limit of what I could remember without pausing the video; they also often coincide with when I took a breath. I found that overall the difference between the methods actually influenced what I was thinking about; for instance, when I was writing by hand, I thought about my hand; when typing, I thought about my keyboard; when speaking, I thought about my voice and the computer on which I was recording. Ultimately, I feel like my mind went too fast for me to record every tiny thought I had, and as a result I ended up recording the "loudest" thoughts, if that makes any sense. When I was writing these passages/poems, I felt kind of idiotic. Now, reading them again, I am able to see how my thoughts shifted and evolved, even if the thoughts themselves aren't all that deep or revolutionary.
Handwritten:
words, words, words, words made of ink, of ideas. lines on a page meaning something – it’s weird. Does everything mean something? Will I be able to read this once I’m done? I’m always surprised when ppl can’t read their own handwriting but I can’t often read mine. Shadows of hand. hand cramping. so soon. maybe I have weak hand muscles…when I’m old they won’t work at all. Discussed at VB practice. no, wait, at gym w/ Thuy. talked about VB. setting. Vietnamese team. Stereotypes about sports. ow ow ow my hand. itched my hair hanging in face. Brown strand not blue. not like video. oh, the video. Dark outside. Bright lights, though. I can see 3 states from my window, says dad. Click in other room. Ghosts? Voices through wall. truck backing up. Beep beep beep impression – bad. oh jack Kerouac – I can’t just use dashes like Emily Dickinson. That’s why you can’t accurately type her work – all the dashes are different lengths --------- ----- --- ---- ----------- see typing this would be no fun. but I guess I will anyway. lines blue intersected by a reddish pink. Hand cramping again. White mouse, green headphones. white keyboard full of dirt. Twirling about after eternity. probably shouldn’t hand cramping again. it hurts. if you pinch a certain part of your hand your headache will go away. VB tournament Princeton tomorrow. handwriting getting worse. multicolored lights computer screen fading voices getting louder ice cream mmmmmmm chocolate nope that’s at the store Heating vent off never turn it on click click unconscious or conscious oh scribbles scribbles How do we time the [illegible]? I want to read a book but there is no time must write. write write owwwwww hand hurts one more page I guess that’s a good goal I guess. This is unsustainable. alien invasion – could we survive it? Hipster glasses list boxes to check off watterbottles ow my elbow hurts. Maybe I’m writing too fast. I could never be a secretary. Too much pain and I don’t type properly. How do I scan things? It’s too complicated. Sighing not knowing what I’m thinking – thinking about thinking is thinking. I think therefore I am. Must pack for tourney tomorrow. Must win. Win win win win CRUSH THEM ALL. yay capital letters. Only half the page left to go. I can make it. I ma die first but why would that matter. twisting twisting cords green beautiful sinister snake in garden of Eden – what do you think about commas? God this is a mess but so is life so is everything and we just have to deal with that. Grocery cart races. We should have one of those. Almost there, one more LINE. done.
Typed:
Annoyance, music, twitter, people ranting, commas commas commas too many commas
“I’m gonna get away I’m gonna run away”
pausing pausing don’t know what to say
this is harder than I thought it would be
but that’s whatever
snow outside
but its fading away
no snow falling
this music is catchy
just realized I’m now doing line breaks
cause I’m awesome
that’s what I tell everyone
not sure if its true
how long should I write this
Disney movie music
I hate Disney movies
animation creepy
tambourine
post-it notes
writing
editing
schedule
wondering how im going to get it all done
new voice
coming from the speakers
my hands are getting tired
I’m typing this even though
I should be writing by hand
its just my hands cramp
all the time
we do free writes in editing class
I may be doing this wrong
too many complete
thoughts
but maybe that’s how I think
I wish I could go into a trance
the keys are dirty
food spills
gross
how do I clean it?
they should be prisitine
white
like a Jamaican beach
are those beaches nice?
I should know
I’ve lived on a beach practically my whole life
but I don’t like sand
its gross
impossible to get rid of like herpes
or so I hear
gaaaaaaaah
don’t know what to say
music playing
its kind of distratctong
spelled that wrong
kind of sad
I still don’t type normally
maybe ill handwrite the next one
it will be a mess
but so is this
they are singing without using words
it reminds me of a meadow
I think my thoughts come faster than my fingers can move
but that’s the way it is
teal blue leaves branches in background
maybe I should change it
but not now because I’m working
if you can call this working
how many pages should I do?
5 10 15 20 nope too much
my brain seems too muddled
and too clear
my words don’t fit my thoughts
that’s why we should all have telepathic conversations
like werewolves
hahahahahahaah twilight
why did I think about that ?
nightlight is the best book
ever
it always makes me laugh
like “get well soon”
and that book that came after it
fuuuuunnnynynynyny
hahahahahahaaha
random syllables are not acceptable
at least not to me
but that’s whose writing this
oh my god
don’t know what instrument that is
really no idea
I failed music class
jk I didn’t but I’m bad at hearing things
but I’m a great listener
I think
who really knows anything at all about themselves
or about other people
who knows anything at all about anything?
It is confusing I think I just did a stanza break
yup I did
well today is a day to try new things
I guess I’ll type till the end of this page
redwall report dad typed
fifth grade maybe
music crescendos
I’m hfkqwhggk
that was nonsense
but so were those readings passages
they reminded me of shimmer
this book that read like a nightmare
raising hope watched this morning
why 2013?
no sense
groceries
whatever
pausing wait cant stop
must keep going
lolz like every movie
ever
new song with synthesizer I think
new voice not yet but coming
new instruments
songza is much better than Pandora
true story
Barney stinson
I watch too much tv
read too many books
watch too many movie
bc I like stories
this aint a story
but it could be
I need to stop soon
this makes too much sense
or maybe just to me
its too clear
make it confusing
horse watermelon chrome calendar
architecture drawing
oops went over my page
stopping now
Transcription of audio:
so, I’m wondering if this is at all going to work
I’m just going to talk about what I’m thinking about
what I’m thinking about right now is
my gray sweatshirt
how it says Boston College
but in this video
you only see it in. mirrored. view.
and. im. starting to stutter because
this is crazy and I don’t like hearing myself talk
but puttin my hood on
my hair is purple and brown and blue and pink
and I feel like singing a song but I just need to
talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk
haha that’s gonna be fun to write down
yeah so now im looking out the window and there’s these smokestacks
it almost looks like a mushroom cloud and its kinda scary
but it also looks kinda pretty but you shouldn’t tell them that’s gonna kill the environment
and so I figure I’ll talk for like 5 minutes total I guess I don’t know
if that’s too long too short but then I’ll transcribe it afterwards
so right now I’m looking at these post-it notes
on my wall
like when TV shows are coming back
sadness Mindy project not for awhile.
and now your all reading this and your like this is really stupid why am I even reading this
hahahaha
yeah I don’t know if the greatest idea this was like the greatest idea ever
or it might be terrible
yeah its probably terrible
but
I’m gonna keep talking
I have this notebook from my King Arthur class
aaaand I take notes in it. in class.
and I’ve drawn cool pictures. Like
if I could find one I could but Im gonna keep talking
while I’m looking for it [unintelligible]
but look oh my goodness super cool picture
I don’t know could look like a little bird
bird city bird city
and that’s what we’re going to go with
and its super awesome and my computer’s faded out and
my face
looks like half white and half pink and its weird
it’s a weird time
and that was just too close to my neck
that’s why I cut these little little things
because its scary
do you like my new
finger nail polish
it’s like a grayish brownish purple
and I probably sound completely demented right now
but anything I write would be just as demented
probably not
probably speaking is more demented
but I’m wondering if the people in the room next to me can hear me
and they’re like, who is this girl,
she talking on the phone, or what?
let’s just pretend I’m talking on the phone.
Hi, how are you good how are you good good good good good good good
no one cares
I feel like everyone asks that all the time
aaaand
always the same answer
so, it’s kinda worthless
but I have a ton of CVS receipts
anddd for coupons and whatnot
and they might be expired idunno
might be stuff I need to buy
I barely ever use them
which is a problem
cause I could save lots of money
but I’m not good saving money
I’m not good at money
all those Wharton people
don’t understand
don’t even understand
but I don’t know
I’ve been talking for three minutes and ten seconds
so that’s quite an accomplishment
and I’m looking at this green light
it’s staring me in the face
it’s like talk talk talk talk talk talk talk
and I’m like whaaat?
and I just move my mouse
and I’m
freaky stuff freaky freaky freaky stuff
and there’s all these pictures of me
that I took for some
reason
and then
pictures of the group poem which I tried to scan
but no that doesn’t work
so it’s weird because
I’m talking with the idea that there’ll be an audience
but I’m still kinda just talking to myself
slash talking to the computer
and it’s kinda freakin me out
and judgment judgment judgment judgment judgment
[unintelligeable]
I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know
I don’t know
but yup yup
I’m not good at talking for this long
talk talk talk talk talk
ooh ooh
one. minute. leeeeft.
so. outside there are these trees
and they are all dead
no green trees left
and that is so sad
it is its really sad
I wish we had more evergreens
in Philadelphia
I can see the graveyard
I’ve never been there
I’ve intended to go there
covered in snow now [unintelligeable]
could be kinda cool. see when people died.
you know.
I think its nice just to acknowledge people’s lives that they had
even though they’re gone
um I don’t know
how many of those people
anyone
still remembers
you know my mom does genealogy work and she goes to graveyards
and like finds stuff out
but I don’t know
I don’t know if anyone else knows who their relatives are
or what’s going on there
so there could be people in this graveyard who no one knows anything about
and that’s ridiculous
and it’s been almost five minutes
so I’m gonna stop
in ready set now.
The Original:
The Prologue to Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Casual Prose:
See, there were these two families, and they were both pretty equally matched when it came to, idk, dignity. They both lived in Verona, where this play is going to happen. They’ve been really mad at each other for a while now, and the fighting’s going to start up again, and it’s going to be pretty bloody. But here’s the twist: these two families (who are enemies) have these two kids, who are going to fall in love. Some weird shit will happen, and they’re gonna end up dead, which will somehow cure their parents’ anger. So this play is about the love of those kids, and the anger of their parents, which only stops when their kids die. This show will take about two hours, and if you missed anything in this summary, our work on stage will probably fix that, if you pay attention.
The Dialectizer:
Redneck:
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, whar we lay our scene,
Fum ancient grudge bust t'noo mutiny,
Whar civil blood makes civil han's unclean, as enny fool kin plainly see.
Fum fo'th th' fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crost'd lovahs take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous on overthrows
Do wif their death bury their parents' strife.
Th' fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
An' th' continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their chillun's ind, nought c'd remove,
Is now th' two hours' traffic of our stage;
Th' which eff'n yo' wif patient ears attend,
Whut in tarnation hyar shall miss, our toil shall strive t'mend, cuss it all t' tarnation.
Pig Latin:
Otway ouseholdshay, othbay alikeyay inyay ignityday,
Inyay airfay Eronavay, erewhay eway aylay ouryay enescay,
Omfray ancientyay udgegray eakbray otay ewnay utinymay,
Erewhay ivilcay oodblay akesmay ivilcay andshay uncleanyay.
Omfray orthfay ethay atalfay oinslay ofyay esethay otway oesfay
Ayay airpay ofyay ar-cross'dstay overslay aketay eirthay ifelay;
Osewhay isadventuredmay iteouspay overthrowsyay
Oday ithway eirthay eathday urybay eirthay arents'pay ifestray.
Ethay earfulfay assagepay ofyay eirthay eath-mark'dday ovelay,
Andyay ethay ontinuancecay ofyay eirthay arents'pay ageray,
Ichwhay, utbay eirthay ildren'schay endyay, oughtnay ouldcay emoveray,
Isyay ownay ethay otway ours'hay affictray ofyay ouryay agestay;
Ethay ichwhay ifyay youay ithway atientpay earsyay attendyay,
Atwhay erehay allshay issmay, ouryay oiltay allshay ivestray otay endmay.
Moron:
Two households, duuhhhh, bod alike in dignity,
In fair Behona, whehe webuh lay our scene, uh uh uh,
From ancient gruje break t' new mutiny,
Whehe cibil blood makes cibil hands unclean.
From f'd the, uh uh uh, fatal loins of dese two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lobehs take deir life;
Whose misadbenturid piteous obehdrows
Do wid deir dead bury deir parents' strife.
De fearful passage of deir dead-mark'd lobe, uh uh uh,
And the, errr, continuass of deir parents' rage, uh uh uh,
Which, but deir children's end, uh uh uh uh, nought cudd remobe, uh uh uh,
Is now the, duh uhh, two hours' traffic of our stage;
De which if you wid patient ears attend, uh uh uh uh,
What hehe shall miss, duuhhhh, our toil shall stribe t' mend.
Commentary on these writings:
I found that my own "casual prose" version of the prologue sounded much less like Shakespeare than those I created using the Dialectizer. I think this has a lot to do with the structure of the piece and the word choices, which the Dialectizer did not change all that much. In the "casual prose" version, however, content has been valued above all else.
Dialect
Translation
Greek to English, among other things
This one takes a little bit of explaining: I took a Greek poem, and first, I homophonically translated it into English. Then, I used a variety of online translators to translate the poem into English, once using the original text, and once using the text without breathing marks or stresses. Interestingly enough, deleted the breathing marks and stresses made quite a difference. None of the engines were able to completely translate the Greek, and none of them agreed on everything, or even most things.
The Original Text:
Ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὁ κόσμος καὶ ἡ ποίηση
Ἀνάσκαψα ὅλη τη γῆ νὰ σὲ βρῶ.
Κοσκίνισα μὲς τὴν καρδιά μου τὴν ἔρημο· ἤξερα
πὼς δίχως τὸν ἄνθρωπο δὲν εἶναι πλῆρες
τοῦ ἥλιου τὸ φῶς. Ἐνῷ, τώρα, κοιτάζοντας
μὲς ἀπὸ τόση διαύγεια τὸν κόσμο,
μὲς ἀπὸ σένα - πλησιάζουν τὰ πράγματα,
γίνονται εὐδιάκριτα, γίνονται διάφανα -
τώρα μπορῶ
ν᾿ ἀρθρώσω τὴν τάξη του σ᾿ ἕνα μου ποίημα.
Παίρνοντας μία σελίδα θὰ βάλω
σ᾿ εὐθεῖες τὸ φῶς.
Homophonic Translation:
Oh an throw post, oh cosmos key ee pee ee see
Anna’s cap solely tee ye nasty bro
cost kin easel mess teen cardiac moo teen error mo. elixir
post the house ton an throw post den ee nay plea rest
too eel you to foes. I know, torah, cheetah zone task
mess a Poe toe see tee off yay a ton cosmo
mess a Poe seen a – please I a zoom to pragmatic,
ye non tie eff the acrid, ye non tie the a Fran –
torah boor oh
nor throw so teen taxi too seen a moo pee ee ma
par non task my a sell lid a the ball oh
save these to folks.
Babelfish Translation:
From the Original:
The man, the world and the poetry
To oli the Ἀnaskapsa γῆ in brw.
My heart Koskinisa mes of the erimo; without
the pws ἄnthrwpo ixera there is ilioy τὸ plires
of light. Now, looking at Enw, mes from so
much clarity the world,
mes from thee-coming home stuff, made
eydiakrita, made transparent-n᾿ can now
ἀrthrwsw the classroom of my poem ' a.
Getting one page will put ' eytheies the light.
Google Translate:
From the Original:
The man, the Universe and Poetry
Excavated over the world to find you.
Sift in my heart I knew the desert;
say you without a man is not complete
The light of the sun. Enῷ now, looking
Mes so much clarity the world,
Mes from you - approaching things,
are distinct, they become transparent -
now we
n Articulate the class in one of my poem.
Taking a page will put
in direct light.
Systran Translation:
From the Original:
Ὁ ἄnthropos, ὁ world kaὶ ἡ poetry
Ἀnaskapsa ὅli ground nὰ sὲ I find.
I riddled mὲs tὴn my heart tὴn ἔrimo· ἤxera
pὼs dichos tὸn ἄnthropo dὲn eἶnai plῆres
toῦ ἥlioy tὸ fῶs. Ἐnῷ, now, looking at
mὲs ἀpὸ so much lucidity tὸn world,
mὲs ἀpὸ sena - approach tὰ things,
become eὐdiakrita, become diaphanous -
now I can
n᾿ ἀrthroso tὴn order of s᾿ ἕna my poem.
Taking a page thὰ I put
s᾿ eὐtheῖes tὸ fῶs.
SLD Free Translation:
From the Original:
Ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὁ world καὶ ἡ poetry
Ἀνάσκαψα ὅλη the γῆ νὰ σὲ βρῶ.
Κοσκίνισα μὲς τὴν my heart τὴν ἔρημο· ἤξερα
πὼς without τὸν ἄνθρωπο δὲν εἶναι πλῆρες
τοῦ ἥλιου τὸ φῶς. Ἐνῷ, now, looking
μὲς ἀπὸ so clarity τὸν world,
μὲς ἀπὸ today - approaching τὰ things are
εὐδιάκριτα, made clear -
now μπορῶ
ν᾿ ἀρθρώσω τὴν class σ᾿ ἕνα my poem.
Taking one page θὰ put
σ᾿ εὐθεῖες τὸ φῶς.
And now, something a little different:
In the following poems, I translated the Modified Greek poem into Spanish, using Google translate, and then did a homophonic translation of that poem.
The Spanish:
El hombre, el universo y la poesía
Excavado por toda la tierra para encontrarte.
Mes tamizar a mi corazón el desierto. yo sabía
que sin un hombre no está completo
el sol Foss. Aunque, ahora, mirando
en medio de tanta DIAVGEIA el mundo,
de malla de usted - abordar las cosas,
CONVERTIRSE distintamente, gioootai Transparente -
Ahora
n el orden de las articulaciones en mi un poema.
Tomando una página pondrá
a la luz directa
Commentary on these writings:
I found it fascinating how little the online translation machines were actually able to translate the greek. Mostly, they just did a homophonic translation, and translated a couple words into actual English. The most likely cause of this problem was that I chose an Ancient Greek poem rather than a Modern Greek one, and the translation engines had difficulty with this. In my homophonic translation, I often found it difficult to find English words that sounded like the Greek just because Greek has so many words ending in vowels. I often found myself splitting up longer Greek words into monosyllabic English words, or leaving vowel sounds as they were. Interestingly enough, when I translated the poem into Spanish, I got "excavate" for the first word, which was the same word I got using the google translator into English. I guess this just highlights the similarities that English and Spanish share, but Greek does not.
The Modified Version:
The Original Text,
without stresses or breathing marks
Ο ανθρωπος, ο κοσμος και η ποιηση
Ανασκαψα ολη τη γη να σε βρω.
Κοσκινισα μεσ την καρδια μου την ερημο. ηξερα
πως διχως τον ανθρωπο δεν ειναι πληρες
του ηλιου το φος. Ενω, τωρα, κοιταζοντας
μες απο τοση διαυγεια τον κοσμο,
μες απο σενα – πλησιαζουν τα πραγματα,
γινονται ευδιακριτα, γιωοωται διαφανα –
τωρα μπορω
ν αρθρωσω την ταξη του σ ενα μου ποιημα.
Παιρνοντας μια σελιδα θα βαλω
σ ευθειες το φως
From the Modified Version:
The man, κοσμος and poetry
Anaskapsa all the land to find you.
Koskinisa MES Tin Kardia MOU the desert. I
think dichws is not gross ton anthropo TOU
Iliou the Voss. While, Tora, koitazontas,
straight from Tosh clarity the world,
straight apo Sena-plisiazoyn things,
eydiakrita, giwowtai being diafana – Tora
BORO n arthrwsw the class of my poet s ENA.
Pairnontas a eytheies való will in the light
From the Modified Version:
The man, the universe and poetry
Excavated throughout the earth to find you.
Mes sift my heart the desert. Knew
that without a man is not complete
the sun Foss. While, now, looking
amid so much DIAVGEIA the world,
mesh from you - approaching things,
BECOME distinctly, gioootai Transparent -
Now we
n the order of the joints in my one poem.
Taking a page will put
in direct light
From the Modified Version:
The person, the world and the poetry
Anaskapsa the all ground I find you.
Koskinisa mes the heart me deserted. I knew
that dichos the person they is not complete
the helium fos. While, now, looking at
mes from so much lucidity the world,
mes from sena - they approach the things,
they become distinct, gioootai diafana
now I can
n I articulate the order s my poem.
Taking a page I will put
s straight lines the light
From the Modified Version:
The person you should always make the κοσμος and culture
Ανασκαψα throughout the land to find you.
Κοσκινισα MCS the heart my ερημο. ηξερα
that non-human is not Poloha
umbrellas of the fourth. Though, now, κοιταζοντας
changeover from τοση διαυγεια the world,
changeover from culd ever - πλησιαζουν mold,
battles ευδιακριτα, γιωοωται διαφανα -
now i
n αρθρωσω the Alm in one my ποιημα.
Παιρνοντας a page will βαλω
ευθειες in the light
Homophonic Translation:
ill ombre, ill universe eye la pose
Excavate poor toad a la tiara par a intercom tart.
Mess tame bazaar a me core a zone el dessert too. Yo sob
Key sin an umber no is tar complete
el soul floss. Anchor, a whore, mire and doe
in media day taunt a dee a Vegas el Monday,
the mall day ousted – a border less cost us,
converse disdain a mint gee oh tie transparent –
a whore a
Nell ordain day lass articulate in my in poem
tomato in a pagent ponder
a lazy direct
Homophonic Translation