Have you ever felt so trapped, so betrayed, so frustrated, so defeated that you felt completely isolated, totally alone? Have you ever struggled to express feelings you are sure no one can understand — yet you long to share? Each of us is ultimately alone. Yet we can share experience through the language of poetry. Our backgrounds, our opportunities, our circumstances may be unique, but we all long to be part of a community, to reach across our differences to celebrate our commonality. As a person who cannot speak, communication is a challenge. And yet through poetry I can transcend my physical disability, as well as divisions of race, gender, culture, religion, generation, and nationality. Each of us has a poetic heart, and each of us can access it.
To share my love of poetry and to inspire you I would like you to watch a twelve minute TED Talk by Cristine Domenech who inspires violent criminals in high security Argentine prisons to express their isolation, pain and grief in poetry:
https://www.ted.com/talks/cristina_domenech_poetry_that_frees_the_soul
TED Talk by Cristine Domenech: Poetry that frees the soul, Filmed October 2014 (12:37 minutes.)
To experience what it feels like to write poetry, we are going to each write a poem — no experience is necessary. We are going to write a “Decoupé” or Cut-up Poem. This is not an exercise in contemplation or intellect. It is a right brain, spur of the moment exercise — the results of which are often remarkably surprising — and rewarding. It is an exercise in spontaneity — so please do not engage in any research on this form of poetry. The class will begin with a short introduction to the subject, which will not affect your in class efforts which will be more cerebral. The homework should be “instinctual.”
Select 1–3 pages of text (they can be from a single source, or from multiple sources, but not more than three). These can be pages from a magazine, newspaper, non-fiction, fiction, prose or poetry. You may select your text with either complete arbitrariness or from text that has meaning to you. Make a copy of the text that can then be cut into pieces or written on. Cut the text into pieces of 3–6 word phrases or simply circle the same. Gather or note 8–14 phrases or groups of words. Do so completely randomly or with intent which is guided by instinct rather intellect. Arrange the groups of words into 8–14 lines — which will form the basis of your poem and bring it to class. In class we will complete our poems by shaping the phrases or groups of words more consciously. However, for this assignment try not to consciously direct the flow of your poem. Those who would like to share their compositions will be asked to do so toward the end of the class.
