poem-pourri

We've (freshmores y yo) been into the poems again this past week, playing with sharks and Gertrude's chicken and GS's directional reflections in Stanza XXXVIII in "Stanzas in Meditation" (Anyone can learn that north of course / Is not only north but north as north).

Vivian Shipley's instructional "What to Do About Sharks" started us off. It's a fun poem: you can find it here. We used the poem as a prompt for other odd instructional manual poems. Here's my riff:

What to Do About Georgian Grain Elevators

1.

Take them to the ninth floor.
Gaze tenderly about you - cash in
on the royal view. Forget temptation,
we're not on about all that, now
are we, dear? Above all, exercise
caution.

2.

Fit it all out in red papeles, but
ignore the temptation to piddle.
Keep cinnamon in her place, she so
nasty in all her juvenile glory. Ashcan wisdom
begs for mercy, but you needn't
reply.

3.

Take it down a foot or two.
Inquire if census forms are filled out
correctly - anyone in the back room?
Tornado corn silks make for nice
appetizers, but don't overdo. Squid always
makes for a better companion.

Next up, we had some rousing fun with Stein's "Tender Buttons [Chicken]. GS's is here; my take follows:

PORRIDGE.

Salted goo, amphibian slice and dice, fishy fingers in fried air.

PORRIDGE.

Slalom slide in Stowe, more stowe than show, more show than stowe, slaloming.

PORRIDGE.

Wide brim brimming brimmingly, brimming at the beach, brimming the icy cups, brimming her frozen hair, evenly black the blacking.

PORRIDGE.

Calculated murk in murky thirds, murking the third birds murkily.

PORRIDGE. (via joni)

Belly full of lazy, all for something shady, maids marian merrying their merry whey.