Use the poem "Blue Skies, White Breasts, Green Trees" by Gerald Stern (from Chapter II) as a formal model for generating a speaker's poetic testimony of her mistakes, misunderstandings, and misperceptions.
This exercise is taken from The Art of Voice: Poetic Principles and Practice by Tony Hoagland (an excellent book by the way that was both insightful and inspiring).
(What I took to be a poetic calisthenics exercise
turned out to be an exorcism of spirits both benign and belligerent on memory lane)
What I took to be the silent room of a library
turned out to be a bathroom door with scribbled secrets
What I took to be a snowman with a tattoo
turned out to be a skateboard careening downhill out of control
What I took to be a string of fairy lights
turned out to be buttery croissant crumbs luring the future closer...
The future where
What I took to be a birthday cupcake
turned out to be a mental health warning
What I took to be a helium balloon
turned out to be a headless stone statue caught in a drizzle
What I took to be a hairy arm
turned out to be a rejected science-fiction manuscript about time travel
What I took to be your bleeding heart gleaming wetly on the pavement
turned out to be a patch of rust masturbating in front of a mirror -
Good riddance to that.
(9799)
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