To get started on a story poem, begin by quickly writing down a sequence of events from beginning to end.
For this poem, try one of the following:
1) Write about something that happened within the past week. This doesn't have to be a major, life changing event. Just start right in and write through a quick draft to get started.
2) Write about something that happened at least five years ago. Pick an event you've had time to reflect on, something that stands out now as playing an important part in who you are today. As you write, don't tell why this event is important, just concentrate on getting your reader into the feel of actually being there. Provide plenty of concrete, specific details to make the story come alive.
Whichever of the above options you choose, keep the poem short, compressed, to the point--no more than 24 lines as an absolute maximum. You may want to write this out first as prose, then add line breaks and stanza breaks when you complete your first draft.
Maybe you can combine the two to find the similarities or differences between the two events.
A beautiful example of a story poem:
TOMATOES
by Stephen Dobyns
A woman travels to Brazil for plastic
surgery and a face-lift. She is sixty
and has the usual desire to stay pretty.
Once she is healed, she takes her new face
out on the streets of Rio. A young man
with a gun wants her money. Bang, she’s dead.
The body is shipped back to New York,
but in the morgue there is a mix-up. The son
is sent for. He is told that his mother
is one of these ten different women.
Each has been shot. Such is modern life.
He studies them all but can’t find her.
With her new face, she has become a stranger.
Maybe it’s this one, maybe it’s that one.
He looks at their breasts. Which ones nursed him?
He presses their hands to his cheek.
Which ones consoled him? He even tries
climbing onto their laps to see which
feels most familiar but the coroner stops him.
Well, says the coroner, which is your mother?
They all are, says the young man, let me
take them as a package. The coroner hesitates,
then agrees. Actually, it solved a lot of problems.
The young man has the ten women shipped home,
then cremates them all together. You’ve seen
how some people have a little urn on the mantel?
This man has a huge silver garbage can.
In the spring, he drags the garbage can
out to the garden and begins working the teeth,
the ash, the bits of bone into the soil.
Then he plants tomatoes. His mother loved tomatoes.
They grow straight from seed, so fast and big
that the young man is amazed. He takes the first
ten into the kitchen. In their roundness,
he sees his mother’s breasts. In their smoothness
he finds the consoling touch of her hands.
Mother, mother, he cries, and flings himself
on the tomatoes. Forget about the knife, the fork,
the pinch of salt. Try to imagine the filial
starvation, think of his ravenous kisses.
Showing posts with label myth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label myth. Show all posts
May 29, 2007
January 08, 2007
from the producing director of the lark
Daily Creator J.E. sent this out via his monthly newsletter but I thought it was worth sharing on this site, particularly given our current search for the identity of a country:
I absolutely love the magical, suspended moment at the end of the December holidays, just before the downbeat of the New Year. At this time each year, I try to rediscover some crucial perspective about the things that matter to me most. In this spirit, I want to share my latest epiphany about the Lark's work and the importance of supporting the unheard voices and new ideas of playwrights.
This year's revelation was prompted by a book I picked up by chance from a table in my mother's house in Madison, Wisconsin, where my wife and I traveled with the kids last week. The book is called 1421: The Year China Discovered America, and I read it straight through like a child reading the latest Harry Potter release.
The author, Gavin Menzies, a retired British submarine captain with a passion for the maps and charts of early European explorers, stumbled upon a Venetian map from 1424 that strangely contained far more information than it should have. By this, I mean that the map in question actually predates the journeys of Bartholomew Dias, Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus; yet it describes, in uncanny detail, the regions that each of these explorers is later reputed to have first charted.
In the book, Menzies presents compelling evidence to prove that Columbus and other European explorers arrived in the New World much later than Chinese fleets dispatched by Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di in 1421. Zhu Di dispatched 800 ships, in what may have been the largest armada in history, to gather knowledge, seek trade partners and create colonies on every continent. Menzies' case is even supported by scientific research that suggests "recent gene flow" may explain the close links between DNA of the Chinese and Native Americans in various parts of the New World.
Of course, fortunes turn quickly in life as well as fiction. Two months after the great armada's departure from China, lightning struck Zhu Di's Temple of Heaven and burned his glorious new city to cinders - a bad omen for an Emperor anointed by the gods. The nearly bankrupt state collapsed, the people rebelled, and the Emperor despaired and died soon after. His reactionary successors adopted a fierce isolationist policy, even to the extent of burning a swath of "no man's land" nearly 100 miles wide all along the state's borders. The entire navy was dismantled, international trade was forbidden and all records of the great armada's exploration were ordered destroyed.
If it is true, Menzies' story is almost impossible to reconcile with my 21st century American world view, shaped by a collectively misunderstood history. Furthermore, this astounding case begs some important questions that relate to many contemporary controversies over land, ethics and so forth: How can we most effectively respond when bedrock ideas and prevailing truths are challenged in this way? How will we maintain an open forum for the discussion and reconciliation of inconsistencies in received history? Is it even possible for society to function in a just and orderly manner while, at the same time, remaining flexible and embracing new ideas?
As these questions raced through my mind, my New Year's epiphany struck with sudden force: The only way to support a strong and adaptable civilization is to practice debate and free expression in every possible way, and, in my opinion, the theater is the best platform ever invented for this purpose. It is every playwright's job to postulate her own revisionist history or imagined world, and every audience's responsibility to accept and respond honestly to this information. It is every theater artist and producer's obligation to assure that this work is strong and it is in the community's best interest to continually challenge itself with new and expansive ideas. Each foray in the theater is a training mission for a time when real-life conflict will arise. The more imaginative and challenging the play, the more prepared we will be when our values are truly tested. As I put down the book, I thought, "Yes! That is an epiphany of some value! That is an idea that can definitely fill the Lark's sails for the next stage of our journey! 2007 will be the best year ever!"
Warm wishes,
John Clinton Eisner
Producing Director
The Lark Theatre
I absolutely love the magical, suspended moment at the end of the December holidays, just before the downbeat of the New Year. At this time each year, I try to rediscover some crucial perspective about the things that matter to me most. In this spirit, I want to share my latest epiphany about the Lark's work and the importance of supporting the unheard voices and new ideas of playwrights.
This year's revelation was prompted by a book I picked up by chance from a table in my mother's house in Madison, Wisconsin, where my wife and I traveled with the kids last week. The book is called 1421: The Year China Discovered America, and I read it straight through like a child reading the latest Harry Potter release.
The author, Gavin Menzies, a retired British submarine captain with a passion for the maps and charts of early European explorers, stumbled upon a Venetian map from 1424 that strangely contained far more information than it should have. By this, I mean that the map in question actually predates the journeys of Bartholomew Dias, Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus; yet it describes, in uncanny detail, the regions that each of these explorers is later reputed to have first charted.
In the book, Menzies presents compelling evidence to prove that Columbus and other European explorers arrived in the New World much later than Chinese fleets dispatched by Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di in 1421. Zhu Di dispatched 800 ships, in what may have been the largest armada in history, to gather knowledge, seek trade partners and create colonies on every continent. Menzies' case is even supported by scientific research that suggests "recent gene flow" may explain the close links between DNA of the Chinese and Native Americans in various parts of the New World.
Of course, fortunes turn quickly in life as well as fiction. Two months after the great armada's departure from China, lightning struck Zhu Di's Temple of Heaven and burned his glorious new city to cinders - a bad omen for an Emperor anointed by the gods. The nearly bankrupt state collapsed, the people rebelled, and the Emperor despaired and died soon after. His reactionary successors adopted a fierce isolationist policy, even to the extent of burning a swath of "no man's land" nearly 100 miles wide all along the state's borders. The entire navy was dismantled, international trade was forbidden and all records of the great armada's exploration were ordered destroyed.
If it is true, Menzies' story is almost impossible to reconcile with my 21st century American world view, shaped by a collectively misunderstood history. Furthermore, this astounding case begs some important questions that relate to many contemporary controversies over land, ethics and so forth: How can we most effectively respond when bedrock ideas and prevailing truths are challenged in this way? How will we maintain an open forum for the discussion and reconciliation of inconsistencies in received history? Is it even possible for society to function in a just and orderly manner while, at the same time, remaining flexible and embracing new ideas?
As these questions raced through my mind, my New Year's epiphany struck with sudden force: The only way to support a strong and adaptable civilization is to practice debate and free expression in every possible way, and, in my opinion, the theater is the best platform ever invented for this purpose. It is every playwright's job to postulate her own revisionist history or imagined world, and every audience's responsibility to accept and respond honestly to this information. It is every theater artist and producer's obligation to assure that this work is strong and it is in the community's best interest to continually challenge itself with new and expansive ideas. Each foray in the theater is a training mission for a time when real-life conflict will arise. The more imaginative and challenging the play, the more prepared we will be when our values are truly tested. As I put down the book, I thought, "Yes! That is an epiphany of some value! That is an idea that can definitely fill the Lark's sails for the next stage of our journey! 2007 will be the best year ever!"
Warm wishes,
John Clinton Eisner
Producing Director
The Lark Theatre
January 04, 2007
myth part two
Your search for myths, folklore, ghost stories, legends and oral traditions should have helped you identify three or four Gods or Goddesses, legendary Kings or Rulers, scary Monsters or magical Beings specific to your region.
For example, I found a character named Vishwakarma, who was a great architect commissioned to build a beautiful house for Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. In return she would give him gold enough to cover his body but Vishnu, the lord of balance, put fleas and ticks inside the gold dust, which made Vishwakarma wiggle around. Laxmi decided that Vishwakarma was moving because he wanted more gold. She put a curse on him.
TODAY'S CREATIVITY CHALLENGE:
Update the stories you found yesterday setting them in the city where you currently live and in the present day. So the above story would be updated by saying:
Juan Carlos Garces, a talented Mexican architect, is commissioned to build a beautiful house in Beverly Hills for Ivana Worthington, an heiress to the Post It fortune. As the dig for her mansion begins, the workers strike into a vein of opal rock delaying work and causing Juan Carlos to have to opt out of another big job. The project seems cursed, everything always falling apart until finally the house is finished and Juan Carlos is about to hand over the keys and they discover the carpets are infested with fleas.
You don't have to write out the full story - we're just looking for "seeds" right now, just jot down your ideas.
Jot down a few ideas to modernize each of the characters or myths that you found yesterday.
January 03, 2007
before history
Yesterday, we began our journey through our chosen country by simply picking a place to focus and finding it on a map. When you checked out its borders, were there any surprises or anomalies?
For example, I’m researching Nepal and Tibet and depending on which map you are using, Tibet is either recognized as a sovereign country or completely swallowed by China. Maybe you found older maps (particularly in Eastern Europe) where just a year or two ago, your chosen country didn’t even exist.
Borders are living things. Fluid not fixed because people, in their bodies, constantly move. When did the current borders come to be? What were the original boundary lines?
What existed before them?
TODAY’S CREATIVITY CHALLENGE:
Before there were governments in place to define your chosen country’s borders and before there were historians writing the official story, there were the myths, folklore, ghost stories, legends and oral traditions that held people together.
Very often these “hand-me-downs” are based on the surrounding topography or the night sky. If you’re having trouble finding the mythology of your chosen country, perhaps pick a specific, prominent mountain or river and research its history to see if any old stories emerge.
Remember, we’re becoming “mini-experts” not getting our PhD here so don’t burden yourself with finding the “perfect” story. Just do a basic Google search and find three or four examples of Gods or Goddesses, legendary Kings or Rulers, scary Monsters or magical Beings that are specific to your region.
For example, I’m researching Nepal and Tibet and depending on which map you are using, Tibet is either recognized as a sovereign country or completely swallowed by China. Maybe you found older maps (particularly in Eastern Europe) where just a year or two ago, your chosen country didn’t even exist.
Borders are living things. Fluid not fixed because people, in their bodies, constantly move. When did the current borders come to be? What were the original boundary lines?
What existed before them?
TODAY’S CREATIVITY CHALLENGE:
Before there were governments in place to define your chosen country’s borders and before there were historians writing the official story, there were the myths, folklore, ghost stories, legends and oral traditions that held people together.
Very often these “hand-me-downs” are based on the surrounding topography or the night sky. If you’re having trouble finding the mythology of your chosen country, perhaps pick a specific, prominent mountain or river and research its history to see if any old stories emerge.
Remember, we’re becoming “mini-experts” not getting our PhD here so don’t burden yourself with finding the “perfect” story. Just do a basic Google search and find three or four examples of Gods or Goddesses, legendary Kings or Rulers, scary Monsters or magical Beings that are specific to your region.
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