For the first Twitter Party on Sept. 9, three of us assembled via Twitter (turned out @shrinkingcamel couldn’t make it). Laura and Eric started, while I was wolfing down dinner. You’ll see the point at which I enter the party and the point where Eric leaves (he had to grade papers). This is how the party developed, in chronological order. If you then look at the posting after this one, you’ll see how the individual tweets were edited into one “twoem.” We won’t do this listing of chronological tweets for every Tweet-Party (the one on Sept. 22 generated more than 100 tweets), but this should give you some idea of how these unfold. Each one of the tweets could almost be a poem in and of itself.
llbarkat: @gyoung9751 @TchrEric @shrinkingcamel Questions, from poemcrazy: freeing your life with words. “Who were you in my dream? What were you eating, wearing, etc?”
llbarkat: I was the mermaid/afraid of ship’s shadows/seining the shallows/for seaweed red/drinking black ink/ the octopus bled.
llbarkat: I was the tears/trailing white/taking flight from/clown apple/cheeks/afraid of living.
TchrEric: Snow white hart/leaping just out of reach/as rivers of tears/streaked frost bitten cheeks/that desired my touch
llbarkat: I was the fish/the mermaid shadowed;/still the tide washed/me to the edges of your dream/where a man/in plaid waited/fork in hand.
TchrEric: man in plaid/golden fork/ desiring food/but finding only crumbs/that do not satisfy
llbarkat: I was the story/in the burning book/leading you beyond/frost and fields/lapped by time/towards a clearing.
llbarkat: I was the fork/golden and shining/pricking crumbs/scattered ‘cross/the white linen/ of your dream.
llbarkat: I was the plaid/crossed and squared/etched in mind/stretched o’er heart.
TchrEric: a clearing ringed and shadowed/ with evergreens /stretching boughs to the heavens/ beneath blue moonlight…
llbarkat: I was the altar/flickering blue/seeking your/praise.
llbarkat: I was the moonlight/ringed by heaven/sent by fairies/to make you/if possible/once again believe.
llbarkat: I was the ever/in the green/the ring in the night/the moon in the blue/I was the one/invading your dream/who sought you.
TchrEric: I was the candle/burning lonely, softly/in a cabin window/across the frozen foam/of the great river/calling you/to warmth and comfort
llbarkat: I was the pane/of glass in the trough/I was the one/who made you cough/when you broke me/to shards/to splinters.
gyoung9751: I was the lateness in the night/that passed through the pane/Of glass, / The wind/that flickered the candle
llbarkat: I was the window/through which you gazed/and you, still wet/ from the river/still bruised/ carried a candle.
llbarkat: I was the wind/that knocked at the glass/that tipped the candle/that burned the kitchen/all that remained/was a golden/fork.
gyoung9751: I was/A drop of wax/Aside the fork, /The gold reflecting/The shattered window.
llbarkat: I was the sound/of shattering/of gold chattering/amidst the wild/wild flames.
llbarkat: The night/chatters, /wishes you/sweet dreams/’til rising.
gyoung9751: The kitchen fire/The fire of hearth/The Teacher Eric/Doth depart.
llbarkat: I was the flame/that laughed/at goodbye.
gyoung9751: A word of wonder/That could impart/A whisper of welcome, /A murmur of farewell/As shrunken camel/eyes the needle.
llbarkat: I was the wax/that blanketed old/marks upon/the table of your/dream.
llbarkat: I was the camel/that knelt/at the eye/of the needle/of your heart/braced for/the shrinking.
gyoung9751: I was the memory/That lay/Behind the departed, /Beyond the cluttered table, /To remain still/Quiet in slumber.
llbarkat: I was the slumber/that threatened/to keep you/past morning/past the setting/of stars.
llbarkat: I was the memory/cluttered with stars/shrinking towards/a black hole/of forgotten/swearing to rise/again beyond time.
gyoung9751: I was not threatened/By slumber, /Nor worried by morning/Crossing my brow/Or furrowing my mind./The stars awoke/My heart/To a new day.
llbarkat: I was the twittering/that rose from/dark corners, /frightened you/to wake /before dawn.
gyoung9751: I was the black hole/Filled by grace, /Rimmed in pastel/Colored with crimson morning.
llbarkat: I was the crimson-/laced grace that/trembled through/time, through blackness/through curtained/dreams.
gyoung9751: There are some really odd bots following me because of these twittered poems.
llbarkat: I was the curtain/that brushed your face/promised to shield/you from day’s/too-bright/arrival.
llbarkat: I was the bot/that wished for a soul/that swallowed your poems/to make me whole.
gyoung9751: I was the morning/Pushing past the curtain, /Mourning the night/Shining the day.
llbarkat: I was the oddness/that twisted the light/crawled up the walls/of your dream/at half-past/midnight.
gyoung9751: I was the wholeness/That became the holy/As walls of dreams/Surrounded the clocks.
llbarkat: I was the mourning/that wept/when you pushed/me behind/the promise/of velvet-curtained/forgetfulness.
gyoung9751: I was the tears/Coursing down cheeks, /Flowing velvet ribbons/Tied to remembrance.
llbarkat: I was the clock/that ticked near the wall/that chimed the hour/the 10:45/that interrupted dreams/holy but not forgotten.
gyoung9751: I was the wish/For a teacher/And a camel/Who instead became/A pastel artist/Of prayers and seedlings/And green inventions./And so to sleep.
- A History of Children’s Stories: “The Haunted Wood” by Sam Leith - May 20, 2025
- World War II Had Its Poets, Too - May 15, 2025
- Czeslaw Milosz, 1946-1953: “Poet in the New World” - May 13, 2025
L.L. Barkat says
Oh, this is too much fun. Making me want another party soon… 🙂
nAncY says
tweetypo !
Eric says
Glynn…you are awesome….I am in agreement with L.L. – – too much fun!