How to Write a Poem: Jealousy Can Serve
It’s true. I love this red flag: jealousy.
Jealousy is that piquing of the soul: “I’m not happy. I want. Why not me?” It’s a key which I never, ever throw away (nor chide myself for). You could say I honor emotions for what they try to tell me—rather than judging them, feeling guilty, or sweeping them aside. As humans, we’re built to feel. I like to pay attention.
Paying attention to emotions is a great start. But if all we do is feel and sit still, it is quite likely we will drown in our feelings. So I always act. (And, sometimes, yes, my action is the seemingly sit-still choice to wait and figure things.)
Yes, I sometimes wait. But other times I act immediately. That’s how it went with my Jealous Poem Stacks.
I was reading the poems in Satellite Convulsions and feeling very simplistic. Such words these poets use! Such style they sport!
Part of me knows I’ll never be the kind of poet who uses complex words, but I didn’t care to shoo the feeling away. Instead, I took a very simple action and wrote down the words I loved. Unusual words. Words that felt good in the mouth. Words I’d never heard. Words I wished were mine. I sprinkled a few mundane words between. No one is really going to call these poems. They are poem stacks. Good for starting something. Good for jealous days.
Jealous Poem Stacks
Satellite, pp. 36-46
Deniers
shudder
desire’s
pallina
galehot
rapt
hard
licked
unobstructed
labyrinth
pillowed
passages
pledge
gelato
unknow
Satellite, pp. 1-35
Plum
jacaranda
eaves
weft
blurred
gestures
interlaced
symmetric
rotation
striation
suffused
crest
vertigo
autumnal
umbilical
pewter
marigolds
tongued
riverbeds
wandering
collide
nothing
desists
no
siren
chimes
surfeit
Teaching With Poem Stacks
Now the really fun thing is that I thought I was done with my poem stacks. I thought they were a private deal. It’s not like I was going to do anything further with them.
But last week I taught a workshop, and I wanted to get across the idea of how “mining” is part of the writing process. I brought a pile of books on rocks and minerals, North American birds, trees, wildflowers, mushrooms. And I asked the workshop participants to “mine” the books for words or phrases they loved, which they could then simply stack. The exercise was presented at two possible levels:
1. just “mine” and stack
2. “mine” and stack to answer a question like “How will I find my way?” or the Susan Wooldridge Goldsmith question “Who were you in my dreams?” (Or you could make up your own question or switch one of these around, like Donna did below.)
The results were most wonderful when participants read their stacks back to us. What might have initially felt like nonsense to the participants suddenly made sense, especially at the level of sound. Poems were being born, if only in the simplest way. And that is something to which I like to pay attention.
Who was I in your dream?
I was the
magnificent
descending
wail
rattling
voice
shink
shink
shink
I was the
green
winged
kestrel.
Who were you in my dream?
details
hardness
carbonates
cleavage
rhombohedral
transparent
powdered
invisible
beautiful crystals
obsidian
primitive
razorsharp
concentric
crystalline tourmaline
weathered surface
rocksalt luster
subvitreous
visibly biogenic
conchoidal fracture
Who were you in my dreams?
star lily
immortal
bright yellow
tiger lily
the golden color of ripe wheat
ghost flower
lemony
golden ear drops
devil’s claw
fragile prickly pear
Poem Stack
Yuccas
Palmettos
Bipinnate
Catawba
Baldycypress = Swamp cypress
Loblolly Pine = Mud Puddle Pine
Persimmon = Possum Wood
Fringetree = Old Man’s Beard
Wild Olive = Devil wood
Pinckneya = Fever Tree
Poem Stack
paw paw
edible autumn
dry to moist woodlands
husk
conspicuous
petallike bracts
poisonous lookalikes
phragmites
spotted touch-me-not
storksbill
rocky crevices
unadulterated
nanny berry
—LW Willingham
How Can I Find My Way? (unfinished, based on poem stack above)
Next to the edible autumn,
between the conspicuous paw paw,
follow the husks, the petallike
bracts that grow out
of rocky crevices.
Avoid the poisonous touch-me-nots.
Turn when you see the storksbill,
keep going past the nanny berry
and the phragmites…
—LW Willingham
Try a Poem Stack?
How about you? You needn’t be feeling jealous. You could be feeling inspired. Find a book of solid source material to “mine” and try stacking. We’d love to hear what you pick and place, word by intriguing word.
Photo by Basheer Tome, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by L.L. Barkat.
__________________________
How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.
“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland
- Poetry Prompt: In the Wild Secret Place - January 6, 2025
- Journeys: What We Hold in Common - November 4, 2024
- Poetry Prompt: My Poem is an Oasis - August 26, 2024
Marcy says
Well, I’m just blown away from all this writing, all of you had a mouthful of words to share. I can really relate to cleavage when I where my boat neck red sweater. Just had to throw that one in for my babies.
L. L. Barkat says
You could do it too, Marcy.
Maybe find a list of yarn types and colors (I thought of that because of your mention of the red sweater).
Then stack! 🙂
Maureen Doallas says
Nothing desists:
jacaranda, suffused with plum,
shudder with vertigo;
marigolds, in a blurred rotation
of symmetric gestures, rise rapt
from their hard-pillowed labyrinth.
With every unobstructed roll,
the pallina travels,
no interlaced passages striation-licked.
At the crest, Galehot, wandering
below the eaves where seasons collide.
The weft of umbilical cord frayed,
he cannot unknow desire’s siren calls.
Though autumnal deniers be pewter-tongued,
they sound as mere chimes in the riverbeds.
Will Willingham says
I’m in a Mary Ruefle state of mind this week. Just read this last night, which makes me think of the way the poem stacks felt different when read aloud vs viewed on the page. She quotes Cecilia Vicuña:
‘Words have a love for each other, a desire that culminates in poetry.’
The poet has an intuitive way of putting words together, perhaps without even realizing at first, that creates a feeling whether or not the actual words are understood.
Maureen Doallas says
I need to go back and re-read Ruefle. That quote is so apt.
Will Willingham says
Can’t get enough of Madness, Rack, and Honey this week. 🙂 So many salient passages.
Kortney Garrison says
Putting this on my reading list because even though it’s nearly 4 years later, this recommendation comes at just the right time!
michelle ortega says
Yes! I heard the different connectivity of thoughts when I read my stack aloud, and also experienced it at the IAM gathering the next evening. I guess I have never actually read poems aloud, that is to say, before last week! I’ve been reading and re-reading poems aloud (other poets and my own) all week.
And I have turned my stack into poem-tickets, ala Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge. 🙂
Will Willingham says
Love that you have turned them into poem tickets. What a great idea! 🙂
michelle ortega says
Here’s what happened next 🙂
http://curlygirlslp.blogspot.com/2014/05/conchoidal-fracture.html
SimplyDarlene says
I will have to do this exercise in the morning when I’m firing on more than one clogged cylinder. It’s an intriguing exercise that gives so much room for interpretation.
For now, here’s one with the words from the above poems.
Jealousy – Possibly Tainted by a Woodland Mushroom
Deniers
ought to
shudder
plum
sirens –
I
was
the
magnificent
(me! me! me!)
the winged
detail of
your
fragile
prickly
swamp
puddle.
Take your
loblolly
fever and
touch me not,
(you! you! you!)
poisonous
nanny
berry.
Maureen Doallas says
Wonderful, Darlene.
Rosanne Osborne says
Red Eyes and All That
The words of my poem
spilled from my very own blood,
captured the fleet feet
of my lamb’s innocence,
yet the judge was only Abel to see
the basket of lentils
sorted in iambics, parsed
in quatrains that grained
the wilder growth. Cain I
care for darkened lessons
of acceptance and rejection?
No, my active voice
sounds deadened
past tense.
Callie Feyen says
Oh, good gracious, I absolutely LOVE this idea! I’m printing this out now so my daughters and I can mine for words. Thank you.
Jody Lee Collins says
This was fun! Here’s what I came up with:
http://wordfacets.blogspot.com/2014/05/people-stack.html
SimplyDarlene says
I know I’m a little late on posting mine, but here it is.
axis
bristled
consensus
covenant
cutlass
departure
economic
indomitable
integrity
intervention
pilgrimage
rigging
Secesh
tenets
volley
* These are “Words We Want to Know” in our home school co-op group. (I actually got this idea from L.L. a few months ago. Students place words on slips of paper into a container and then at a given time they each draw out three. Definition discussions ensue and then the dictionary and encyclopedia definitions are read aloud, followed by more discussion — specific to the “Need to Know-ers” reason for including the word.
This collection shows the diverse reading of the three students, age 10 (boy), 12 (girl), and 14 (girl).
Jody Lee Collins says
Darlene, your homeschool group is an educator’s dream….. very smart teacher, you.
Marcy says
Where Were You When The Sun Went Down?
Dreaming
Blissfully.
Aura
Amidst,
Billows of softness.
Cozy with only
Candle light.
Demure
Dazzled
Dare say?
What a damsel.
Enchanting
Envisioned,
Fingertips play.
Fantasy
Glimpses yet graceful,
A glow of allure.
Visions at night,
What are yours?
L.L. Barkat says
Marcy, I think you may have found your best way yet into poetry.
I love “Dare say” in the middle of it all!
Marcy says
Thank you so much. It was something I wanted to conquer but didn’t have a clue.
Sandra Wirfel says
I want to give someone the proper acknowledgement or credit for introducing me to stack poetry from your website, who would that be? I chose stack postry for my 2014 Poetry Goal, and I want to give credit where crdit is due. can you please tell me who the right person to give creid to would be?
L. L. Barkat says
Sandra, where did you first see it? (Are you looking for the person who tweeted or Facebooked it, or the person who wrote the post? Might be me in either case, but let me know what you’re interested in finding out 🙂 )
Sandra Wirfel says
I saw it here first, under these guidelines, “teaching with poem stacks” and although mine are not all mined from books, they are all stacked poems. The only other reference I was able to find was someone stacking books from ther books shelves where the titles kinda make a poem. But when I comeplete my book, I want to be able to credit someone, as to the idea, each year I pick a style of poetry or a theme, of poetry to write about, my goal was 52, one stack poem a week, right now I have 243, some might seem monotonous, and others are just downright silly, but I still have 243 and the year isn’t over yeat, I changed my goal to 365.
L. L. Barkat says
Ah. Well, that would be me.
I taught a workshop in NYC and wanted to help people do some poetry writing that didn’t feel so much like poetry writing, and culled from excellent, arresting language. Thus was born, Jealous Poem Stacks.
Thanks! Cool project.
Sandra Wirfel says
Cool. I am going to be doing some poetry projects in April, at a local venue, do you have any special way I shouldcredit you…credentials and stuff?
So, tell me…how do you get to be where you are at, where so many people get to enjoy your poetry guidance? Do you ever come to Pa?
L. L. Barkat says
L.L. Barkat, Managing Editor, Tweetspeak Poetry.
Hmmm. Time, I guess. Writing for various venues. Having poetry books. Becoming an editor. A long process.
Not generally in Pa. But I can sometimes be found at a function in NYC 🙂
Sandra Wirfel says
I have successfully completed a years worth of Stack Poetry, 398 was my 2014 total and I have had so much fun that I have decided to continue for 2015, with a goal of 1000 Stack Poems by the end of 2015. Which means I have to double my output. Anyhow thank you so much for the style, and keep and I need a mailing address, as I would like to send you my Stack poems about Tea.
Bethany Rohde says
Sandra, that is incredible! Are you going to share one? Congratulations on exceeding your goal and aquiring all that wonderful poetry.
Bethany Rohde says
Thank you so much for pointing out this post and idea! I have made word lists before but I appreciate the encouragement to create from it directly. Here’s my poem:
Why are you eager for the new year?
I’ve been collecting
these water pockets
of new histories
Distilling
cold fronts
into a leather skin canteen
A predominant wind
has exposed my skin
here
in the trample grass
A single downward stroke.
Sandra Wirfel says
I really like the “distilling cold fronts into a leather skin canteen.”
Bethany R. says
Thank you, Sandra. Kind of you to read through and comment.
Sandra Wirfel says
This was the first stack poem I used the suggesstion from the original post.
Who Were You In My Dreams?
You
are
The
Man
In
My
Dreams
That
I
Married.
Y14M1D1 SLW
Sandra Wirfel says
This was my contract to committing to write Stack poetry. I could go on and on….
Stack
Blow my stack
Books
Cars
Deck
Magazine
Paper
People
Piles
Problems
Wood
Work
Arranging,
Comparing,
Forming
Stuff.
That’s what
this year
Is all
About.
Y14M1D1 SLW
Sandra Wirfel says
I Am
An Agent of change
As clear as mud
Responsible for myself
Not responsible for others
One of a kind
Receptive
A poet
A writer
Perfectly happy here and now
Y14M3D10 SLW
This was one I wrote on my birthday
I Have Learned
To keep my mouth shut
To speak my mind
To listen
To keep the distance
To grow closer
To keep the peace
To make waves
To surrender unconditionally
From my mistakes
To put myself together again
To be myself
Y14M3D10 SLW
Sandra Wirfel says
OWL-NIGHT FLIGHT
Owl
Exquisite
Dominating
Silent
Forceful
Turn-turn-turn
Glance
Turn-turn-turn
Glance
Lift
Flight
Gone
Y14M7D4
Coming through 1889 Park,a beautiful Owl,
was sitting in the middle of the road.
It happened so quickly,I couldn’t get my camera out and ready before he flew away.
This is one of my favorites, besides all the ones about Tea.
Ok…I think I am done sharing.
Bethany R. says
Oooh, I like the words you chose for the OWL-NIGHT FLIGHT, Sandra. Thanks so much for letting us read your poems. 🙂
Bethany Rohde says
I couldn’t resist mining for words as I ache for spring to start.
I’m balancing on tree roots
mossed over in unreal green:
They carry a familiar bone structure
of hands silently working
Nourishing tree flesh
in the bluing dark of Monday
This root system extracts its choice elixir–
It sips on chilled rain
and leaves a mineral tang on its breath
As it respires
I ruminate:
What will these elements look like
redressed in the coming leaves?
Kortney Garrison says
After I finish a journal, I mine it for poems and fragments, copying them out on loose leaf so that they are near to hand for revision. I’ve been copying all week and notice now quite a few poem stacks in my fragments. Didn’t have a name for it but was practicing nonetheless.
Mary Oliver says, Lists and verbs will carry you many a dry mile.