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Gordian Knot: Poetry Prompt

By Heather Eure 23 Comments

gordian knot poetry prompt

Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie.”

—Jean Cocteau

Attributed to Alexander the Great, the Gordian knot is a moniker commonly used to describe a complicated, unsolvable problem. As legend goes, Alexander and his army marched into the Phrygian capital of Gordium, in what is now modern day Turkey. As they entered the city, Alexander saw the cart that belonged to King Midas’s father, Gordius. The remarkable feature on this cart was the yoke, which the Roman historian, Quintus Curtius Rufus described as, “several knots all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened.”

An oracle proclaimed that whomever unraveled its hopelessly complicated knots was destined to become the ruler of all Asia. This posed an irresistible challenge to Alexander. “For some time Alexander wrestled unsuccessfully with the knots,” Rufus remarks. “Then he said: ‘It makes no difference how they’re untied,’ and cut through all the thongs with his sword, thus evading the oracle’s prophecy—or, indeed, fulfilling it.”

That very night, lightning and thunder shook Gordium, which the seers interpreted to mean the gods were pleased with the man who had cut the Gordian knot. True to the prophecy, Alexander went on to conquer Egypt and much of Asia, before his death from fever at the age of 32.

The tales of Alexander the Great endure and the symbolism of the Gordian knot has become a proverbial term for an intractable problem. Likewise, “cutting the Gordian knot” denotes taking bold action to solve a seemingly impossible problem.

Try It: Gordian Knot Poetry

Picture the scene described above, Alexander standing tall and scratching his head over the puzzle before him. Can you relate? Now imagine the moment he realized there was another way to solve the problem. A better way. Think of a situation where you or another person has cut through the knot. You could also invent a challenge and a clever solution. Who is the hero? Write a poem about a symbolic knot. Remember, all good legendary tales worth their salt include adventure, suspense… and a little poetry.

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Featured Poem

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Rick jumped in, imagined himself a thread and captured us with his poem:

I

Am blue thread frayed
out of backyard games
from bows of Christmas boxes
a ribbon broken
by bindings breaking
a string that leads away
a streamer in the wind
at dusk in woods
of moonlit moss
swaying to whippoorwills
distant and lamenting
calling echoes
rings on dainty chains or
angora wrapped and brushed
off as love attends and goes
the unraveling of years
bicycles into cars
red lisle of tail lights wrapping
city stars rising in the night sky
fire fibers followed
from days end dissolving
at the edge of mountains
or imagined hissing of the sea
in the airs of hours’ end
the wrappings there
for the body of was

—by Rick Maxson

Photo by Gaeten Maerten, Creative Commons via Flickr.

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How to Write a Poem 283 high 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.

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  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Heather Eure
Heather Eure
Heather Eure has served as the Poetry Editor for the late Burnside Collective and Special Projects Editor for us at Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared at Every Day Poems. Her wit has appeared just about everywhere she's ever showed up, and if you're lucky you were there to hear it.
Heather Eure
Latest posts by Heather Eure (see all)
  • Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
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  • Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018

Filed Under: Blog, Knots and Threads, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources, writing prompt

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Comments

  1. Donna Falcone says

    February 20, 2017 at 10:20 am

    Rick – I really enjoyed your poem and the beautiful images. It was wonderful how your title intuitively becomes the first word of each new thread bio, creating such a lovely flow of sound and imagery – I loved that!

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      February 20, 2017 at 11:42 am

      Thanks, Donna.

      Heather, thanks for posting this.

      Reply
    • Katie says

      February 25, 2017 at 10:06 pm

      I agree Donna – the flow and imagery are marvelous.
      Especially enjoyed “red lisle of taillights wrapping”
      I have always loved the beauty of a time-lapsed image of car lights at night!
      Thank you Rick for such an enjoyable poem.

      Reply
  2. Rick Maxson says

    February 20, 2017 at 11:54 am

    Against Despair

    I was no stranger to a death
    by a father who loved me,
    bound to his rigid ways.

    Nothing is forever
    except love, and that cannot
    be changed,

    as water must be wet, for eyes
    to see. It’s there in the snow
    obscuring the window pane.

    There is always hope,
    even as we die and point
    to the flowers in the room
    and try to sing.

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      February 20, 2017 at 4:05 pm

      Oh, that ending really got me.
      Very nice, Rick.

      Reply
      • Rick Maxson says

        February 22, 2017 at 3:58 am

        Thanks.

        Reply
        • Christina says

          February 23, 2017 at 9:36 am

          That is beautiful, Rick.

          Reply
    • Katie says

      February 25, 2017 at 10:00 pm

      My favorite lines:

      “nothing is forever except love”

      and

      “there is always hope”

      Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
  3. Poetic Flow says

    February 20, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    Gordian Knot

    Twisted and turned into curves with strength. A beauty made of rope. I shall weave my knot all over this world. Magically intruding thought. How can something so simple be entertained into art.

    Poetically Speaking…

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      February 20, 2017 at 4:04 pm

      I love this. It reminds me of dancing!

      Reply
      • Katie says

        February 25, 2017 at 10:46 pm

        Me too, Donna:)
        Also: “I shall weave my knot all over this world.”
        Love that!

        Reply
  4. Donna Falcone says

    February 20, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    The boldest move
    is to live along the curve,
    never holding on

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      February 22, 2017 at 4:00 am

      Ah! Where centrifugal force is the greatest. may the force be with you, Donna.

      Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        February 23, 2017 at 10:04 am

        Thanks, Rick. 😉 I’ll need it.

        Reply
  5. Yvonne Marjot says

    February 21, 2017 at 8:23 am

    Tangle

    For Mark

    It’s a knotty problem,
    this tangle we’ve made
    of our lives.

    Now you’re gone, I can’t grasp
    the other end of the thread.
    You have become

    the puzzle of the labyrinth,
    the lost string,
    Icarus falling.

    If I close my eyes, reach in
    and pull you out,
    will you look back?

    I believed you were
    indestructible.
    I lied. Those sisters

    poised over their embroidery
    severed the links
    all at once.

    I am left holding
    the Gordian knot:
    your life and mine

    inextricably tangled,
    a macramé of twisted
    fears and loves.

    You are there in the darkness
    with your sword,
    waiting to cut me loose.

    I won’t let you.

    Not yet.

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      February 21, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Yvonne, this is very moving. You’ve really captured feeling of the Gordian knot. This line really struck me:

      Now you’re gone, I can’t grasp
      the other end of the thread.

      Such a powerful sense of groundlessness comes through. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      February 22, 2017 at 4:05 am

      I liked this poem, Yvonne. Of course the end came with a jolt, but I thought “a macramé of twisted fears and loves” may have been my favorite lines, given the prompt. Well done!

      Reply
  6. Monica Sharman says

    February 21, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    Self-Defense

    Attacker lunges,
    powers forward

    toward me,
    bloodshot eyes bulging

    like the biceps
    behind his fists.

    I don’t stay rooted
    or hold my ground

    but step lightly aside,
    parry just enough—

    a sweep of the leg
    and the force

    of his own power
    takes him down.

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      February 22, 2017 at 4:17 am

      This poem moves like the “gentle way” of Judo in its simplicity. Seems to depict the loosening of the knot of fear and the potential entanglement of assault.

      I like it.

      Reply
      • Katie says

        February 25, 2017 at 10:53 pm

        I agree, Rick.
        The imagery you created here, Monica –
        every bit as elegant/graceful as ballet:)

        Reply
  7. Christina says

    February 23, 2017 at 9:37 am

    This was a great challenge! Thank you! http://www.creativrandfree.com/Gordian-knot/

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Mother-Writer's Gordian Knot - Creative and Free says:
    February 23, 2017 at 8:06 am

    […] Great figuring out a complex problem with a clear-cut solution. It’s also this week’s Tweetspeak Poetry Prompt. What came to mind was an Ah-ha moment I had on the way back from South Korea a few years ago. I […]

    Reply
  2. Gordian Knot: Poetry Prompt – D.B. Mauldin says:
    February 25, 2017 at 11:31 am

    […] Source: Gordian Knot: Poetry Prompt […]

    Reply

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