For my Zen and Emerson class last year we read "Thirteen Ways of Looking At a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens. We had to write a poem in a similar style about an object. I chose a Post-It note. I recently re-discovered it and liked it so much that I'm posting it.
1
A neon pink splash of brightness
In a boring black and white world.
2
A wordless signpost
For my lazy hand.
3
It twists in many ways
Always at the mercy
Of one force or another.
4
Infinite creases
Serve as scars
Of the way it was
In some fleeting moment.
5
Jagged edges
From when I ripped it
Make it stand out
From the page it marks.
6
A tree was cut
Then ground to a pulp
And pressed and processed
Until we had
A little Post-It note.
7
A man had a prayer book.
The markers wouldn't stay.
A failed glue was applied.
A revolution was born.
8
Small as it is,
It's still an essential part
Of my daily cycle.
9
Without it,
We'd waste our lives away
Constantly searching
For that one page
We barely remember,
But must return to.
10
It doesn't prefer
To be squashed in its place.
It pops up on its own
When given room to breathe.
11
One day
It will not stick
And I will leave it to rot
In a landfill far away.
12
The book is closing.
The Post-It note suffocates.
13
It may seem different
Tomorrow, or in an hour,
Or in a moment,
But a Post-It note
It shall remain.
Points:
Time spent:
IP address:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Mark this comment as a review? Points will be awarded to the poster.
Your comment was posted, but it wasn’t long enough to count as a review. Reviews need about four complete sentences (at least 250 characters). Try writing another review that explains your thoughts in more detail — the author will appreciate it, and you’ll earn points for it.
138,126 Literary Works • 672,075 Reviews
Very neat! I like 6 and 9 best.
I love it.
It was creative and cute. I never really thought about what's in here.
I love Post-it notes. I think they're really cool.
Anyway, good job, great poem.
Keep writing!
Peace man,
Casey the AWESOME
nice
Love it.
Thanks for all the comments guys!
For those who are asking about the different stanzas, it's because of the style of the original. Each stanza of ours had to have something similar to the original. I don't remember all of them, but I think 4 had to have a numerical reference, 6 had something to do with nature, 12 involved actions, etc, 1 involved color...stuff like that. Hence the different PoV's on a Post-It Note.
this is so creative,its like a revaltion to something so simple.Its a lesson in logic.[b]
I agree with Lynn, to a point. All the stanzas were very different, and it might have read much better if it had some consistency in the lines per stanza and perhaps a rhythm.
Great job, though. Lots of really creative ideas. My Dad is obsessive compulsive and for some reason has a thing against sticky notes. I'd love to show him this to see what he thinks.
Cool! this was really different. The only thing I didn't like was that there seemed to be several different voices in the piece.
Whoa! This poem is so cool! I can tell you did a lot of research and spent a lot of time on this. Thumbs up!
That's is actually a very good writing activity!
It really helps get your creativity moving, I approve of your teacher haha.
aMego
I love it <3
It makes something so simple seem so .. Amazing!
Good work.