Friday, November 6, 2015

The Window Above: Bragging in November

Not everyone could think of the idea of turning a department meeting into a found poem.  Come to find out, I thought of just that idea.  What I did was this: I wrote down key words that people said in our meeting on Best Practices in Writing Instruction, and then I arranged them into this poem.  I added some other words in between.  In any case, what a good way to make something (a department meeting) into something else (a poem).

The grind clogs my gut and spirals.
Fodder for the future, I think, already chiseling fiction from authentic experience.
Injury takes on perplexing utility.
I comb and scaffold the guidelines of my days,
bumpering ennui and ache
with the grammar of process;
partnering cosmos with alignment.

Fun, right? I didn't fit in my favorite departmental meeting phrase, which is "intellectual relentlessness."  I'll try for it next time, but nobody said it this time.  That's why it wouldn't fit into my poem.

2 comments:

mm said...

Well done!

Anonymous said...

A good idea! It might make you and others who want to do this listen better and perhaps move off their favorite topic to explore other topics or bandwagons. I think I could have used this as an exercise in my teaming communication workshops! Mom