OULIPOST #20: LESCUREAN PERMUTATION [PLAIN]

The prompt:

Select a newspaper article or passage from a newspaper article as your source text. Switch the first noun with the second noun, the third noun with the fourth noun, and so on until you’ve reached the end of your text.

The process:

I love Sunday's because there is an ever present and somewhat large Arts section. The article I chose details an "up-and-coming" female rap star. I've been reading and seeing her videos about her for over a year so I am not sure how ground breaking and on the edge this article really is. Anyway, I couldn't resist another poem that did not contain sophisticated subject matter. I just had to use it.

Also, her video mimics the movie "Clueless". That's way harsh.

The poem isn't great. I am not sure it makes sense but I did take some poetic license at the end and with some tenses.

The result:

Iggy Rap


 Blessing has the burden
And the rapper
Of being a rising profile
With an odd
At way
With the artists
Most genres
Come up in the caricature
If you wanted a rap star
Of the least likely, azaleas
Blueprint could be your female
Blond
Australian.
Model
Looks like one (and is Southern).
Raps with a murder.
Rendering bizness…biznassss....

Source

Reed, James. "Is hip-hop ready for Iggy Azalea?." The Boston Globe.  20 Apr 2014. N1-N4. Print.

OULIPOST #19: SESTINA

The prompt:

This will be one of your most challenging Oulipost prompts! A sestina is a poetic form of six six-line stanzas. The end-words of the lines of each stanza repeat those of the first, but in a differing order that in each successive stanza follows the permutation: 615243. The entire sequence of end words is thus: 123456; 615243; 364125; 532614; 451362; 246531. All words and phrases must be sourced from your newspaper text.

The process:

Such cute kitty. Anyway, I tried to follow the rules but....I didn't. I couldn't source all the words. I just sourced my end words. To be somewhat successful, I had to throw caution to the wind. I did source some words from the source text. So, that was sort of following the rules. Doug Luman is the man and I used his excel. I still am not entirely sure if created a proper sestina but I gave it a go. It's the longest poem I've ever composed, I think. 

Also, the Excel document and myself screwed up at the end and I did not intend the poem to end the way it did but I like it. I changed a few tenses and pluralizations of words. 

The result: 

A harrowing, glossy, (happy) experience

Seeking sustenance proves harrowing

the pangs of hunger lingering

a bologna sandwich, not normal 

food photographs glossy

Eating lunch with friends

A fond memory

You are a memory

I search for happiness, something less harrowing

A food for the soul, Could it be friends? 

A walk to find what is lingering

Yogurt--- glossy

Is tidy the new normal?

I wonder what is really normal?

Is it something in our memory?

Is it new, exciting, shocking and glossy?

Do we shrink to a whisper, something less harrowing?

We are strong, but wounds still linger

We peer into ourselves, we search for friends.

Changing colors, changing friends

A chameleon, is that normal?

Suspects in this, a motive still linger

I cannot erase your memory,

into something less harrowing

Our photographs shiny and glossy

Feelings masked under layers of glossy

Paint, a face hidden to friends

sustenance still proves harrowing

I will never be normal 

It's all just a memory

Balogna sandwich thoughts still linger

I grew to find, it's okay to linger

Cover your face with all things glossy

Until it's all just a happy memory

Hold tight to new and old  friends

You will never be normal 

Because if you are, you life is harrowing

I cried because it was all so harrowing

I dried my tears and I’ve stopped seeking normal

You are my friend

(and my normal...)

Source:

Rusell, Jenna. "For Watertown residents, normal will never be quite the same." The Boston Globe.  19 Apr 2014. A1-A6. Print. 

Moskowitz,Eric. "Danny takes strength from ordeal with Tsarnaevs." The Boston Globe.  19 Apr 2014. A1-A6. Print. 

OULIPOST #18: HOMOCONSONANTISM

The prompt:

Choose a sentence or short passage from your newspaper to complete a homoconsonantism. In this form, the sequence of consonants in a source text is kept, while all its vowels are replaced. For example:

ORIGINAL: To be or not to be: that is the question.
CONSONANTS ONLY: T b r n t t b t t s t h q s t n
FINAL PRODUCT: As burnt tibia: it heats the aqueous tone.

The process:

I found this very telling yet endearing sentence and although it provided limited letters, I felt compelled to use. I like what it stood for. The article was a tribute to a fallen officer who worked in the Boston Police Department Gang Unit and passed away this week from what doctors "think" are complications from injuries he sustained during the Marathon Shoot Out last year.  The article is touching. 

My poem really doesn't not have anything to do with the articles subject matter and I think it came out cohesive, emphasis on I think.

For the title, I used half of the consonants from the title of the article. I am getting crafty. 

The result:

It heals none

Yeah, I vote
A blue new rookie
Not a hag
An age on tab
Tied, jail
Avid oath
Lived it.

The source text:

You have to be a lion to work in the gang unit. But DJ loved it. He loved it.

Cullen, Kevin. "The lion and the lamb." The Boston Globe. 18 Apr 2014. B1. Print.

OULIPOST #17: HAIKUISATION

The prompt:

The haiku is a Japanese poetic form whose most obvious feature is the division of its 17 syllables into lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables. Haikuisation has sometimes been used by Oulipians to indicate the reduction of verses of normal length to lines of haiku-like brevity. Select three sentences from a single newspaper article and “haiku” them.

The process:

My process wasn't really a process at all. I pulled 3 random sentences from an article and tried to make it different from the article. I played with tenses and pluralizations. Was I successful?? Not too sure. Did I have fun? Sure did. Did I try to make it different from the text? Yes! 

The result:

Unsettling

Between 2:30
The victim, he backfires
Success, no-man’s land

4:30: emails
His man: deception, no facts
M(o)ore words arrive in

Night preaches balance
Boss owns all importance 
Late night life, has been

One mo(o)re victim in
Expect facts around-the-clock
Sent: Man has not lived.

Source:
Teitell, Beth. "Bosses' late-hour emailing sends an unsettling message." The Boston Globe.  17 Apr 2014. A1-A12. Print.

OULIPOST #16: CHIMERA

The prompt:
The chimera of Homeric legend – lion’s head, goat’s body, treacherous serpent’s tail – has a less forbidding Oulipian counterpart. It is engendered as follows. Having chosen a newspaper article or other text for treatment, remove its nouns, verbs and adjectives. Replace the nouns with those taken in order from a different work, the verbs with those from a second work, the adjectives with those from a third.

The process:

I tried to follow the rules. I really did, really...I swearz it.  I always get confused with noun-trains and adverbs and adjectives and I just want it to be correct. :/ Then I put the pieces and words together and noticed not very many adjectives..mostly nouns and verbs...

I then started mixing lines up and putting them together so things would make sense. I wanted to make this better than what it was. I didn't love it..so..it is a little better. It's not perfect and I couldn't continue because my source article is gross and wordy and I liked the first sentence but I also liked how I forced my poem to end. I saw some words and then the replacements were pretty funny. 

Here it is.

The result:

Slimming Shapewear Taxes Pyramid Needle Scheme

They were received at two 

and by women 

From basic undergarments

Capsules

In the fear, 

They drilled to lingerie

Products, and fat

Pain Lately 

Reprieved

Maidenform of women

To file

In what cases ask a

Needle-free

Garment power

Suits delays the slimming shapewear
--------------------------------------------------

Sources:
Healy, Beth. "State sues over pyramid scheme.  The Boston Globe. 16 April 2014. B1-B5. Print.
Borchers, Callum. "A Dental Visit With No Drill."   The Boston Globe. 16 April 2014. B1-B7. Print.
Johnson, Katie. "Lingerie firms are sued over slimming claim." The Boston Globe. 16 April 2014. B1-B7. Print.
Fernandes, Deirdre. "Mass. Tax deadline extended."The Boston Globe. 16 April 2014. B1-B7. Print.

OULIPOST #15: PRISONER’S CONSTRAINT

The prompt:
Imagine a prisoner whose supply of paper is restricted. To put it to fullest use, he will maximize his space by avoiding any letter extending above or below the line (b, d,f,g,h,j,k,l,p,q,t and y) and use only a,c,e,m,n,o,r,s,u,v,w,x and z. Compose a poem using only words that can be made from these letters AND which you source from your newspaper text.

The process: 
I thought..oh boy this will be tough. I will need the Scrabble Word Finder. I didn't. Today, is the one year anniversary of the Marathon Bombing. They had a special wrap-around cover and on the inside a short article and quotes. I went through the short article and quotes and found short words and pulled something together. It's a bit commemorative. My apologies. I live about a mile away from where "he" was found. I went to the same university he went to and taught there. I was held captive that Friday in April and watched unmarked patrol cars scour my street for hours. 

The result: 


one
we are more aware
we survive
we move
we run
we rise—sun


we see issue
we own

since,
we want same
we mean more
now, even more

runners, survivors,
men, 
women,
move
run
race
rose…

Source:
A special piece: "One year late." The Boston Globe.  15 Apr 2014, V1-V4.
Contributors: Mark Arsenault, Billy Baker, Anica Butler, Maria Cramer, Liz Kowalczyk, Eric Moskowitz, Shelley Murphy, Martine Powers, Dina Rudick, Andrew Ryan, David L. Ryan, and John Tlumacki. 

OULIPOST #14: COLUMN INCHES

The prompt:
Refer to the advertising section or the classifieds in your source newspaper. Create a poem by replacing all of the nouns in your chosen ad segment or classified listing with nouns from one article in the same newspaper. You may use multiple ads/classifieds, presented in the order of your choosing.

The process:
My colleague, the nice man who gives me the paper everyday, drew my attention to this very cool ad. 

It has a cute raccoon in it. I was sold. So..I had my ad. Then I saw this wonderful profile on the front page and I exclaimed, "NOUNS!!!." This article contained many nouns but it's a difficult read. It's a profile of the family of the marathon bombings' youngest victim. I had to stop reading it. I could barely get through each line without a tear. Due to this, I got a little creative with the text. I chose which lines I wanted to replace the nouns. I chose the main ad text. Also, I ate a lot of M&M's while writing this and dinner. It was a bit emotional!

It's not perfect..but it's what I could muster.

The result:

Finding the rearview

Family flying refined
1 home only
It’s your quick memory
To save up to 50% off regular base life 
Book by tears, tonight 
No rehabilitation

Save on strength
And
Pain,
Drugs at 
physcialescapes.com

Source:

Abel, Dave. "Finding the Strength: Part 2 of 2." The Boston Globe. 14 Apr 14. A1-A19. Print.