A Love Poem to Poems Heard

This is a found poem, constructed from the final lines of seventeen different poems. Each of the poems was contributed by a member of Edmonton’s Stroll of Poets Society (2017 Anthology), so this poem honours those poets and the amazing organization to which they (and I) belong!

A Love Poem to Poems Heard

Ponderously you move away from death,
when I become your Valentine.
Could it be as simple as that?

I remember
melding into one,
face bare and smiling at the morning sun,
pampered in the sun,
moving us to understand another.

The weightlessness
disguised
the air
of my midnight neighbourhood

and the day, beautifully replete,
crackling with sparks of joy,
hoping for new minds, arms, legs.

We have the aerial view,
for taking the chance of a backward glance.

©2018, Lisa Mulrooney

Lego at the Lake

“running in the rain” by KristinaAlexanderson: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalexanderson/7319769482/in/pool-flickrtoday

This poem was inspired by a NaPoWriMo prompt that encouraged rebellion and rule-breaking. I’m not sure that I went to any extremes, but I did try to stretch my use of language a little.

Lego-ing with my brother
at the lake because the rain

Mom, drink-tired
daddying our holiday

he was long gone
gone from dad to father

and back again
memoried into physical

we built towers
and joyed most the toppling

puddles of brick clatter
twisted our ears outside

where we boy-stacked
our raindrops instead

© 2018 Lisa Mulrooney

 

From Redditch to Redcliff

A poem addressing some of the misconceptions associated with “moving up in the world.”

I used a cut-up, collage technique (and an old encyclopedia) to construct this poem.

From Redditch to Redcliff

A life submerged, largely cloistered,
nocturnal, clinging to the ants and termites,
becomes alpha at the high water mark.

The son of former slaves building monastic homes
marked by prosperity and the naming of plants:
A centre of culture, harvested from the plump and rat-like.

A long, sticky tongue tears open nests
already badly damaged by the bombing of frequent storms.
Powerful, resigned, parallel rods strung with beads, inaugurated.

© Lisa Mulrooney

Lipogram

A lipogram (LIP-uh-gram) is a piece of writing that omits a certain letter or letters.

For more information on lipograms (and more), here’s an interesting site: http://phrontistery.info/lipogram.html

I recently took up the challenge of writing my own “univocalic” lipogram – a poem that contains only one of the five vowels (a-e-i-o-u). Here’s what I came up with . . .

Gin Kisses

His gin kisses fill my dim night
thick with chill mists, ill
bringing first his fights, his right
his fists – killing highs
this silly pill insists it fills

this night finds its trick
his will, my will dying
finding kissing sighs, bliss
thick with chill mists, stripping
birds in flight.

© Lisa Mulrooney