Theme for CWC*

*based on a version of Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B" created at a weekly Creative Writing Club meeting that I cosponsor at my college. Lisa Rosa, another professor, had us steal lines from the poem to write our own poems, and then we chopped the stolen lines out to get a poem all our own. The finished (are we ever finished with writing?) version is followed by the stolen version.

How do I even start?

Unsure as a writer

though qualified by degrees

But dare I share the secret parts of me?

It's easier to say, "I hate poetry."

Though I adore Peter Meinke

Too lazy to search for the perfect

rhythm, rhyme, word that captures a world

Give me several pages of prose instead

(or maybe a haiku)

Perhaps I should teach instead.

* * * * *

I wonder how to even start.

I am unsure as a writer.

I went (and graduated) from many schools

(a BA, a graduate certificate, an MA, a study abroad in Oxford).

I am qualified.

It's not easy sharing the secret parts that make for good writing.

I feel exposed.

Do I dare reveal what I really think?

I like prove more than poetry.

I guess I'm too lazy to search for THAT perfect rhythm, rhyme, word

that captures a world in just a few lines.

Give me several pages instead.

This is my page for LR @ CWC.