Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Five Words


My blog pal Barbara recently did a writing exercise in which a friend gave her five words to use in some kind of composition. Other than that, there were no real guidelines. I asked Barbara to do the same for me, and she gave me three sets of five words to choose from:

1. graffiti walking hidden green heat

2. writing editor capture surprise recognition

3. tricky relationship embarrassing love compromise

Instead of choosing, I decided to write something for each quintet. So last night I sat down and created a poem from each set. Here goes, for better or worse.

1.
Heat is walking up the wall, along a track of sun
Hidden in its obviousness.
Voluptuous graffiti curves
Morph and shimmer, each line
Gaining new meaning in the light.
Every perspective scrawls a new message
On the leaf-green walls
Of my living heart.

2.
The editor yearns for invention:
Writing someone else’s story
With someone else’s words
Leaves him oddly speechless.
It’s no surprise to him, this recognition
Of the bland potato life
Of a desk jockey.
He goes for coffee
But the coffee is secondary
To a precious capture
Of outdoor air.

3.
People think love is tricky.
I find it exceptionally easy:
Yin and yang
Courtship and relationship.
Each compromise seems
Sweet as a gift;
Each personal failing,
Otherwise embarrassing,
A breath of intimacy.

(Photo: Municipal building in lower Manhattan, July 2009)

3 comments:

Barbara said...

Wow, wow, and wow! If I were giving you a grade, you would get extra credit. Did you ever think about a career in creative writing?

What is so interesting is that I had to keep looking back to see what words I had given you because they were so skillfully woven together.

Look for a package in the mail tomorrow!

Steve Reed said...

Thanks, for both the praise and the package! I actually wrote these in about 20 minutes and any English professor would tell you there's a lot wrong with them -- LOL -- but it was a fun exercise. (If you can think of a way to make a living from creative writing, please let me know!)

alphabet soup said...

Wow from me too!!
And having read the above comments I have now had my place in the scheme of things reinforced once again....
I need to stay in the Soup Kitchen.
Ms Soup