Photo by Diana Ewell Engel
Writing Your Fantasy
Happy New Year, readers and friends. We are the strange neighbors who don’t put up our holiday tree until mid-December. After all, Thanksgiving weekend is still fall here in North Carolina. We enjoy our tree through Epiphany, and afterwards, defrock the Fraser fir of ornaments and tinsel. Today, our glittering evergreen came down.
Every December, we decorate our tree with many blown-glass ornament figurines from fairy tales, Mother Goose, and popular culture. An acrobat and scuba diver hang above Cinderella’s carriage. Two of the Beatles—John and Paul—strum guitars in gold suits while Elvis in a sequined white coat seizes the microphone. A comical crocodile in a bathrobe is scurrying with a bag of groceries.
A fantasy tree! The story book and celebrity ornaments got me thinking about the fun of imagining ourselves as someone other than who we are.
What is your identity fantasy? If you could be or do anything, who would you be and what would you do?
Below is my fantasy poem, “Tate Street.” Tate Street is a colorful, lively part of the outlying UNCG campus in Greensboro, North Carolina. Standing outside Tate Street Coffeehouse and taking in the scene, I was inspired to write about this bustling university area. I imagined myself as someone quite different from my former college student self—a quiet and unassuming student who often had my nose stuck in a book.
Tate Street In my next life, I will be the collegiate bohemian/ who just passed,/ clogs knocking on the sidewalk./ Casual satchel swaying in my warrior walk,/ I will march into the ROSES 95 A DOZEN shop/ and buy just one, for my lover,/ a crimson deeper than my nails./ Stem destined for a sports cup on a dorm dresser,/ previous home to cheap beer swigged/ at yesterday’s ball game./ I will scream a furious street cantata/ to accompany the cyclist ticking his way up Tate./ I will accost the ears of customers in the India Palace./ My dress electric blue,/ all the campus scooters/ humming in our ears./ I will break into the food service truck headed/ for the dining hall,/ plunder its racks of cool loaves,/ and gorge on the stolen edibles./ I will pitch a tent on Tate Street,/ live in its cacophony of rap and rumble,/ be like the El Carreton restaurant,/ bold flagged sign beating in the sun,/ Open for Delivery All Day. -Diana Ewell Engel Published in the Asheville Poetry Review, Volume 24, no. 1, 2017.
Photo by Preservation Greensboro
When Repetition Can Be Your Friend
All good writing avoids redundancy; writers strive not to repeat the same word. Original word choice along with riveting imagery is at the heart of fine literature, particularly poetry. However, in verse, which like music, has a lyrical line, repetition can strengthen a poem and add emphasis.
In “Tate Street,” I have repeated the words “I will.” Using “I will” matches the declarative take-charge tone or attitude of this piece. These words also create a rhythmic and predictable pacing, again like music.
Here’s another example of repetition used by one of our beloved poets: In From Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays, Mary Oliver writes, “I want to think of dangerous and noble things. / I want to be light and frolicsome. / I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing, / as though I had wings.” This is beautiful. In reading these lines, we don’t roll our eyes and moan, “Why did she keep repeating ‘I want?’” No. We understand. “I want” creates emphasis; these repeated words also slow the reading of these lines, forcing us to slow down and to thoughtfully consider what she is saying.
We can feel how strong the speaker’s desire is precisely because she repeats this phrase.
Try using a line starter such as “I will” or “I want” to write your fantasy identity poem. Repetition can help us begin to write and also give our creative minds the impetus to keep going, to flesh out the poem or narrative.
What’s Coming
If you live within driving distance of Greensboro, NC, come join us for Poetry on Tap at Oden Brewing on Sunday, January 21, at 1:00 p.m. This is a free event at a lively brewery; Oden is the Greensboro hotspot for great brews and fun. We will be hearing the verse of three excellent poets: Terry Kennedy, Cheryl Wilder, and Brian Lampkin. An Open Mic will follow; you are welcome to sign up and read your work!
In the next blog post, I will share a fantasy poem by the exquisite poet, Wanda Coleman.
What are you reading and writing this new year? Share in the Comments section.
I don't know how you do it Diana, but you always make me want to try writing a poem! Not something that comes naturally to me at all. : )
Thank you, Eileen!