The Great Poem Caper

Did you hear tell?

Someone lifted my poem last week. Lifted and set it down fresh (and I do intend a double meaning there) in the comment box. It looked suspiciously like my original poem, and yet...

Well, let's just say there were a few surprises in the lifted poem. This caper occurred around the same time that Laure suggested we try a Pass-A-Poem project. (I start, someone else continues, someone else continues, and so on, publishing each version on his/her blog until I finish and publish the poem here and at High Calling Blogs. We wait with bated breath to see the mysterious process of a poem being born from many pens.)

Which made me consider. What fun to propose an all-out festival, The Great Poem Caper. With two [update: three] options. Feel free to do all three options if you're feeling energetic:


OPTION 1: LIFT-A-POEM

I invite you to lift a poem from Seedlings. You could take "Couch", the most recent, or search the sidebar under Poetry. Feel free to publish both my original and your "lift" on your blog or just put your "lift" in my comment box and I'll publish it next week in a post with a link to you. I'll also provide a link to you from High Calling Blogs.


OPTION 2: PASS-A-POEM

Let's make this as simple as possible. I'll start in a minute, with the first line. If you want to participate, just add your second (or third or fourth or whatever line/s) to mine (or to the previous participant's) right here in the comment box. Please add no more than three lines. Then feel free to take the poem in the stage you left it in over to your blog and publish it. By Friday, I'll wrap up the poem and publish it here and at High Calling Blogs. You are welcome to publish the finished product on your blog too. This is a collaboration, and I promise to link to each participant as a thank you. (NOTE: If for some reason we have a collision in the comment box... two of you pushing the publish button at about the same moment, taking the poem in two different directions, I'll make an executive decision at the point. No worries.)

This is how the poem will work:

My first line
plus your line/s
plus someone else's line/s
plus someone else's line/s
and so on
My wrap-up line.


Here's the first line:

If memories were sparrows


OPTION 3 (thanks, Nancy, for accidentally giving me this idea) FINISH-A-POEM:

Take the first line, If memories were sparrows and craft the rest of the poem on your own. I may publish a few of these at High Calling Blogs on Friday. And I'll definitely provide a link here.


I have to say I love a good caper. Can't wait for the mystery to unfold!


Companions, mixed media art by Gail Nadeau. Used with permission.

LL Elsewhere:
the whirlwind talk from last week
Together Road