Playing in Poetry

Playing with another poet's work inspires possibilities.  Type a favorite poem to feel the rhythm and pay attention to line breaks. Delving into a poem's structure and replacing nouns and verbs assists the  process. 

Take a look at Pablo Neruda's poem. Write his line followed by your idea for a line.  Change the meaning with different nouns and verbs. Use repetition in varying ways. Follow the rhythm or change the sequences to fit as your mind takes over.

AN ODE FOR IRONING

          by Pablo Neruda

Poetry is white 
Poetry smells green

it comes dripping out of the water 
it rises flying into the sky

it gets wrinkled and piles up 
it moves winged and floats up

We have to stretch out the skin of this planet 
We try to reach into the clouds of the universe

We have to iron the sea in its whiteness 
We need to unwrap the sky in its blueness

The hands go on and on 
The feet kick higher and highr

and so things are made 
and fins erupt

the hands make the world every day
The feet continue to awaken the world

fire unites with steel 
ice creates unity

linen, canvas and calico come back
iris, daisy and geranium bloom

from combat in the laundry
from combustion in the clouds

and from the light a dove is born 
after twilight a seagull snickers

purity comes back from the soap suds. 
Intuition surges on a wave's bubbles 
  
Creative Write: After interacting and replacing the essence in the lines with your ideas, combine what you have written and do a freewrite to each of your own lines.  What evolves?