What can be made of a poem which solely uses the last lines of other poems? Today’s dVerse challenge prompts us to construct just such a poem (or hodge podge or call it what you will) and I was curious what would follow. So I used the last lines of the first twelve poems in Margaret Atwood’s latest book of poetry, Dearly, (without alteration, only enjambment and lower-case) and this is what I got. Make of it what you will, but it goes to show that there is a resonance in words that builds on the generosity of a poem’s ambiguity and particularly the reader’s generosity as well. And such a cut-up technique plays on that to more or less affect.
Dear Reader, you decide.
An Experiment in Poetry (with apologies to Margaret Atwood)
hearts
hurt
not quite
cursed if she smiles or cries
the candle guttering down
I’ll give dry light
turn the key. Bar the window
let there be plot
why can’t I let her go?
isn’t it pretty, back there?
as Heaven always is,
if you read the texts closely
remember me
sing: On
Dreams from a Pilgrimage 
Bravo Dora! You are the first so far to try from a compendium of one poet’s last lines and it works so well
“turn the key. Bar the window
let there be plot”
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Thank you Laura. Those two lines are from “Ghost Cat” and “If There Were No Emptiness.”
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Brava to you for going in the ‘other poet’s direction … Ms. Atwood is one of my favorites. A lovely poem, Dora.
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Thanks Helen. Atwood’s writing is phenomenal. I can still remember reading The Edible Woman, my first introduction to her.
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You are very kind, Selma, thank you!
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I think Margaret would approve of this. You did this beautifully. She’d approve. Yes!
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A high compliment. Thank you so much, Selma!
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An interesting combination of end lines, Dora. I think taking someone elses thoughts would be harder to put together than my own! You did very well.
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Thank you Dwight! It was an interesting experiment. 🙂
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Yes, I loved it!
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The lines flowed nicely in a new poem. I specially love: the candle guttering down
I’ll give dry light.
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Thank you Grace. Those lines are from “A Genre Painting” and “Health Class.”
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Excellent choice of poet to draw from, Dora. I hear her voice in the words.
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She has a powerful one. Thank you Lisa. 🙏
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You’re welcome.
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Thanks for sharing this Dora..
Anita
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Thanks so much for reading! ❤️
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I have never read her and now I’m going to search for her poetry. This is very intriguing!
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She’s a powerhouse. Her novel the Blind Assassin is her best work I think.
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It turned out beautifully. Interesting, and awesome!
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Thank you so much for your generous comments!
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I think it works well.
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Thank you Sadje!
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You’re most welcome
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I really enjoyed this one from the title to the ending.
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Appreciate your reading it, JYP!
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You’ve done an admirable job, Dora my friend. I have to say, the very idea of Frankensteining 12 of my poems that I put my heart and soul into for the sake of a prompt turned my stomach so I skipped it. You found a way around it. Seal Team 7 wants you to know that they admire your ingenuity.
–Shay, curmudgeon at large
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😉
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This is stunning, Dora. The way you have played with Atwood’s words to create this poem is wonderful. Moving and so resolved. I love “let there be plot” and the questions that follow and the way it ends ❤
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Thank you Sunra. Atwood’s powerful voice carries it off.
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Dora, this is amazing! You made it look so easy with the flow, the meaning and cohesiveness. Bravo! ❤️
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Thank you so much Punam!
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You are welcome.
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What a creative idea using the last line of a poem one recently read.
Short words and yet described so well how hard it is to move on!
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I get the same out of it. A common human experience.
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True
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How moving this is Dora.
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Thank you, glad you enjoyed it Paul.
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What a perfect choice Dora – works so well 🙂
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Thank you so much, Angela! ❤️
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A most wonderful choice, Dora! I so admire how this poem flows 😀 Bravo! ❤❤
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Your comments are so appreciated, Sanaa! Thank you.
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That last stanza is very powerful. Others’ words can often provide clarity for our own thoughts. We’ll done. (K)
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Agreed. Thank you for your insightful comments, Kerfe.
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I found this great… to me it reads like a poem read at a funeral… from the way it starts to how it closes.
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I believe a few of those poems dealt with just such a loss and Atwood, great writer that she is, can hone her emotions to a point in her apparently “simple” lines.
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