This week we’re excited to present three terrific poems written by participants at our very first official creative writing workshop. Tutored by Australian poet John Malone, writers at the “Red Pencil Sharpener” workshop crafted poems about everyday things seen through the vibrant, hyper-real lens of the poet.
Thank you to Holly Girling, Stephen Hewitt, and Tamara Raidt for sharing their “Punctuation Poetry” with us.
Apostr’phe
by Holly Girling
Punctuation’s least favorite aunt
the one that
Can’t
Won’t
Shouldn’t
the one that ties girls’ bows
and shines boys’ shoes
When the word’s too much
here Apostrophe comes
“Mind your p’s and q’s” she says
Apostrophe, the eyelash of prose
but then she’s needy
can’t be left alone
she’ll measure feet’s height
and where you are in the world
Apostrophe, oh Apostrophe,
whose elision we’d gladly take
Apostrophe, oh Apostrophe,
for fuck’s sake!
.
by Stephen Hewitt
. period . full stop
that’s what I’m starting with
round and dark
flat, yet deep
like a miniature black hole
sucking me down
into its bottomless soul
that’s how it ends
. period . full stop
Brackets
by Tamara Raidt
Brackets
always go by two
like twins born together at a few
minutes apart
they fear separation
they fear loneliness
on a blank page
on an empty street
they need their other half
to be complete
so each time you open a bracket (
you write on borrowed time
hurry your thought, think further, write
faster just to reach the end)
at each sentence’s corner, at the heart of your scribbling
there’s a bracket waiting for its sibling
and sometimes (it works out, they cross paths, they meet
by happenstance)
but it’s a quick brush, then they glance
away, swept by the next current of words
don’t they look alike?
(two arms hugging the sentence)
reaching for each other
they bend the best they can, they dance
but one bracket never reunites with its brother.
so I started from zero, you know
it doesn’t take much to make you a hero
take the words out and let brackets meet
on the fresh page of the poem
like in utero ().
I loved them when i first heard them and I love them even more when they are down on the page and I can reflect on them. Both are very clever and fluently written. There should be a little chapbook devoted to punctuation.
Everyone was very pleased to join your poetry workshop. I just updated this post with a punctuation poem from Tamara Raidt.
These are fantastic – really clever and thoughtful. Thanks so much for running the workshop, John. Sounds like a brilliant success.