I’ve never been old before. This new old body could be floating
Through ether in another universe, but it is not so far away.
Does it tether me or loosen ties? Does it rely on
Gravity or defy it? What is the name of an internal pinch, an
Ache in my back, my leg, my foot? Does rain age as it flows from island
Sea to cloud to stream? I test each body part in a ferment of
Anxiety, try to return to the time when all I would do is dance.
source: Floating Away on an Island of Dance
source: A Cautionary Tale for the Age
She sat on the bank of a quiet pond, a
Mirror into dark rages. Cautionary
Words wrapped around her neck, the tale
Too lurid for children, too wan for
Adults. What would become of the
bones when she surrendered to age?
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Here is how I am using Terrance Hayes’s Golden Shovel poem format, as proposed by the Sunday New York Times "At Home" section, for 30 Poems in 30 Days during National Poetry Month.
Take a newspaper headline that attracts you.
Use each word in the line as the end word for each line in your poem.
Keep the end words in order.
Describe the story that the headline is for.
The poem does not have to be about the same subject as the headline that creates the end words.
