Day 21: more wordplay
Health Madlib Poem. This challenge was a little different, requiring me to play some more with words, with parts of speech. I simply visited Language is a Virus and entered random nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Here’s what it generated, in the style of e.e.cummings:
pink density’s pink density
sadly i have never questioned, betrayed beyond
the pink ribbon, such promises have their price:
in your most public displays are things which offend me,
or which i cannot detect because they are too hidden
your innocent unfurling at last will undo me
though i have deceived myself as delivered,
you deliver always denial by denial myself as lies conceal
(duping defiantly, defining) her worthy warriors
or if your purpose be to cure me, i and
my cancer will endure very impatiently, there,
as when the purveyors of this pink ribbon promise
the cure elusively everywhere eluding;
nothing which we are to regret in this prevents recurrence
the return of your frightening clutches: whose countdown
connects me with the truth of carcinoma,
outsmarting cause and prevention with each appearing
(i do not destroy what it is about you that travels
and spreads; only something in me dreads
the pinkness of your promises is sadder than all lies)
patience, not even the child’s, has such mandatory manipulation
– yvonne & e.e. cummings
Create Your Own Madlib on LanguageIsAVirus.com
11 Comments
Jan Baird Hasak
love it, yvonne. it’s classic e.e. cummings. i especially like “the pinkness of your promises is sadder than all lies.” so true so true. keep writing poetess laureate. this exercise was so funky and fun. xx
Yvonne
It was a fun exercise, huh? Your “Malignant Needle” was powerful, Jan!
Liz
Love it – both the original and your adaptation/homage/spoof…it is impossible pin down!! On the one hand it’s hilarious (in a clever way) – on the other, it’s content is anything but. Now I’m having crazy visions of a whole series of famed works of art, adapted to breast cancer activism purposes!!!
Liz
Love it – both the original and your adaptation/homage/spoof…it is impossible pin Argh – there was an apostrophe in my ‘its’, which seems like a travesty next to such mastery of the English language! I lay all blame at the feet of my nemesis, autocorrect!!!!
Yvonne
I hate it when accidentally put the apostrophe in the wrong “its” … then I’m convinced everyone else has seen it and deemed me absolutely unfit to use the English language!
Liz
And now I’m having problems because you can’t see the whole WordPress comment screen on an iPad (at least,I can’t). Have resolved to send all comments from my PC in future, as this is just too mortifying!! Skulking away now….
Yvonne
Hilarious … there’e probably some setting I’m supposed to use so you can see it on an iPad. I use a mac and an iPad, so I should know; hence, also skulking away 🙂
Hope you had a great break, Liz.
Liz
Ah – have just visited Madlib (after seeing another poem). Hilarious, amazing and somehow a little scary!!
Lovely holiday, Yvonne, thank you – now enjoying catching up with some great blogs!!
Yvonne
I know! I played around with it, and sometimes it ended up being in the style of Sylvia Plath which was just too much for me to handle!
y
Renn @ The Big C and Me
yvonne I got sylvia plath! I was like, really? I like your e.e. cummings! Very clever word play. My fav line of your poem: “Something inside me dreads the pinkness of your promises” 😉
Yvonne
You got Sylvia Plath?!? How did that happen?? Must go check it out 🙂