Endnotes
Still sick with a case of the sonnets. I feel like I’ve written “Ampersand” before as another poem—similar ideas, different shape.
Though I tend to have a disdain for lofty traditions, my appreciation for enduring forms seemingly suggests otherwise. Sonnets are fun! They spill then they twist then they turn, all in fourteen lines. Sometimes you can even tap out the syllables in them (like this poem, each line has the same syllable count) like you’re playing along. They are hard to write, but I love a challenge.
Sometimes, I write whatever I’m thinking or feeling in as many words as I can muster, and then I edit it into an artistic shape. Other times, I decide on the form first and sketch out my ideas to fit. That’s what I did with “Ampersand” which was at first a class assignment:
Is a sketch a work of art? There are plenty of “unfinished” Picassos held in prestigious galleries. Are notes a poem? I think they always can be, and sometimes are on their own. I’ve been thinking about these questions and trying to learn the rules as answers—but the more I learn the less I know. Who knows?
WRITING PROMPT: Find some writing you’ve done before—an old school paper, an email, a text, a grocery list, a journal entry. Take about a page of language (100 words or more) and make a sonnet with it. Arrange the words into 14 lines. Cut out the words you don’t need or don’t fit (‘the’ ‘and’ ‘this’ etc.). If you want to challenge yourself, make each line have exactly 10 syllables.
Preciously,
Ricky