Ceremonial Cranes (an out-and-about poem)

Poetry

crane

Ask Vitruvius about beauty,
and look at the exalted cranes–
common and blue, red and
mechanical–models of
mathematical mythology.
A thousand timeless folded,
flying roosting and rusty,
they are positioned for power–
craning necks to extend
an eternal inked invitation
to vigilance, a visit from
Hiroshima, a ceremonial
origami celebration that
square by square calls out,
“Be here. Be. Here.”
with gregarious vocabulary,
in Tulsa, Oklahoma or
welcome, wherever you are.

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POETIC FORM: An out-and-about Poem

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PROMPT:
OffTheShelf

To earn the “Off the Shelf” badge, head to your local library or bookstore, making a mental note of things you see on your journey there — you might, for instance, see construction taking place, drive by a used car dealership, pass a printing shop or spot a group of birds  in the trees. Make one of the things you saw your research topic for the day and find five books related to that topic in your library or bookstore’s stacks. Compose a poem using only the words and phrases  found on the first five pages of each text, excluding introductory matter. Make a note of your sources and include the citations along with your completed poem. ( I used websites, and only words from the main page in each case.)
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PoMoSco (Poetry Month Scouts)
Found Poetry Review’s 2015 National Poetry Month Project

– April 2015 – 213 poets joined together as a troop to earn digital merit badges for completing experimental and found poetry prompts.
– Prompts are divided into five categories – remixing, erasure, out and about, conceptual and chance operation.
– Each category offers six distinct badges to be earned.
– Poets choose their own source text.
– For more information, check out pomosco.com.

A dear friend and fabulous poet, Von Thompson,  is a participant. When she told me about the challenge, I decided to play along at home.

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SOURCES:

Topic – Cranes

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