The 2013 ‘Progressive Poem!’

April is National Poetry Month, and I’m pleased to be participating in Irene Latham’s 2013 ‘Progressive Poem’ at Live Your Poem – a poem that started with one blogger April 1 and will travel from blog to blog each day, with each blogger adding a new line to the poem. (By the end of the month, we’ll have a completed poem!)

Yesterday’s tagged poet was Joy Acey – and today, I get to add the third line:

When you listen to your footsteps  (Amy VanDerwater)

the words become music and  (Joy Acey)

the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.  (Yours Truly!)

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It’s interesting to consider how this poem is already developing.  Amy’s first line could have gone in several different directions – an introspective, quiet poem; a spooky, Halloween-type poem; a fun, music-related poem like the one in which Joy got us headed; or any one of a number of other possibilities!

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Likewise, having the 3rd line, I could have set a tone for free verse, I could have used imagery like steps, shoes, boots, floors, etc., or I could create a lyrical line to carry the musicality of the poem’s theme forward – which is what I did.  Hopefully this won’t make it too difficult for the poets who follow…but surprise and creativity is what this is all about, right?

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Tomorrow, Jone MacCulloch will add to what the three of us have written, the next blogger will add the 5th line, and so on. Here’s a list of all the participating bloggers, so you can follow along!

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April
1  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
2  Joy Acey
3  Matt Forrest Esenwine
4  Jone MacCulloch
5  Doraine Bennett
6  Gayle Krause
7  Janet Fagal
8  Julie Larios
9  Carrie Finison
10  Linda Baie
11  Margaret Simon
12  Linda Kulp
13  Catherine Johnson
14  Heidi Mordhorst
15  Mary Lee Hahn
16  Liz Steinglass
17  Renee LaTulippe
18  Penny Klostermann
19  Irene Latham
20  Buffy Silverman
21  Tabatha Yeatts
22  Laura Shovan
23  Joanna Marple
24  Katya Czaja
25  Diane Mayr
26  Robyn Hood Black
27  Ruth Hersey
28  Laura Purdie Salas
29  Denise Mortensen
30  April Halprin Wayland