Monday, April 05, 2010

Monday Poetry Stretch - Reverso

My husband's been out of town for a few days, so in his absence I decided to treat myself to a book instead of the customary chocolate bunny for Easter. I have been reading and puzzling over the poems in Marilyn Singer's brilliant book Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. (In total amazement, I might add.) Singer writes in a form she calls "reverso." The poems in the book are based on fairy tales and tell two sides of the same story. Here's the catch. The poems are inverses of one another. The second poem is created by reading the first poem in reverse (hence reverso).

Here's the example Singer provides in her note about the form.

A cat
without
a chair:
incomplete
Incomplete:
a chair
without
a cat.

The coolest thing about these is that whether you are reading them forwards or backwards, they work! You can learn more about the book by checking out this post at Seven Imp and this post at Writing and Ruminating.

So, what do you think? It seems an impossible task, but perhaps we could try writing some short poems similar to Marilyn's example. That, my friends, is the challenge. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

21 comments:

  1. Good luck, all! I'm eager to see the results!

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh great, no pressure now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This challenge made me think of Mozart's Tafelmusik, a piece written so that it can be played as a duet with one piece of music laid on a table, with one player reading it right side up and another upside down. It's not his best work, but it's a formidable trick.

    Tafelmusik

    Heart
    To hear
    Is
    A small shift
    With a flick of the bow,
    Like two sine waves crossing,
    At once
    Coming together and
    Flying apart,
    A duet.

    A duet
    Flying apart,
    Coming together and,
    At once,
    Like two sine waves crossing
    With a flick of the bow,
    A small shift
    Is
    To hear
    Heart.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOVE your book, Marilyn, which I have been studying for several days now. Hopefully, I'll rise to the challenge and post a successful reverso soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It’s a neat trick,
    This slick reversal:
    Can I handle
    The movement, the tick to tock,
    the click to clack of it,
    the back to back -
    I mean, the down to up?
    I love the frown-to-smile of it,
    The way that Singer sang it.
    I’ll try it.


    I’ll try it
    the way that Singer sang it:
    I love the frown-to-smile of it -
    I mean, the down to up,
    the back to back,
    the click to clack of it,
    the movement, the tick to tock.
    Can I handle
    this slick reversal?
    It’s a neat trick.


    Well, that's not really very good because it doesn't really do what Marilyn does best, which is to change the meaning slightly as you read it through in reversal - not just to echo, but to mirror. I'll try again later.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is actually a shaped poem which I can't reproduce here, but I think it comes close to a reverso.

    Nicholas Needham:
    Book Head-Case and Bookcase Head

    You can read him like a book
    Nicholas Needham—take a look:
    As he grew a book-case head
    For he read and read and read
    He would need ‘em through the years
    Bookmark nose and bookend ears
    Grew enormous bookworm eyes
    Nicholas Needham, child-size,
    Barely three feet from the floor
    Sprouted up and read some more
    Lucky, as a little weed,
    Nicholas Needham learned to read

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am definitely going to try one - it is SUCH a brilliant book. Julie's was pretty darn inspired, whatever she says about it not completely flipping meaning.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A Look in the Mirror
    by Nicole Marie Schreiber

    With pen in hand,
    still I stand,
    all astonishment,
    as
    my reflection
    speaks.

    “You are
    a writer?”

    “No.”
    I shake my head.

    It all means nothing.

    Fingers aching.
    Pages blanking.
    Words not flying,
    Stories dying.

    Such a sham.

    I’m not
    a real writer.

    I am
    false.

    --------------------

    False.

    I am
    a real writer.

    I’m not
    such a sham.

    Stories dying,
    words not flying,
    pages blanking,
    fingers aching…
    it all means nothing.

    I shake my head.
    “No!
    A writer
    you are!"
    speaks
    my reflection,

    as
    all astonishment,
    still l stand,

    with pen in hand.


    -www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay, I had to post this one more time because I found a line that sounded just too "Yoda-like," so here is the revised version. Thanks! It was a fun, but really hard, poem to write.

    A Look in the Mirror
    by Nicole Marie Schreiber

    With pen in hand,
    still I stand,
    all astonishment,
    as
    my reflection
    speaks.

    “You are a writer?”

    “No.”
    I shake my head.

    It all means nothing.

    Fingers aching.
    Pages blanking.
    Words not flying,
    Stories dying.

    Such a sham.

    I’m not
    a real writer.

    I am
    false.

    --------------------

    False.

    I am
    a real writer.

    I’m not
    such a sham.

    Stories dying,
    words not flying,
    pages blanking,
    fingers aching…
    it all means nothing.

    I shake my head.
    “No!
    You are a writer!"
    speaks
    my reflection,

    as
    all astonishment,
    still l stand,

    with pen in hand.


    -www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, what fun!! Give me a few days.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I want, want to read this book!!! I love that it's a new form and fairy tales all rolled into one. Maybe I can try a fairy tale reverso. I'm not promising, but I will try.

    ReplyDelete
  12. No luck with the twist, but this is still fun!


    If it rains
    the sun will bow her head
    like a yellow flower
    and blue will turn gray,
    night seep into day.
    All will be mysterious.

    All will be mysterious—
    night seep into day
    and blue will turn gray.
    Like a yellow flower
    the sun will bow her head
    if it rains.

    --Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  13. Here's another attempt. (I've been working on a short story about quests.)

    Once upon a time
    a boy set out on a quest.
    He crossed mountains.
    He forded rivers.
    He sought his fortune.
    He met an old man—
    he was given an amulet.
    He asked a question:
    He spoke to the sun.
    He spoke to the moon.
    His way was long...
    He grew strong.


    He grew strong.
    His way was long.
    He spoke to the moon.
    He spoke to the sun.
    He asked a question—
    he was given an amulet.
    He met an old man.
    He sought his fortune.
    He forded rivers.
    He crossed mountains.
    A boy set out on a quest
    once upon a time.

    --Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am reminded of this reversible poem by Robert Reed on YouTube.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mine is here:
    http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2010/04/poem-5-reverso.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. Here are mine:
    adventurous readers
    checkout
    books
    in the library

    in the library
    books
    checkout
    adventurous readers

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    a peaceful ending
    moon slips down the mountain
    stars dance toward dawn
    we drive in silence
    down a back road long forgotten
    sun rises full of hope

    sun rises full of hope
    down a back road long forgotten
    we drive in silence
    stars dance toward dawn
    moon slips down the mountain
    a peaceful ending

    ReplyDelete
  17. Actually I am probably going to revise the second and flip flop the two verses after re-reading them this morning.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Tricia and Marilyn ~ This was tricky, but fun, once I got my brain wrapped around the form. Congratulations, Marilyn, on your wonderful reviews!!

    SCORCHING SPRING

    Soaring temperatures
    Accelerates blossoms
    Scorches spring
    Rips off t-shirts
    Tosses on shorts
    Heat

    Heat
    Tosses on shorts
    Rips off t-shirts
    Scorches spring
    Accelerates blossoms
    Soaring temperatures

    © 2010 Carol Weis

    ReplyDelete
  19. Reverso is fascinating! I tried my hand at it, but I can't wait to keep working on it. Ms. Singer--you are amazing to do a whole collection of these. I'm in awe.

    http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2010/04/poetry-stretch-my-own-reverso.html

    ReplyDelete