A cento is a poem in which all the lines are taken from other poems. This kind of poem dates back to the times of Virgil, says Wikipedia.
The introduction to my poem is this (true story):
On the afternoon of December 29th, 2007, a hiker discovered Robert Frost’s summer home on Homer Noble Farm vandalized. Furniture had been set on fire; windows, light fixtures, dishes had been destroyed. Urine, vomit and the yellow powder of a discharged fire extinguisher could be found throughout the house.
On hearing this story I immediately thought it would be the perfect occasion for a cento from Frost's poems--a kind of vandalism, yes? It took me awhile to get on it but now I'm on it...going through the complete poems, searching for lines. It's *big* project (much bigger than I realized going into it).
Many of Frost's poems are narrative, have a speaker who speaks in present or past tense. I've been finding lots of great lines surrounding: fire, winter, nighttime, houses being entered, smoking, drinking, young people--mostly I'm just asking as I skim, "How might this fit in?" Yes, it's collage but a very different process for me in this respect: I'm starting with an idea and then letting it inform my selection (rather than my earlier collage poems where I began with language and moved toward voice, meaning, unity). The way things are forming ('how way leads on to way') it will likely be a short play or a series of monologues--from the hiker, someone at the party, and from the ghost of Frost.
I am going to print off the lines I've typed up, cut them apart and then arrangement on a table (like my usual process) but the final poem will be typed up, not pasted down.
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