This was a fun poem to compose: it is actually based upon two contrivances, not just one. I knew I wanted to write a cento, but I was worried that it would take forever to sift through poems and collect lines, and I am (as you know) on a deadline. I needed a random generator of some sort. So, I started with a deck of cards. I assigned numerical values to the face cards, creating a range of one to thirteen. I turned the cards over and wrote the number of each turn down the left margin of the paper.
I took the numbers to the bookshelf, where I took down a book at a time, from left to right. For each number on my page, I flipped to the indicated page in the book I had in hand and chose a line from that page. I admit I had to cheat a little, since (who knew??) so many books start numbering before the first content page (even counting blank pages). I stuck as close to the system as possible, though, and I was really pleasantly surprised at the poem that took shape through this strategy.
Thought I would/should share the authors with you–set a good example for…somebody lol. These are in order from top to bottom. If you seem to notice a pattern, it might be helpful to know that the top shelf in my case holds classics I use for World Lit, and the second shelf is more contemporary poetry. 🙂
(Anonymous author of Beowulf); Chaucer; Wole Soyinka; Confucius; N.K. Sandars; (Anonymous author of Gilgamesh); Homer; (Anonymous author of Song of Roland); Virgil; Voltaire; Arif Viqar; Arif Viqar; George Orwell; Virgil; Stan Rice; Tess Gallagher; Stan Rice; Jack Myers; Louise Gluck (apologies for the missing umlaut); Jack Gilbert; Galway Kinnell; Ai; C.D. Wright.
