This month during the Slice of Life Challenge, I’m featuring some of my favorite poetry books by living poets and writing Cento poetry each day using the existing lines from poems in each collection to form a new poem. Miranda Cowley Heller rose to writing fame as author of The Paper Palace, a novel selected by Reese Witherspoon for her book club. Turns out, she’s an amazing poet as well!
You can read more about Miranda Cowley Heller here and here .
Family Secrets
Inside the case were all the photos
Alone at the kitchen table, I still
dig myself out of the sink
and my children cry blood tears for me.
From poems in this order: Salvage; The Taste of Pennies; Half-Life; and The Earth is Flat
Common Threads 
The imagery in today’s poem is haunting. Great choices! You have me inspired by this “found” poetry format. Happy Sunday!
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Thank you, Giovanna! I hope you will try a Cento with your favorite poetry collection. Thanks for reading and commenting today!
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I’m reading and smiling thinking I really need to go dig out the sinki!!!
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I have done found poetry before but never tried Cento poems. Your poem makes me want to know more of this person’s story.
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Kim,
Oof! Thats an image-filled poem. It reminds me of the title poem of Maggie Smith’s new collection, “A Suitcase or a Suit.” Which is our body? That’s the central question. We dig ourselves out of the past as we dig through those old photos. I’m gonna have to look for this collection, I think, and I just bought two new poetry collections yesterday and another a few days ago.
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I feel like I’ve started an avalanche because the more I learn of this poet and that poet, the more books I want to buy. I have 18 books on hold through the public library on interlibrary loans throughout the state of Georgia. I understand the fever for poetry.
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Kim, your concise poem hits a resounding note. “Blood tears”! Wow! Love this one!
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Blood tears makes me want to read more. Wow! What a line.
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That cento poem is haunting, Kim. “blood tears” I feel there are so many of those these days.
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