Welcome to Day 9 of the Slice of Life Challenge! I’m spending my month slicing about the living poets whose collections I enjoy reading – and using one of their collections to write Cento poetry, composed of existing lines reworked to form a new poem. Today, I’m sharing a Cento taken from the lines of poems in Maggie Smith’s collection entitled Goldenrod.
Maggie Smith appears in an interview here as a graduate of OSU.
Becoming
I am becoming my mother here
crossing a field, wading.
If you feel yourself receding, receding,
whatever your name is, you are with your own kind.
When are we most ourselves, and when the least?
My Cento poem features lines taken from these poems, in this order: Slipper, Threshold, Poem Beginning with a Retweet; Goldenrod; Ohio Cento.
Common Threads 
Fascinating! All three: the poem concept, the topic and the final result. Thank you!
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Thanks for add the link. I enjoyed meeting this poet through the Ohio State article. Using her lines, you crafted a poem that is still lingering for me. A sign of a great writing!
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“When are we most ourselves, when the least?” I can see why you held onto that line. That’s one to linger over. I love the way you used the receding, receding line after “wading.” That has a very peaceful flow. This will stick with me today. I need to read some Maggie Smith.
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Ooo, I love Maggie Smith’s poetry. I subscribe to her substack and have her book on writing “Dear Writer.” Highly recommend. My challenge to my writing group last week was to write a poem using the word “becoming.” I could use the line “I am becoming my mother.” I see her every day in my mirror.
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Kim,
You can’t go wrong with Maggie Smith poems and collections. Her new one, A Suit or a Suitcase, comes out March 24. I love the way “Goldenrod” explores identity and what makes us who we are. The Cento lines are perfect, and that ending question is thought provoking. It’s one all women must confront. I wish I had an answer.
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