This month during the Slice of Life Challenge at http://www.twowritingteachers.org, I’m celebrating a different living poet each day and using their work to create a cento poem. David Gate is a poet who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina and writes predominantly on themes of nature and the environment. You can read more about David Gate here and here.
When the Baby Goats are Dying
People say “money doesn’t make you happy”
when the baby goats are dying.
It tells you nothing.
They say to “stay strong.”
I always do.
Lines for this Cento were taken from: The Problem of Happiness; I Still Get to Be Yours; Curse these Minutes; Stay Strong; Winter’s Insistence
Common Threads 
I enjoy reading your poems and you have me interested in lots of the poets formerly unknown to me.
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Thank you, Erika. Many of these are new to me, too. I had never heard of this poet until I saw he had a book of poems and essays that looked interesting, and turns out he lives in one of my favorite cities in the south. I love discovering writers I’ve never read, and I can tell from your blog that you do, too. Long live reading!
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Life is busy right now so I am making a date with myself the last week in June to really study your poets. I can’t wait!
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Oh, Sally, how I understand that busy time of year right now. We are in the thick of all things testing and data analysis. Thanks for reading! I hope to take a dive into the various state poets laureate sometime later this summer. Those are of great interest to me as I have just thumbed through s few collections.
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Kim,
Oof! Thst cento is a gut punch. As Daniel Pink says, we need enough money to take money off the table. Baby goats as metaphor for all we need money for is a clarion call. Platitudes to “stay strong” will never be enough. I really love Appalachian poetry and writing in general.
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Glenda, thank you! I also love Rural Appalachia and the culture and dialect of the poets who capture the spirit.
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Kim, perhaps your best this month or perhaps it is what I needed to read today! It’s a hard season for many right now and staying strong is good advice. Thanks for the pep talk
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Thank you, Anita! It always amazes me that just rearranging existing lines can carry such strong meaning and themes. I’m glad it was what you needed and I think we are all stronger together in any season – especially with poetry as a soul medicine.
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Thanks for this poem. It gave me a lot to ponder. I wasn’t sure if you were feeling like the “stay strong” message was a bit hollow, like the “thoughts and prayers” line that follows so many tragedies. But then the last line made it seem more triumphant or defiant. In any case, you made me pause and you made me want to learn more about David Gate. I did not know anything about him.
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Peter, I’m just learning more about David Gate as well. He intrigues me – I am so glad you are reading into the lines and offering your thoughts on them – it means a lot to know that the lines for the poem came together in an arrangement that can be examined in our own lives in our current world, particularly with so much going on that allows deep reflection. I appreciate your sharing!
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When I recovered my breath, I read your Cento a second time … The second line of “dying baby goats” tied back to the first line with “money doesn’t matter” and gave me an emotional jerk. I thought, Those “baby goats” are a metaphor of so many things. I’ve enjoyed your Cento poems.
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Thank you, Alice! I remain intrigued with the way cento spills truths.
I appreciate your kind words.
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How do you choose the right lines for the poem when there are so many to choose from?
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