Ada Limon was our U.S Poet Laureate prior to our current Poet Laureate, Arthur Sze. She writes poems and puts them in a drawer, returning to them later to see which ones seem to have bloomed. She tells writers who are striving to make a living off “just writing” that their poetry wants them to live and work and pay their bills. Limon lives in Lexington, Kentucky and is inspired by nature, and of course by horses, being so close to the Kentucky Derby -and if you’ve never read How to Triumph Like a Girl, you simply must click this link and devour every single line. Ada Limon is one of the two poets our dog Ollie loves best, as his chewing on the corner of Bright Dead Things reveals (I cropped the damage out in the photo below).
I’ve created a Cento poem by using existing lines from two of her collections and arranging them into new poems. The first poem is from lines in poems in The Carrying.
What a Day Is
The big-ass bees are back, tipsy, sun-drunk
The birds were being so bizarre today
that brute sky opening in a slate-metal maw
and the dogs are going bonkers in the early morning
and this is what a day is. Beetle on the wainscoting,
But friends, it’s lunchtime.
Lines for my cento were taken from these poems, in this order: Dandelion Insomnia; Almost Forty; The Leash; The Visitor; Late Summer after a Panic Attack; The Light the Living See
I couldn’t resist TWO poems for today. Need I say that Ada Limon is in my top tier of favorite poets? Maybe even my very favorite. These lines for this cento were taken from Bright Dead Things.
Shower Dragon
I’m crying near the shower
changing swirl of hips and hope
part female, part male, part terrible dragon
But I want to be more like a weed
perched on the edge of euphoric plummet
of psychedelic-colored canaries: a cloud
of air, of water, of fire, of earth
of fast wishes caught by nothing.
Taken from, in this order: Cower, Play it Again, Accident Report in the Tall, Tall Weeds; The Good Fight; Midnight, Talking About our Exes; Adaptation; The Whale and the Waltz Inside of It; The Plunge.
Common Threads 
Two wonderful new poems born of Ada’s words. Is it my imagination or is your process getting easier? I’d like to consider a cento project, but I’m daunted by the amount of time it seems to take, reading, writing, and rearranging lines.
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Margaret, it does get much easier once you have a good bank of Cento sticks to work with. For me, it’s like the crossword puzzle – – it’s that kind of thinking my older brain needs to exercise. If your project is for younger kids, they might like Jenga block poetry. I’d love to talk about it anytime. When a PreK teacher asked me to come and see what kind of poetry I thought the students could write a couple of years ago, I took Jenga blocks with colorful words from magazines glued onto them. They produced some poems of three and four words that they wrote themselves and illustrated – related to weather, spring blooms, and nature. It’s a great way to keep the kinesthetic creativity and the writing connected.
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I made a set of Jenga blocks for my classroom and I think I brought them home. When I worked one on one with a kid, the selection of words worked well for creating an interactive teaching moment.
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Margaret, those are some fun activities. I could do them for hours, and I’m an adult…..loving word blocks and popsicle sticks with poetry…..I’m so glad I have writing friends who understand and share the passion of wordplay!
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Kim, you are a wealth of awesome ideas. I was feeling like Margaret yesterday. But I’m glad it was Sunday at the start of Spring Break so time was on my side! And I had your great example. I love the idea of jenga blocks, too! I may try that next! I like how you are reminding me that poets play with words! Thanks you!
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Sally, I’m glad I have adult friends who understand my need to play with blocks and sticks. It’s hard to be a 60 year old and explain that kind of behavior to anyone…..unless they, too, know the wonder of the writing and the joy it brings. Thank you for being that writing friend!
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Kim, great poems with so many layers. This week, I am drawn to your lines, But I want to be more like a weed, perched on the edge of euphoric plummet. The crazy part is that I am not sure if I want to just go of the craziness of life like a week, or fall over in exhaustion from the craziness of life!
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Anita, I’m there. I’m not sure my plummet is euphoric either- – definitely more exhaustion for sure, like you say. Some days I’m so tired the first thing I do is put on my pajamas. Like at, you know, 4:45. That does not suggest a euphoric plummet. Thanks for reading!
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Kim,
Like you I love Ada Limon. I read her horse poems to Ken. She is so attuned to nature in all its incarnations. Her poetry aligns with Braiding Sweetgrass in my thinking. There is a lesson about life in each poem. Like Anita I’m drawn to the weed line. It resonates as a metaphor for how we treat some parts of nature and people. Sometimes I want to be the weed Limon describes. Other times I feel like the weed that’s pulled and tossed away. In the first poem the fat bees have my heart. I love watching bees work. Now I’m curious about who will culminate this cento celebration.
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Glenda, thanks so much for reading! I can see you reading the poems to Ken – if I were reading a poem to anyone, those are the ones I would pick first. I feel like diving into Braiding Sweetgrass for found poetry – there is such depth and dimension to that book, and it is practically prose poetry to the ears. I had to pick the fat-ass bee line because Ollie has an issue with these bees that hover in his clover patch that he marks each morning. He does NOT like the bees and bites at them if they fly anywhere near him. It’s quite hilarious – – but I’m a little worried he will catch one. I hope you will like the choice for tomorrow.
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“sun-drunk” bees – love that! I’m so happy to see a fellow Lexingtonian featured in your centos today. My favorite line is the last line “…of fast wishes caught by nothing.”
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Lori, yes – Ada Limon writes right there in Lexington, and I am in awe of her poems. Thanks for reading.
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Kim, I love Ada Limon’s poetry and especially the book you featured at the opening of your post. Your poem is delightful. Love the way you end it and the choices are fantastically woven together.
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Thank you, Barb! It’s a lot like crocheting with the good yarn – – it’s already spun, I’m just respinning the words of the masters. :). Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
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Ahh, Ada Limon. We still claim her here in Kentucky, even though she’s moved back to California. I can’t wait for her new book to arrive in April. Perhaps I should finish reading Startlements before the new one publishes. Thanks again for so many living poets this month. I’m curious about tomorrow.
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I hadn’t realized she’d moved back to California! Thank you for sharing that ~ I have a daughter in Kentucky and was always thinking about how she shares the state with Ada Limon – – now I’ll have to reframe my thinking! I think her best poetry was written right there in the Bluegrass State, and I don’t blame you – I’d claim her too! I have Startlement on Kindle, but I’m going to have to get the bound copy because it’s just not the same. I also did not know that she has a new collection coming out, but as I check Amazon I see it will release April 7, and is entitled Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry. I’m so glad you came to share these things so I can be in on the latest news. Thanks for reading!
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Always glad to share poetry knowledge (not that I know everything, but I know a few things). I think the new book is going to be more about the power of poetry and less of a collection of poetry.
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Here’s a link to an IG post of Limon talking about the book. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWheA2_kgLj/?igsh=MXJ4N2VnczY1bGx6cw==
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I think you are right! I actually just pre-ordered it! I listened to a sample and it sounds like we will learn much about her role as Poet Laureate! I’m so grateful you commented today with the new and revised info! Many, many thanks.
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This I love!! “She writes poems and puts them in a drawer, returning to them later to see which ones seem to have bloomed.” I tell students to let their writing get cold and then pick it up to read with new eyes. You outdid yourself with your two poems today. “and the dogs are going bonkers in the early morning” perfectly describes early morning in a jungle village in Thailand… and they seemed to always gather under the thatched home we stayed in (the home was up on stilts).
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Kim, marvelous! I know how much you love Ada. Thank you for your passion and resources. I read, “How to Triumph Like a Girl” again tonight. It is amazing. Your second cento is my favorite today. “changing swirl of hips and hope” is such a great line, and those final two lines are Wow!
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Thank you so much, Alice! I’ve enjoyed writing with you this month.
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Thank you, Denise! That horse poem gets me every time.
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