Collage Poem

A Lesson by Jodi Eaton

Poetry prompt for a poem with "collage" like pieces to make a whole poem.

Collage Poem

To make your collage you will use the following pieces:

1. a personal memory (or dream)

2. a current news story or cultural event

3. a detailed description of the natural world

Alternate these “pieces,” paragraph by paragraph, until you assemble a story or poem or a text of creative nonfiction.

Do not worry about how your pieces relate to one another; the longer you work on your collage, the more the pieces will begin to establish their own connections. At the beginning of your work, there will be a disjunctive feel which will smooth out as you go on with it.

It’s best to write in block paragraphs. This way you will assist the reader in making sense of your collage. This is to say you will signal to the reader that this is a collage piece and not a straightforward narrative with a plot trajectory. You may also choose to number your paragraphs or even title them.

For more “postmodern” ambience, you may choose to keep your piece disjunctive, keep the pieces from relating too directly to one another.

For a slightly more traditional narrative, you may deliberately create transitions between pieces.

Make sure to alternate in order—this will help your reader to follow your text.

You’re done when you “feel” done. This exercise demands surrendering to intuition. Leave your control-freak hat at home.