Just stack ’em up, any which way. Or, spend an hour creating your poem made up of titles you’ve read during the COVID-19 situation. (This doesn’t include my Google books, and does include books that I’m perpetually reading and a journal issue in which my words appear, but you get the picture.)

I didn’t come up with this idea, (shout-out to fellow blogger Lani, for introducing me to Steph @pieladybooks) but I think you can take a bit of license: add an article or two, play with punctuation and line breaks, of course. I went all ee cummings-lowercase, so the capitalization didn’t distract from the meaning. And my apologies to the late Sherwood Anderson, but I couldn’t help myself. Here it is, my poem of isolation reads. How about that near-rhyme at the end, right? Watch out, poets! And go ahead and suggest a title, if you’ve got one.

the heart is a full-wild beast, longing for an absent god
ruminate the everyday: old brown shiner, winesburg
o,
hi
o, find me!
magdalene, the virgin of prince street.
what you become in flight?
a catalog of unabashed gratitude, the book of delights

I’d love to see your poem of isolation reads! Still working on your reading arc–I’d love to see that, too.

I’ve done my best to chart and reflect on my family’s isolation here, even as restrictions begin to ease. Recreational boating is allowed again, so my guys will be back in Aqua Dove, that most glorious dinghy, soon. Maybe I’ll write a poem about it. Maybe not.

Want to read more of my isolation posts? I responded to WordPress Discover Prompts in April!–and you can, too. There’s no such thing as late work in blogging.

Are we social? Find me at FB and at Twitter @MoonRuark

20 thoughts on “Show me your poem of isolation reads”

  2. Okay, here goes 😁

    When Things Fall Apart
    Where You’ll Find Me
    is Gathering Moss
    with a Mouthful of Birds
    & The Art of
    the Story
    & The Book
    of Disquiet
    in The Power
    of Now

    Now, I haven’t read all of these books … yet. ☺️ These are the books in my book bag which I brought with me to Michigan.

    I really enjoyed your poem — and admire those books! Love Winesburg!
    Take care & stay safe, Rebecca — and keep writing & reading 🤗
    Deb

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    1. Wow–what a poem, Deb. Fantastic! You couldn’t find a more appropriate title for right now than that first one. At first, I thought maybe it was Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which I haven’t read either but having been meaning to, for years. Saw a review of Mouthful of Birds that called her stories bizarre, so that might be right up my alley. I haven’t read enough bizarre lately.

      I’m glad you’re writing (I loved that flash of yours at X-R-A-Y!) and reading, or at least stacking up that ol’ TBR.

      I hope you have great weather in Michigan. The past couple days have been perfect here, and we’re a little cooler today, which is fine by me, as I don’t want to go straight into summer just yet.

      I’m so glad to hear you love Winesburg. My husband got that for me for Mother’s Day, and I’ve only just started it.

      You stay safe, too! I’ve got kid-sized masks coming soon (to match mine)–because eventually my kids will have to go somewhere. It’s amazing how resilient they are through all this, and they still like each other, which is really something. Take care, Deb, and have a nice Sunday!

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  3. Hey, you can’t give me credit. I’m only the messenger! Pie Lady Books deserves the mention! But alright, thanks. 😛

    I like your poem, you clever girl! I’m always in and out of poetry and trying to read it again, but when the poem is EPIC I lose interest. I blame myself though, too many things to read these days!

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    1. I’m going to edit to give Pie Lady Books credit, too, but messengers matter!

      I never write poetry but I have been into reading it here and there over the last couple years, but not really before that. And I’m with you on the epic poems that never end–I find I lose my place or patience or the train of logic or thought. Not sure many of us have the attention span for that kind of poetry these days.

      Hope you’re enjoying whatever you’re reading, today, Lani, and thanks again for the spark of inspiration! (Funny tidbit: my one and only imaginary friend, growing up (I was the first-born), was named Lanny–pronounced like yours but spelled that way, in my mind, anyway.)

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      1. Oh no! My name’s not pronounced Lanny. Do you remember Loni Anderson? Yeah, like Loni. The ‘a’ sound like ‘awesome’ not ‘average’. Hahahahhahaa.

        So I need to ask though, how’s your imaginary friend these days? 😛

        I’ve played around with poetry writing but I label them on the blog as ‘almost poetry’ because I don’t feel nearly as good to call any ‘poems’ I write the word. I wish I was better but not enough to practice. 😛

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      2. Oh, sorry! I’m a terrible pronouncer (is that even a word?)! I always revert to my Midwestern, nasally accent, which ruins lots of nice-sounding words. (For us, it’s not pa-JAH-mas for bed, it’s pa-JAM-uhs.) Yes, of course I know Loni–WKRP in Cincinnati, and a whole career after. OK, now I’ll call you the right thing in my head!

        The funniest (or most on-brand, really) thing about my childhood imaginary friend is that she was my best friend, but I wasn’t hers. Maybe that’s why we fell out, or I didn’t need her anymore because I got a brother to torture and then a sister to help me. Now, my characters are my imaginary friends, so maybe it’s a good thing Lanny and I went our separate ways.

        I’m going to have to check out your “almost poetry”–fun!

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      3. No worries. It’s a Hawaiian name, spelling, and pronunciation. 😉

        OMG. WKRP in Cincinnati! Wow, that takes me back. Used to watch it – hee hee.

        I love the details about you and your friend Lanny. 😀 and yes, it sounds like its probably for the best. xo

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    1. Only one apocalyptic novel in the stack, Find Me, which I didn’t know was apocalyptic when I started it. Amazing how some of these novelists got so much right about this pandemic–or scary maybe. Hope you’re well and reading, Damyanti, and thanks for stopping by!

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    1. Thanks, Shelley! It was a fun exercise for this non-poet. You know, I keep going back, and back again, to both of Ross Gay’s books–so much to discover in re-reading. Hope you’re reading something great right now!

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      1. You’re welcome. If you hadn’t told me you weren’t a poet I would’ve never known that from your poem! I’ve only read the Delights book. I’ll have to read the other one soon. I’m reading The Hacking of the American Mind – The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Robert H. Lustig. It may be a bit of a heavier read for the times we’re going through, but, it is very interesting. 😉

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  7. I hate to say it but I haven’t been doing and leisure reading much lately 🙈 between work, the toddler and writing I’ve only gotten time to research how to stay sane and keep my little human alive! 😅

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    1. Sounds like you’re doing more than enough. Must be something about the toddler phase, but I remember my guys’ pediatrician saying, “your job is to keep them alive.” Sanity, too–and you’re golden! To be honest, sometimes I’m reading to avoid what I should be writing. Ugh. I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts at the blog, and thanks again for stopping by!

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