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Redo To Right A Patchwork Poem: Flipping It Over Surpassed Everything

thinking now of Duchamp,
his infamous “sculpture”
*nothing nice in his house —
no one to arrange the flowers

the entire existence of a thing
could be changed simply by flipping it over,
*as suddenly as a star slides in the sky,
a reddish light seemed to burn in her mind

an act completed by
nothing else but gravity,
*some winy smell mixed
with it and intoxicated her,

an object or person, once upturned, becomes
more than its once-singular self
*but for a sight, for a glory it
surpassed everything in her
experience and burnt

thinking now of Duchamp,
*nothing nice in his house
*but for a sight, for a glory
it surpassed everything


I didn’t follow the guidelines the first time.
This is a redo and here are the rules:

Cento in Latin means ‘patchwork’ but unlike the cento poem we are going to be sewing together pieces of prose to make a poem:

  • Choose TWO books of prose
  • Pick ONE page from each
  • Extract SHORT LINES from each page*
  • ALTERNATE them to make a poem
  • Use italics and plain font to differentiate the text sources
  • Use one of the source lines or a combination as TITLE

Stick to these Guidelines:

  • DO NOT ADD ANYTHING of your own to the lines
  • You may use enjambement
  • You could split the poem into stanzas
  • CITE YOUR SOURCES with author, book title and page number

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous; pg.199
*Virginia Woolf, To The Lighthouse; pg.199

Two Novels sitting on windowsill
Photo by Author for Patchwork Prose at dVerse

Written for Meeting The Bar at dVerse for the patchwork PROSE prompt hosted by Laura. I’m STILL wowed at the result and will say no more.

Doubly thanks to Laura, and you all for reading my redo. I bless you and wish you miracles.

Note: This work/photo of the art piece was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office
before January 1, 1928. It’s in the public domain. Thanks.

Selma Martin
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This Post Has 37 Comments

    1. Selma Martin

      Sadje. I was pleased and happy to be given a second go at it. Thanks for reading. Xo

  1. rajkkhoja

    Very nice

  2. Ingrid

    Beautifully woven, Selma 🤩

  3. Laura Bloomsbury

    You worked wonders Selma! The stanza breaks are their own unique stand alone poems
    p.s. do not know the Vuong book but you wove it so well with Woolf

    1. Selma Martin

      Pleased with your comment. Thanks dearly. Vuong is a fast rising literary genius. He’s a young professor at an elite University. A great poet in his own right and a novelist too. He’s rocking things.

      Vuong contemplates Duchamp’s famous work, a standard urinal, flipped upside down which he entered in an art exhibit in 1917 and called a ‘fountain’ (water fountain) —signed and dated ‘R. Mutt 1917’.
      This goes deep as Vuong has good points to make about identifying as queer.
      This is all new to me and I’m fascinated by this young man.
      I’m enjoying his novel.
      And Woolf— well Woolf is Woolf.
      Thanks, Laura. Blessings.

      1. Laura Bloomsbury

        appreciate the brief exposé of Vuong – been reading on poetry foundation now

  4. Michele Lee

    You have selected gorgeous lines and woven together a beautiful poetic tapestry! 🌟

    1. Selma Martin

      I’m so pleased and honored that you read. Thanks for the support. Xoxo ✨

    1. Selma Martin

      Cindy, my sweet Daisy lady. (I just read at Masticadores) thanks much. Xoxo ((Hugs))

    2. Selma Martin

      Now this one I like. Not only because I followed the rules but because of how they really blended. Wagered on an old and a new and by golly it worked.
      If you need to know more about Vuong please return to read my response to Laura. It goes deep concerning that Urinal— er, water fountain art piece I added as main foto. Haha. You will love it. More, maybe. 🤷🏻‍♀️ May Be
      Blessings.

      1. Cindy Georgakas

        Oh wonderful, I’ll have a peek. Lovely to be pleased with your work! It was wonderful!💕

  5. s.s.

    You are a true storyteller, melding words and senses and moments! 👏

    1. Selma Martin

      And so are you, m’lady 😉 😉 Bookthievery and Kiteflyery I ADORED yours 👏

      1. s.s.

        😍🙏

  6. memadtwo

    What an interesting combination! And it works so well. (K)

  7. Jeff Flesch

    “an object or person, once upturned, becomes
    more than its once-singular self
    *but for a sight, for a glory it
    surpassed everything in her
    experience and burnt” That’s wonderful, Selma. xoxo

    1. Selma Martin

      Hehe. Disclosure: I wish they were MY words… they are borrowed. I just borrowed them to patch. 😜 But I was sure impressed at how they blended so well. Goodness!
      Thanks for visiting and engaging me. Bless you, Jeff.

  8. Tricia Sankey

    that second stanza is so stirring, brilliantly spun! 👏👏

    1. Selma Martin

      Aww, Lady Tricia. Thank you. Sooo much, thank you.
      I wagered on something old and something new and by golly, it worked. I was pleasantly surprised.
      It’s humbling…
      Blessings.
      I wrote about Vuong to Laura in a comment (feel free to swing by to read if you like— it explains the main foto: The urinal, er water fountain 😜) thanks for reading.

    1. Selma Martin

      Duchamp made more sense. So happy to hear this. Thanks for the visit and comment Björn. Bless you.

    1. Selma Martin

      Aww. Thanks for reading and thinking it so. Xoxo 💘

  9. Conny

    A volte-face of a poem, Selma! Wonderfully done.

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