Rebecca Lindenberg and Vivienne Plumb - Workshop 20/05/22
Hello, everyone.
Rebecca Lindenberg lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a writer, an editor and an educator.
Vivienne Plumb was born in Sydney, Australia. She is 67 years old, and now lives in New Zealand. She has written award-winning fiction, poetry and drama.
A theme we can identify in the first poetic text is the apology. Consider how you can write some form of apology or how you can be apologetic.
A theme from the second poetic text is cynicism - in particular, being critical of spirituality.
The structure of the first text is concrete - it is spread out on the page. The structure of the second text is more of a block of verse. Look at the shape of these two poems on the page and think about how you might lay out your own poem.
You can also consider repetition - both poems contain subtle repetitions that you could employ in a similar way in your own writing.
Six words to attempt to incorporate into your writing from Lindenberg: unable, unusual, distracted, unfair, prefer, present.
Six words from Plumb: size, whole, pick, plastic, tracks, finish.
If you have a copy of The Exercise Book (Manhire, Duncum, Price & Wilkins), turn to page "#133: Repetition" for an additional challenge.
That's all. I hope you are inspired to write today.
Letter to a Friend, Unsent
by Rebecca Lindenberg
I haven't written in a while
because I don't want to talk
about anything
I've been unable to stop
thinking about: the knotted thread
of bad capillaries on my retinae,
money, or that my morning was ruined
by the unusual tightness
of jeans around my thighs,
like the obligations
of having a body
so ill-fitting, oppressively snug
around an obstinate will.
And while I don't want
to be distracted
from this Duchamp thing
I've been working on— I am
itched out of reverie
over and over again
by this feeling I don't deserve
my raptures anymore.
So I'm sorry. I don't want to
bring you down. It's unfair
to have to hear about needles
and envelopes and flies
when you might just have been
enjoying an iced tea outside
and when I would prefer to tell you,
really,
there's a family of pheasant living
in the massive cottonwood
we call the Tree of Life.
The male's red, green, gold plumage
makes him look
like a Christmas present
I would want to give you.
So except “I hope you're well,”
that's all.
A Letter from My Daughter
by Vivienne Plumb
The trees are tall here, and everything
grows fast in the hot sun and heavy
rain. The wet has come, and butterflies
are the size of small birds. There are ticks
and leeches, enormous mosquitoes,
spiders, flies, thick striped snakes and green
ants, and they all bite. The rainforest
can be dark at night. And these mountains
are as green as their ferny gullies.
Sometimes the clouds engulf a whole huge
mountain top. The beaches have marvellous
shells and the sand lies silky and pure
white. You can pick coconuts, you can
pick as many as you like, and then
hollow out the smooth brown husks to use
for bowls. I have seen parrots, fruit bats,
black water snakes and tree rats. Mangoes,
bananas and pawpaws are growing
wild. During the wet, the sky becomes
deep violet and then next minute
the rain arrives in sheets. Water floods
the bridges and roads, and we cannot
reach Cairns. Because of the rain, local
houses are built on stilts, but below
the ridge down in the Commune we live
in old cars, in yellow bamboo huts,
or in treehouses under plastic.
I often walk along the railway
tracks and over the railway bridges.
There are big lemon trees by the tracks
further up (good for tropical
ulcers). I do not like the cane toads.
And now finally I must finish
this letter, but know that my spirit
astral travels at night, and therefore
I am nearer you more than ever
before. Always OM, your daughter Jane,
who has now been renamed Yasmeen
Shima Mogra Ashanti Cloud Burst.