April's challenge for Poetry Month was to write "in the style of" Taylor Mali. If you're only vaguely familiar with this poet (as I was) here's a great link to several of his spoken word poems. They are sweeping, circular explorations, sturdy with extended metaphor, and pointedly opinionated. During our ZOOM session, I tried to explain why Mali's long, re-iterative poems hit a nerve for me, and why such poems are a joy to dive into, but even so, I had to agree that WRITING in that style was going to be a big ask.
So I went back and re-engaged with that list of his poems. One, called Labeling Keys, sang to me. His father's secret language for coding which key belonged to which lock is a beautiful way to talk about poetry---and it reminded my that any form can be a a way to unlock what you want to say. So, despite my love of his expansive poetry, my "in the style of Taylor Mali" poem is concise.
Haiku concise. Yeah. That was a surprise.
I did try to imitate his flair for unusual metaphor, his humor, his repetition, and his penchant for mild swearing. If you feel like it, drop me a "Taylor Mali is...." haiku in the comments.
Getting There
Taylor Mali is
the road unpaved; throwing bones;
the long confession
Taylor Mali is
what you wish you’d said right then—
tart as blackberries
Taylor Mali is
the backbeat; what’s up your sleeve;
your heart exploding
Taylor Mali is
waking up past your bus stop;
a backpack of bees
Taylor Mali is
an unfolding map of words;
not your damn haiku
----Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)
My Poetry Sisters' "in the style of" Taylor Mali poems are here:
Kelly
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jone Rush MacCulloch.
