my daughter texts me
(from Australia)
about a convo that she had
with someone ‘bout a poet’s
core of-– roMance?
i lean back ,
the steering wheel lock snaPs,
switch on the news,
ISTANBUL,
days of violent anti-government
protests, the US
and European Union
do eXPress concern
about the heavy-handed action
of police against protesters,
she wears a red cotton dress,
shouting summer, Fe-
mininity & freedom, necklace, her white handbag
like a flag // sign // pledge,
a masked police man crouches before her,
firing teargas & her long, dark hair
in restless waves,
billows uP//uP//Up/// towards the sky
in silent cries,
copy plastered on the walls,
in clouds of spray paint, graffiti//D
the essence of this protest
(cap)(en)cap (tured) // caP(su)lated, & re-
Leased in
One Fat Line
“The more you spray, the bigger we get”,
with swimming goggles,
flimsy maSks, light tasseled scarVes
‘round unBent necks
they stand against the teargas,
Prime Minister Erdogan
Brands the protesters eXtremists
“living arm in arm with terrorism”,
how off can one be– &
i pull out my red dress,
text back to Australia,
“proBably, we’re everything,
fighting madmen, hopeless,
faith(so)Ful(of),
stand in rags against the webs
trying to freeZe & luLLUsIN,
rise hair uPuP like giant flags,
&spray-paint ourSelves in wet lines ‘cross the spaCe,
oPen, reCKlessly eMotional,
& DanGit,
what we we(ar)e–
& How,
& Why, it
frickin’ matters–“
.
Charles has us write Dadaist method poems at dVerse today where you take for example snippets from an article or any text and put them together in a new way.
For my poem, i used words from Alexandra Hudson’s article “Woman in red becomes leitmotif for Istanbul’s female protesters”
jaywalking the moon 
Made me think of the song lyric “I’m gonna let my freak flag fly / I’ve been a fool all lifetime, but today I’ll be the king / I’m gonna let my freak flag fly / Wear it high up in the air for everyone to …”…guess we poets are still trying to change the world…one line at a time….good to start my day with your poem.
No matter the show just let it flow. Not sure we can change but I acn act crazy at my range haha
Claudia, very successful interweaving the article into the poem…and all visual’re working well too…in your style
I loved your poem because of the symbolism behind it. I have good Turkish friends and they are quite concerned. Many thanks.
Greetings from London.
nice…i like how you play the Man in romance against the feminist side…great word in word play throught he middle as well..the more you spray the bigger we get, ha, cool quote that….like when you take the power and toss that red dress on…get a little fired up…smiles.
I like how you managed to write a protest poem in your unique style. Do hope things change for the better.
I think I’ll look for my red dress … right now … oops, don’t have one … never have and never will … will blue (jeans) and a red T-Shirt do?
Dang! – this is GOOD!!!
Love this one Claudia.
Raw and emotional – love it
Really well done. Great images. I like the red that weaves through it. Color expresses so much emotion.
This anti-form seems a reflection of modern life and politics. You blend the article very well with your distinctive style. I am looking forward to seeing all the ways people respond to this prompt.
You really took it one step further by interweaving the text-snippets into your own poetry.. I really liked how you managed to get Turkey into the whole poem… Make a lot of sense to me.
I liked your technique, Claudia. Seems there are many ways of accomplishing this kind of poetry. Seems there are always some madmen somewhere in the world to fight! You chose some pretty ‘heavy’ words.
Turkish despots rise up like carcinogenic clouds. Friends of mine with friends in Istanbul have cried out; and your dadaist thrust at stupidity & sexist BS chimes in for some, takes the lead for others; thanks.
I was actually reading and following the news – specially the photo of the woman in red dress, being sprayed by the policeman ~ Strong voice here Claudia, we should rise and protest along with these women and men in the streets ~ I am with you in furious indignation, everything matters ~ Applause ~
This was such a fascinating read. You def imprinted it with your style and I love the result.
I feel like I’ve lived through many a woman’s day. I like the pace and the intervals herein Claudia.
Beautiful words and contrasts between the personal and political, your daughter in Australia and events and Turkey. And you’re right there. In particular I liked your crazy drumbeat of words at the end:
faith(so)Ful(of),
stand in rags against the webs
trying to freeZe & luLLUsIN,
rise hair uPuP like giant flags,
&spray-paint ourSelves in wet lines ‘cross the spaCe,
oPen, reCKlessly eMotional,
Brilliant!
I loved the poem. It was meaningful. Thanks for the post.
Wow. This seems to be more a poem about DaDa performance as it often was, guerrilla protest, NonSense against government nonsense. I enjoyed the elements: car, text, news, distance, graffiti, red and more.
Great fat line… lulluzining. Maybe randomly cutting words with scissors and joining them together resembles a little what happens in our mind whenever we create something new
Being a poet of romance, of duty and of conscience, I can identify with this poem in its many facets. And we really have to sing it to the tune of “Helter Skelter”, Claudia. Because, as Jonathan Winters put it: “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world!”
In defending our freedom and way of life, we should always remember just what that way of life truly is and what it isn’t. As I said to a young prison worker: “we must never forget that the way of life we are protecting is worth being under the Constitutional scrutiny” involved with protecting the public from violent or criminal extremists.
On the other hand, we’ve already fought a world war and the fascists lost. If we say that the end justifies the means we would in fact be dishonoring the millions of lives lost fighting totalitarianism. So it is a fine balance we walk, protecting our freedom from both those who would violate it as in Copley Square and at the same time defending it from ourselves so that we do not turn into a police state.
Every generation has its own version of Helter Skelter. This is ours. Write on, Claudia, dear poet. Write on. We need to be reminded from time to time of the need to stay away from the edge of the abyss. 🙂 Eric
Love what you’ve done here Claudia – a meaningful write in your wonderful way.
Anna :o]
The image of the woman in red is stunning, and I’m so glad to read what you’ve made out of it.
the meaning coalesces. very powerful
Now you used longer chunks, but it works very well, and the fragmentation supports your subject matter. k.
This seems so natural for you–I think you often, maybe unwittingly, use something like this method in your normal poetic method. That is, you often take a current event, run it through your edgy imagination, and out comes perfection. You ARE avant-garde!
Lovely, always collage pulling together such randomness ironically said given the fact that politicians love to call every civil act of disobedience random and anarchic! Beautifully, ingeniously done!
I really love this section:
“i pull out my red dress,
text back to Australia,
“proBably, we’re everything,
fighting madmen, hopeless,
faith(so)Ful(of),
stand in rags against the webs
trying to freeZe & luLLUsIN,
rise hair uPuP like giant flags,
&spray-paint ourSelves in wet lines ‘cross the spaCe,
oPen, reCKlessly eMotional,”
“The more you spray, the bigger we get” — Claudia this keeps on ringing into my ears… there’s is seductive feel into it that when i read spray i thought of perfume and how it was used to lure or attract men as if in the ancient time women spy… i dunno but i was redirected to such images after reading this… and i loved it… smiles…
a call to arms – so to speak – a call for understanding and justice- makes me want to get my red on! K
the rapid fire fragments filled my head with images, photojournalism pictures, red, violent, tragic, heroic; very well done
Powerful and brilliant
Powerful imagery. It makes me want to create placards and join the march. You do stir the blood.
I want a revolution. But if I can’t have your poetry too I don’t want one.
A poem within a poem, a political protest within domesticity… Perfectly done!
Claudia- I love how you add your touch to everything you write. It gives your poetry incredible personality. =) -Mike
This is magnificent Claudia! I needed these words tumbling in to my head this evening, so thank you!
I loved the way you worked on it in circles. Typically stitching your thoughts while holding onto the steering while, news, texting, fleeting thoughts, random..lovely!
It’s powerful poem, however you made it! (You are probably not capable of anything less.) 🙂
I found this deeply personal, and felt that I was along for the ride.
I almost feel the world is going back to the dark days just after WWI when the abandonment of reason and of progress seemed so inevitable. I think your notes of progress exactly catch this feeling.
Somewhat a protest in pursuing political persuasion can be worrisome. It’s more challenging. Nicely Claudia!
Hank
loved the way you described it Claudia..
and that spray painting bit and the concluding lines were awesome 🙂
This is an incredible picture of a moment of consciousness. Well done!
Powerful images and a strong voice that needs to be heard..great job!
Wow this os so good I can’t believe this is a rearrangement!
Hi! Claudia…
One Fat Line
“The more you spray, the bigger we get…”
I must admit that I’m just now focusing in on this news story. Now with that being said, you have captured the raw emotional[s] Of this situation in your poetic words.
And just like Brian, I like the way you used the…“Dadaist method poems at dVerse today where you take for example snippets from an article or any text and put them together in a new way…”
Thanks, for sharing !
deedee 🙂
This is fantastic Claudia =)
“a masked police man crouches before her,
firing teargas & her long, dark hair
in restless waves,
billows uP//uP//Up/// towards the sky
in silent cries,”
Powerful imagery in this line–and in the entire poem. Very well done, Claudia.
Very creative, Claudia. 🙂
The more people are suppressed, the more they fight to be free.