One thing I love in poetry is the freedom to use mixed images and metaphors that don’t seem to connect or even fit on first sight–
It’s a bit like cooking–
We all have the recipes that work well together – foolproof // riskfree– ha
A certain theme – certain images and words – they won’t fail, unease your stomach and leave you standing in a downpour with people pointing fingers or shaking their head at you
And that is cool
But honestly
Sometimes it can get a bit boring as well, right?
When I first ate beef with a dark&bitter chocolate sauce I was like “What–?”
It was in Hamburg on a hotel visit and the chef belonged to the “young wild” group
I think you guess already — it tasted devine–
Having understood the power of contrast
they served foie gras, caviar, the most sophisticated and expensive starters in the most adventurous combinations – on silver plates – in the dusty attic of the old historical hotel
They served lobster soup in test-tubes
There were cobwebs in the corners
You wouldn’t take your guests there – right?
For my job I eat in a lot of excellent restaurants and it’s almost always really good– but as soon as it’s over, I forget–
That attic experience was about 8 years ago – I still remember every detail cause it was
a bit rakish, unexpected, special and brave
Contrasts&Contradictions, even more when they’re a bit unsettling, make us remember things
And hey – I want my poetry to be like that – at least sometimes – at least a bit
Smiles
So today’s task is to be a bit brave,
mix things you wouldn’t usually like…
cats and petroleum jelly
ice cream and motor oil
raccoons and watercolor cakes
missiles and flower poets
and and and….
think about contradictions and serve them up boldly
place things in an environment that doesn’t seem to fit
have fun!
— and season to taste
If you need inspiration – Charlie Zero by the way is quite good with this
Smiles
Happy writing &
See you out on the trail
–Claudia
brian miller said:
ha. fun to make these connections and present things in new and unusual ways…also to develop these contradictions as well…beef and chocolate….hmmm….sounds good to me….smiles…
brian miller said:
and charlie is def awesome…smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I would take lobster in any form and in any vessel… as long as it’s still lobster.
brian miller said:
amen…and crab legs….seriously torturing myself with the thought of it…
i need to get to the beach…and crack some shells….smiles.
claudia said:
….and oysters….hmmmmm
brian miller said:
oh my, there was this place in pensacola florida called peg leg pete’s…they had this oyster platter….mmmm….i like em steamed too…
is it dinner time yet?
claudia said:
beef and chocolate….sigh… it was awesome… think i have to try cooking it myself some day
Anthony Desmond said:
me too! I might throw some Hershey’s special dark chocolate on a bologna sandwich… sounds yummy, right?
brian miller said:
hahaha if you try that…i am not sure i want to know how it tastes…lol….
still trying to get the image of you naked reading your english textbook out of my head anthony…lol…
Anthony Desmond said:
oops… maybe I gave a lil TMI… hahahah
brian miller said:
i want an invite for dinner….
Susan said:
Mexican Mole Sauce!
brian miller said:
mole poblano…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
This was a lot of fun.. yes I tried my best… and I served it on a silver platter 🙂 in the form of a sonnet… I remember in one of my first comments on Charlie’s blog I said I wanted to write a flarf sonnet… so just maybe this is what I have done…
claudia said:
a flarf sonnet… how cool… i didn’t even realize it was a sonnet as i was so focused on the images…cool
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
ha… iambic pentameter and shakesperean rhymes (though slanted).. but plenty of nonsense ..
brian miller said:
dude, seriously you do some things with form that are ridiculous….in a good way….
claudia said:
ridiculously good… i agree…smiles
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
it was fun to do .. I might try it again sometimes..
Glenn Buttkus said:
As they say on those TV commercials; “Too much good stuff”; would have love to include /raccoons & watermelon cakes/ in my poem, but too many other randy non-secutors & oxy-morons ran rampant over my pages. Wow, the fun has just begun today/tonight. Thanks for the playful prompt.
claudia said:
smiles… you know – i needed a bit playtime
glad you had fun glenn
brian miller said:
raccoons are the bomb…after squirrels of course…they are my fav…
hmmm…might have to play again in the morning…
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Somehow I think badgers that are high on jelly-beans would work too..
brian miller said:
ha. potentially….smiles.
claudia said:
maybe… after reading the prompt – everyone gets hungry and starts cooking lobster and such instead of writing a poem….smiles
but hey – that is ok – hehe
claudia said:
….as long as you invite me for dinner…smiles
Glenn Buttkus said:
Somehow when we journey into the land of Nonsense, I become giddy, & the naughty neophyte metaphors & languid lines of tumultuous treacle roll out like lollipop soldiers on parade.
brian miller said:
ha. lollipop soldiers will have me singing wizard of oz tunes soon….
lynndiane said:
Claudia, I like beef (we raise it) and I love dark chocolate (!) but honestly, when I recently tried the combination in a restaurant, I was rather disappointed…missing the silver platter, I suppose? Anyway, i’ll try to stretch my tastes and metaphors as i think about this one 🙂
claudia said:
i think the secret’s in the right dose – i had it quite a few times since then – but it never tasted as good as the one in that place in hamburg…smiles… and looking forward to what you’re coming up with…
brian miller said:
hey i been meaning to ask you c…
have you got to the season finale of blacklist yet?
claudia said:
nope… three episodes missing… they are stored on the hard drive… just didn’t have the opportunity to watch yet…
brian miller said:
nice. i will hold my tongue a bit longer then…smiles.
Starralee said:
Oooh, this sounds good, Claudia!
brian miller said:
bring it madwoman….smiles…
Starralee said:
And I thought I was gonna get a 4-day weekend…NOT. Thanks for always encouraging me–I’ll get on it, pardner. Bless you!
brian miller said:
ooo 4 day weekends…nice….i have a 3 dayer myself…off work tomorrow…just me and the boys…thinking we might be pool bound….its so dang humid here…i might puddle…
Starralee said:
Oooh, pool-bound sounds heavenly! Humid–are you in TX, or FL?? Hey, I want to tell you something important–your comment, “Bring it, Madwoman”, is just so wonderful that I’ll hold it in my heart forever. See? We never know what power our simple words can have….
brian miller said:
ha. most def.
i am in Virginia, along the east coast…
its because of the wicked storms we had last night…poured down…tore out trees…knocked over a huge construction crane…(still thousands without power) and soaked everything…the sun is pulling all that water back today and making my world a sauna…
claudia said:
ugh – that’s tough
we often have a high humidity as well over here because of the rhine valley climate… it’s after 10pm and still so hot…
Starralee said:
Oh my goodness! No power means no AC–just the word “sauna” sucks the breath out of me. I’m glad to be in the coolish Pac NW! Sending up prayers for quick relief and recovery.
freyathewriter said:
Claudia – what a fabulous prompt. You have absolutely no idea how I needed this distraction from a pretty ropey day… I am tension-free now! Thank you for hosting tonight, Madam Bar Keep! 🙂
brian miller said:
better than yoga jellybean tangos….
freyathewriter said:
Very true!
claudia said:
ah that is cool freya – i had a pretty ropey day myself – started at 5am this morning already when i ruined half of my friend’s flat just by wanting to open the window…smiles
freyathewriter said:
Ah, dangerous things, those windows…. I hope all is in order now!
billgncs said:
I worked with a Romanian fellow named Adrian who was master of mixed metaphors. He embraced English as a second language with aplomb. For example, to be overly pickey and detail orientated is to “split hairs” and to have a grudge is to have a beef. One day he stormed to my desk and declared: “I have beef to split with you” – I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing.
brian miller said:
ha.
fun with linguistics…
billgncs said:
A gotcha is something that may break the system in your code, so one day Adrian comes over and says, another one of those damn get-me-s
brian miller said:
lol….
when i worked for citibank we had a more international clientele and there was some fun with idioms as well…
claudia said:
haha… that is way cool… in germany in that case we use the saying: ein hühnchen mit jemandem rupfen – means “i have to pluck a chicken with you”
brian miller said:
plucking the chicken…together…
ahem…ha.
claudia said:
and hey – cool that we’ll be meeting soon in person
charliezero1.wordpress.com said:
hahahaha!!! I’m going to love coming up with something tastefully delicious.
🙂
claudia said:
of course you will… smiles
brian miller said:
nice….i knew you would like this…
it even has your name in it!
smiles.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I have been waiting for this opportunity for the flarf sonnet I promised you..
charliezero1.wordpress.com said:
Nice…I will check it out. I too, will also be posting a bad flarf poem. My poem will be the most terrible thing ever written but yet will cure lobster-shack of its fundamental jack in the box. 🙂
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I look forward to that… Very much actually.
claudia said:
ok – bedtime for me over here…
there was an elephant in the sky that is now a rooster and seems to turn into a dragon… think i gonna switch off the light and watch a bit until he disappears…good night… smiles
brian miller said:
good night…smiles.
bridge2vision said:
Really, I couldn’t have asked for a more brilliant and perfect prompt. And getting to click around and read everyone elses version is another perfection altogether.
brian miller said:
enjoy your trip…there have def been some fun ones out on the trail…
and hope others take advantage of the audio/video
at your place…
Susan said:
We’re all in the mood to “chew the fat” tonight. I’ve been giggling.
brian miller said:
jack sprat’s wife is surely happy…
smiles.
shanyns said:
This one got put up and posted! Yay – still bummed I missed Poetics getting on the Linky. Hope this fits what you had in mind Claudia.
brian miller said:
i still caught you shanyn…if i would have seen it go up i woulda got you in…smiles.
shanyns said:
I know you did my friend. And yrah you would have! Cause you rock.
Kathy (akakkkkaty) said:
This was fun..thanks, Claudia; hope everyone has a great weekend…hope some rain will come and wash the caterpillars away here!
brian miller said:
you can have some of our rain…we get storms most every night this week…
Grace said:
Thanks for the challenging prompt Claudia ~ Reading the above comments made me hungry, ha ~
Wishing you all happy week/end ~ I have enjoyed my rounds of reading 🙂
brian miller said:
i can see why…ha…
hope your week ends well…
traveling tomorrow to richmond for and open mic…
claudia said:
oh nice.. have fun!!
Grace said:
Enjoy and have fun Brian ~ Maybe we can see a video performance, smiles ~
claudia said:
good morning… coffee and poery… what a wonderful start into my day…
brian miller said:
good morning…smiles…
the sky is rumbling & flashing here///another storm
rolling in—to sing me to sleep…
ManicDdaily said:
Hey Claudia, Brian–I am not linking because I am one behind. I did the family history one at last. I will put link here but no one should feel obligated.
http://manicddaily.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/lore/
brian miller said:
hey k…yours will be my last for the night….
ManicDdaily said:
Go to sleep, you!
Grace said:
I enjoyed this one K ~ Thanks for the glimpse of your family’s history ~
C.C. said:
Completely blown away by all the talent here 🙂
brian miller said:
its all fun, you know….add your name to the mix….smiles.
C.C. said:
This time, especially, the fun is definitely in the reading….thanks but I don’t think I currently have the brainpower to connect the unconnectable! 🙂
Akila said:
i am a veggie so not tickled by beef and lobsters. have a tough day but ll see if u can dish out a nice veg meal of unconnected contrasts and contradictions!
arathi said:
Claudia..,born in a pure vegetarian family I have no idea of beef or lobsters…so i made the contrasts of feelings which we all can connect..i am fully enjoying the pub prompts..you guys are one cool team..i have to tell you that coming to this One Pub has made me reach that side of me which i didn’t know.. the whole team is just wonderful..love you guys..:)
claudia said:
awwww smiles… love back… and over to reading yours…
Sherry Blue Sky said:
Cool and imaginative prompt, Claudia…there will be some good reading from this prompt, I can already tell! I’ll be out of town today, but will be back!
brian miller said:
glad you made it back sherry….smiles.
The Course of Our Seasons said:
well, just had a new fancy schmancy internet thingy installed – so maybe now i will be able to post and read and comment – hurray! one of those things about living at the end of the earth or what we love to call the Ozarks 🙂 Any way – loved the prompt and since i write such nonsense on a regular basis – smiles – this one was a fun little romp – thanks for continuing to be an oasis in the desert – K
brian miller said:
heya kathleen….wish i was coming your way again this year….we are heading north though to let the boys experience NYC….
The Course of Our Seasons said:
what a great trip you will have – love NY tho its been years – but you know the welcome mat is always out at the Kathleen & Bob Summer Camp B&B! smiles
Starralee said:
Claudia–I didn’t think I’d get this one in on time, but I scrambled; and in my hurry put the wrong link in, so had to edit….oh my goodness, what I won’t go through to be part of the fun here!! Whew.
brian miller said:
woot! you made it back.
smiles.
Starralee said:
Can’t believe it myself–quite unexpected!
claudia said:
smiles… glad you made it back
Starralee said:
Thank you so much.
claudia said:
good morning… catching the overnites and closing the pub doors, sweepin’ the floor and such… happy saturday!!
Chèvrefeuille said:
I am a bit late, but here is my post inspired on this: http://basho2012.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/contrasts-and-contradictions-for-dverse/
kelly said:
No time to play along this week, but I love the idea of this, I’m going to keep this one in mind to play around with in the future!