As I am beginning to think about writing 30 poems in 30 days for National Poetry Month (April, 2014). I checked some writing prompts and found this one on "The Book of Kells"
http://ofkells.blogspot.com/2008/04/30-writing-prompts-for-national-poetry.html
"Take a 1-2 page poem from a book and re-type it
backwards—from the very last word in the poem all the way to the very first,
keeping the lines the same lengths as they are in the book. Use this as the
starting point of a poem, picking out the word formations that are particularly
interesting to you."I then took the poem "Praying" by Mary Oliver (one of my favorite poets and one my favorite poems) and came up with this original (or semi-original) poem:
Tongue-tied
Speak my voice
in silence and thanks.
This is an elaborate doorway
of words, another contestfor the tongue-tied poet.
Patch small stones together
while a few weeds turn bluein the vacant lot and
the iris demands attention.
