The Cal Arts course I’m doing has provided two prompts this week; the first: write a still life poem – pick an object and render it in verbal images as vividly as possible; the second: create a title from the formula ‘The [concrete noun] of [abstract noun]’ then write a poem from that title. The first one will require a little more space (temporal, cognitive) than I currently have, so I’ll try and look at it again tomorrow. The first part of the second, though, feels like a fun game and I’ve been thinking up and jotting down all day; so here some are:

The Blenny of Freedom
The Pea of Beatitude
The White Van of Economy
The Biscuit Tin of Fascism
The Anemone of Philosophy
The Turtle of Identity
The Daisy of Success
The Cruet of Freedom
The Hole-Punch of Time
The Swamp of Happiness
The Bunting of Strength
The Spoon of Sovereignty
The Homicide of  Culpability
The Wrench of Civilisation
The Pencil of Responsibility
The Syllable of Generosity
The Berry of Perfidy

I could go on…