Exercise: Fill in the Blanks
This was an exercise in the very fun, after-the-fact useful Writer's Block course last December. The instructor gave up pieces of a sentence, maybe the verbs in what's below and we had to fill in the blanks. It was a great way to jump start and make strange the imagination, to break the grip of the rational on automatic words. Perhaps each of these lines could be a seed into other poetic writings?
Catch shooting stars on my tongue.
Wait until it rains to wash my hair.
I’ve never been one to tolerate a balloon.
Make the hen tell the truth.
Steal an egg.
Play an axe.
Carry talcum powder in a quart berry basket.
Eat marginalia, then bullets.
Breathe miasma.
A screwdriver drives the truck.
Shrunk to the size of a pea, I shout for help.
I put the pocket in my tale.
