C - The Clairvoyante

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 C - The Clairvoyante 

Not a cento, a poem made up of only lines from another poem.  Not a golden shovel (that will be my post for G), which takes the last words of an existing poem and uses them as the first words in a new work.  I have used some lines (shown in italics) from T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland, and added my own.  It probably has a form name, but I don't know what it is.  A type of found poetry at any rate.  


Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,

Had a bad cold, 

resulting in her predictions being “off.”


No longer “the wisest woman in Europe,”

her congested sinuses blocked the flow of information.

“Here, she said,

Is your card…”

“But I’m sure it’s not quite right,

“… this card… is blank.”


She sneezes into her shawl,

excusing herself with a smile,

suggesting her shew stone instead.

...I am forbidden to see.

She gazes into her ball,

wiping her nose with the back of her hand.


“I do not find… death by water.”

I am somehow relieved by that,

although I rarely visit the shore,

my only bathing is by shower.


Madame Sosostis, famous clairvoyante,

had a bad cold,

I rise, telling her

“Thank you,”

and see myself out.


Once on the sidewalk

I reach into my coat pocket

for the hand sanitizer.


“One must be so careful these days.”


©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

Comments

  1. Anne E.G. NydamApril 3, 2024 at 1:54 PM

    Fun!
    https://nydamprintsblackandwhite.blogspot.com/2024/03/magical-botany-c.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LisaApril 3, 2024 at 5:22 PM

      I think it's fun to find found poetry! Some lines just jump out at me.

      Delete
  2. Dave RollerApril 4, 2024 at 5:53 AM

    That's good! I'd like to read it again after rereading The Wasteland

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LisaApril 4, 2024 at 9:06 AM

      All the quoted parts are from the one section with the Clairvoyante (Eliot's spelling). My G and P include Eliot as well. G is a Golden Shovel from Gerontion. P from Preludes last line, and a reference to a line in The Wasteland.

      Delete
  3. A Tarkabarka HölgyApril 4, 2024 at 5:56 AM

    Lol, I like it :D Definitely put some sanitizer on the crystal ball too...

    The Multicolored Diary

    ReplyDelete
  4. Frewin55April 5, 2024 at 2:26 AM

    It's an LOL from me too Lisa...

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 7, 2024 at 12:21 PM

    This form is interesting. I don't think I could do it. You did great, though.

    ReplyDelete

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