Is It a Poem Or a Shopping List?

What closer scrutiny reveals

One of my favorite forms of poetry is live improvisational poetry. People gather together and take turns improvising a poem out of thin air. Each person is given one short line to begin their poem with and then the person has to expound on that one line with a poem that is made up on the spot.

And it has to rhyme!

It is not something that one can prepare for; something one can rehearse. It is real-time creativity that involves complete and utter surrender to the muse. Whatever comes out, comes out and there is no erasing nor going back. The words don’t come until they are spoken.

And they have to rhyme!

Believe me, live improvisational poetry is not easy! You’ve really got to be in the zone. All your creative juices must be flowing.

I have heard rumors that this type of live improvisational poetry is best carried out with one or two shots of tequila under one’s belt. I don’t remember if this is true or not.

It has been many years since I’ve done this sort of thing. I used to play live improvisational poetry with my daughter when she was a young one. What father does not do this with their daughter(s)? It’s a great way to hone a kid’s grammar and vocabulary skills as well as teaching them how to surrender.

I was surprised by how good my little daughter was at this game/art-form. She could rhyme faster than me. And she made it look more natural.

For those readers and writers who have been on the Medium platform for three or more years you will remember a time in the ancient past when the word, listicle, was one of the top words used on Medium. Not only were there hundreds of thousands of listicles published every day on Medium but there were also hundreds of thousands of articles bitching about the whole concept of listicles published everyday on Medium.

Nowadays, the made-up word, listicle, is hardly ever seen on Medium anymore. Medium authors hardly ever publish listicles anymore and there are practically no more articles bitching about the prevalence of listicles anymore. The word has mysteriously disappeared from the Medium vernacular.

But what I want to know is this: What is the difference between a poem, a listicle, and a shopping list?

If you said, ‘rhyming,’ you would be wrong. I once made a shopping list that rhymed. It took me the better part of three hours but it was one hell of a shopping experience. Finding everything on your list becomes very, very different when everything rhymes. Your logical treks up one aisle and down another suddenly no longer make sense. The simple art of rhyming turns your shopping cart into a vehicle of illogical twists and turns in an exciting adventurous quest. You turn into Indiana Jones At the Grocery Store.

But I digress… I recently spewed out some words. I need help determining if this column of words is a poem, a listicle, or a shopping list. What is your opinion?

A bag of lemons a bag of avocados a bag of garlic and four large onions

And most importantly a bag of jalapenos

Scratching the surface of memories some paint chips fall away flavors and colors and memories bring forth the desired vibe

I remember the hotness of the jalapeno I bit into as I waited for her to call to say that she was on her way

The hotness of the pepper lasted longer than my patience and stayed with me much longer it’s how I remember the disappointment

And it’s how I burn it away the fire travels throughout my being cleaning all the pathways to that which is best remembered

Fresh parsley is on my shopping list even if it can’t be rhymed and so is cheese… even if the list doesn’t say what kind

Reading through the shopping list the declaration of desires the challenge is to see the rhyming beneath the words

What connects the words? What hints at the outcome? What creates the rhythm? What creates the rhyme?

And most importantly how do we express? How flawlessly natural is our improvisation?

How fully do we surrender to the Universe flowing through us?

So what do you think? Is that a listicle, a poem, or a shopping list?

Or is it some combination thereof? And if it is indeed a combination thereof, what do we call it?

The word, blabber, comes to mind but then again I can’t think of anything that rhymes with that. Rhyming can be so gosh darn difficult.

Well, I’m off to the grocery store…

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. Some Recent Blabber

A recent poem:

And a recent short flash fiction:

Happy Full Moon everybody!