3.4.14

OULIPOST #3: DEFINITIONAL LIT

You can’t take a certain course
or follow a certain procedure
in the sport or business of catching fish
without something or someone
to put a piece of food
on (a hook) or in (a trap)
in order to attract and catch fish or animals.

One attached to another
by affection or esteem
could seem to be
in a position that prevents
someone from moving
or making progress
in the way of your
most recent intense,
driving, or overmastering
feeling or conviction.

*
This "definitional lit" prompt is based from the following phrases: "You can't go fishing without bait. Friends could seem to stand in the way of your latest passion." I thought the juxtaposition was kinda funny.

Sources: Horoscopes - Leo (July 23-August 22). The Montreal Gazette. 3rd April, 2013. B8 section.
www.merriam-webster.com
Method: Select a single sentence from a newspaper article. Replace each meaningful word in the text [verb, noun, adjective, adverb] by its dictionary definition. Repeat this treatment on the resulting sentence, and so on, until you’ve had enough! Read more "definitional lit" poems in the comments section here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"You can't go fishing without bait," as a source sentence. What develops through the filter of definitional poetry is beautiful.

"One attached to another," the poet writes, top of stanza two.
Let us be. Let us be.

Anonymous said...

You're right about the juxtaposition, yet, something works, doesn't it? I like it more and more as I reread.