The Heriot-Watt Patchwork Poem 2019

So what is a Patchwork Poem?

It is a poem made up of pieces taken from a lot of other poems.
Andy Jackson, an experienced poet and editor in Dundee, specialises in these and has agreed to make one for Heriot-Watt.
If you want to see one he already wrote, try looking HERE for an earlier example.

So how does it get made?

Well, YOU have to help!
We want Heriot-Watt people to write their own poem.
It doesn't have to be long.
It can rhyme or not rhyme. It can be in some well-known form like a sonnet, or it can be free verse. Look at the example poems below. Look at the handy hints to help you get started.

IT MUST RELATE IN SOME WAY TO THE PATCHWORK POEM THEME, WHICH IS: ENLIGHTENMENT.
You can interpret this any way you choose.
Below are some example poems to get you started, all talking about things that could in some way be related to Enlightenment.

So what do I have to do?
  1. Write a poem!
  2. Email it to Ruth Aylett at r.s.aylett@hw.ac.uk BY FRIDAY July 12th
  3. Don't go mad: just ONE poem please!

    4. We will send the poems to Andy Jackson and he will make a Patchwork Poem for Heriot-Watt using a piece from every poem we send him.
    We hope to find a space on the University website for the submitted poems and the final patchwork piece, which will be delivered in September.

    Some helpful hints for getting started on a poem

    There aren't exactly standard rules for writing poems as you'll see if you look at the examples below. But there are some handy hints that help poets when they are writing.

    1. Think about what you want to say

      2. What does Enlightenment mean to you?
      A state of mind? A sudden AHA moment? The slow process of educating others? Understanding how things work? Twigging how someone else is feeling? A startling new concept in your field? The target of philosophies and religions? Keeping your cool under trying conditions? A heroic figure in life or literature? Seeing a familiar thing or person from a new angle?
      None of the above?
      If you aren't quite sure, you could try reading the example poems and think how what they are saying relates to enlightenment - and whether you agree or disagree with them.

    2. Be vivid!

      3. Write in images not abstractions. Use your own observation, your own experience. Pick interesting words not mundane ones. Avoid cliche, make your language muscular and new. If you are using rhymes, don't let the rhyme dictate to all the language around it.

    3. Tell it Slant!

      4. This was a famous phrase of a 19thC US woman poet, Emily Dickinson. Don't take your reader by the throat, or lecture them. Look at how the example poems below make their point - how they get the reader to do the work, maybe leave it to the last line. If you are being vivid and avoiding abstract words, this usually helps!

    4. Be succinct!

      5. Poetry is sometimes said to be the best words in the best order. Every word should count, should make a contribution. Don't let this stop you from being not-so-succinct to start with however. Most poems need editing, and looking at each word and thinking about it is one of the major editing activities.

    Some example poems

    Poets read a lot of poems - it is as important as writing them to learn how to do it. Below are seven short poems in different forms, serious and humorous, older and more modern. See how much freedom you have to write the way you think works best. You can rhyme, but you don't have to. I added a few questions to help you start thinking about them.
    1. O sweet spontaneous by e.e.cummings
    2. The road not taken by Robert Frost
    3. Subject to change by Marilyn Taylor
    4. To David, about his education by Howard Nemerov
    5. A Teacher's Lament by Kalli Dakos
    6. Stars by Martin Espada
    7. My Proteins by Jane Hirshfield

Contact:

Ruth Aylett r.s.aylett@hw.ac.uk
Heriot-Watt University,
Edinburgh,
E14 4AS.

Tel +44 131 451 4189
Fax +44 131 451 3327

Last Update: 11 March 2019