Impromptu 11: Today I am a serpent

Matt Trease’s prompt had us acquiring our astrological charts and using the language of the signs and the degrees of the location of our signs within the planets (Sabian symbols) to make a poem. This had me all at sea. I won’t whine about my lack of understanding or appreciation for astrology, I will just say that I dove in, using both the astrological information from my natal chart and the technique of other similar concepts, such as the I Ching.

From the relevant Sabian symbols in Elsie Wheeler’s and Elias Lonsdale’s guides for my sign and the particular degrees from my natal chart, I categorized as much of the text as I had index cards for into PERSONS, CREATURES, OBJECT/CONCEPT, ACTION, QUALIFIER. I was able to make it through all the signs. I plucked from each pile, sometimes more than once per sign. I sometimes rejected dull words in favour of another.

 The poet René Char had a sign over his desk which read, “Cheat at this game.” So I did that a little. But I liked this challenge. I was thinking about chance operations and Jackson Mac Low’s light poems as I created the work.  This was difficult but in the end, it feels rewarding. Thanks, Matt for this prompt.

SUN

Today

I am a magician

compelled to take on

real figures, springboarding

into the pulse of voyages to

bring to life previous

resonances

MOON

Today I am my self

I recognize control

to be uplifting, an

imperative of place

Its sheer sea counts

as nature

MERCURY

Today I am

a wizard sweating

incorrigibly in the

reckoning of false

rituals I count

unnoticed treasures

and semblances

I stir havoc

VENUS

Today I am a soul

I swim into

interpersonal

chemistries which

frame my human

intelligence

MARS

Today I am a body

revealing worth like

a strip of distortions

along a voyage Help

me to swim into time

I am thrust into sharp

waves

JUPITER

Today I am an undersoul

needing no better

dynamics than most

why sense my live

experience to embrace

experience why pass

through a still vial

of soul-memory

SATURN

Today I am a youngster

wreaking time with my

reality of keen pressures

without faculties to

remain strong Yes,

I demand better

URANUS

Today I am a witch

I blend in even though

I blindly thrash against

old forces that take up

against universal figures

of power

NEPTUNE

Today I am a man

I teach myself to

open I need to handle

intuitive basics I cycle

through authenticity

like a bird in times

of downward karma

PLUTO

Today I am a woman

who wears herself

out with wounds,

lessons from dispassionate

change, who denies doorways

in search of desire

TRUE NODE

Today I am a serpent

I spin away from

strategic magic

away from the chutes

of blurred existence

which try to make

facts out of glass

CHIRON

Today I am both

swan and hawk I act

collectively with

super-sensitivity

as I take loops of

faith and cook up

frenzies to touch

the source, a gift

of accuracy that

transforms action

into humanity

Play along!

For those of you who are just joining us, The Found Poetry Review is celebrating National Poetry Month by offering daily experimental writing prompts from writers. I will be responding to them at poetic whim.