
Have you tried ekphrastic poetry? Ekphrastic poems are specifically inspired by works of art: sculpture, paintings, technology, other poems, and books.
To create the poems, I used the same technique as I did with Unconscious Words, the Poet as Scribe (soon to be published by Dancing Girl Press). I search through the books recording words that “jump out”. After collecting about a page of random words, I create poems using just those words.
For Unconscious Words – Bestselling Edition, I created poems based on a decade of top best-selling books. Surprisingly, identifying the absolute bestseller in each year from 2011 to 2021 was more difficult than anticipated. I cobbled together a list of ten books that had landed on multiple best-selling lists and showed up with an impressive number of copies sold.
Armed with my list of ten, I sought out copies sold through used book outlets.
Here is one of the poems. The collection is under consideration by Dancing Girl Press if you want to be the first to know – sign up for my monthly coaching newsletter!
Words by Paula Hawkins -The Girl on the Train 6
Angry stupid keys
Ridiculous woman spoke Friday
Asked for noise, started the TV
In general the least red
Honestly, telling nothing
Walk to trains & confrontation
Worried winter, an affair
Penciled name exchanged for a baby
The message for help
Sit opposite, take the meeting
Quietly, despite immature shame