Night Madness
Begin a poem by using one of these amazing Cisneros gems as a ghost line:
“I have the magic of words,
the power to charm and kill at will”
“I want you inside
the mouth of my heart”
“You were the shadow of a cloud cross-
ing over a field of tulips”
“What matters is to be
inside the prayer of your body”
“Even now, under this welcome
Rain,”
“I’m a woman delighted with her disasters”
— SANDRA CISNEROSA ghost line is a line from another poem that you use to as a starter. It’s a launch pad. You can write from it by continuing an image, responding to its observation, arguing, agreeing, or answering. Once your poem is written, the ghost line disappears. The line literally ghosts away—it was only meant to be a starting place.
Sometimes poems written from a ghost will give the credit of “after So and So Poet” in this case: “after Sandra Cisneros,” but this is your decision to make once the poem is written. Remember that the ghost line is not yours!! and you should always give credit to the original author if you decide to keep this line as part of your poem or title.
prompt
Write a poem in 20 lines or less in which the speaker is estranged from a lover, either by temporary or permanent distance.
