CU Boulder Libraries: Exquisite Hope 2020, National Poetry Month
Exquisite Hope 2020
Exquisite Hope 2020 was read by Amanda Rybin-Koob; Claire Woodcock; Courtney McDonald; Cynthia Keller; Curt Williams; Daniel Johnston; Kathia Ibacache; Rachel Knapp; and Caroline Sinkinson. Photo by Vino Li on Unsplash.
In April of 2020, The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries celebrated National Poetry Month, co-authoring a poem in an effort to find "comfort, and even hope, in the words of others through music, television, film, novels, essays and poetry."
They write:
"Why not create some hope of our own and at the same time, celebrate National Poetry Month together? Enter Exquisite Hope: One Poem, Many Voices! This activity has its origins in the Surrealists’ Exquisite Corpse game. The game is necessarily collaborative, requiring multiple participants, and is traditionally played with paper and pen. One player writes down a word or phrase, and then folds the paper to hide their contribution before passing it to the next player. The result is poetry of chance and work that a single author could not have imagined."
Exquisite Hope
Long notes write library
Strange bombs blow holes through chairs
Simple houses wait quiet hours
Clever families sound firm affirmation
Tinted shade flowers deftly silently
Dark days seek infinite tomorrows.
Desolate town looking for a lonely droplet of light.
Surreptitious unseens undercut our veiled securities
Today the sun is shining and the wind is blowing the leaves around
and it’s beautiful and sad and I feel sick.
Do I dare eat a peach?
Sunny view eases snowy dread
Hungry flowers run fast home
dimmest dreams fading hollow well
Quick shape darting, a wren, a twinge
Soft breeze brushes skin that longs for touch
Morning Star, light the way
A broken window opens. A good heart keeps beating.
Hope: a thing we all use
Breathe open and all real korova cold lit real skorry
Good boy fetches yellow ball
A wolf, once threatening, evaporates
Begrudgingly, people watch empty streets
Purple mountain majesty shines bright here.
Bitter desserts suggest heavy conversation.
Sleeping puppy snuggles on my ever-present lap.
Sad couples break apart slowly into separateness.
Divine wind blows changing everyone.
Brown-skinned man wearing medical mask
Cease-fire citizens hope for pandemic peace
Glistening pearls tumbling warmly down the face
Blue sky lifts spirits
Snowy peaks rattle teaming yard
Dried blood flakes off the deck railing
Five-week-old chicks cheep contentedly, a viral gift of timing.
Fuzzy kitty softly snoring in my lap. Bliss!
Long-awaited flowers break through the spring snow
New pets found forever homes.
Hysterical cat chattering loudly. Bird!
Antsy children battle weary parents
Dream wedding postponed. Enduring love.
Dream. DREAM. Manifest Hope.
Brutal life leaves random survivors
Adventurous children explore the magnificent mountains.
Happy people hike in the sunshine. And in the rain.
silent bunnies pondering ghost spirits.
Spring dirt erupts from the melting snow.
History lessons paced with poems.
Surreal questions that appear as the exquisite creation.
Hurried walker hustle by, gently nodding
Honking horns blocking traffic-less streets
Medical scrubs-wearing man stares down the hydra-headed pick-up truck
Healthcare howls herald the setting sun.
Icy waves crash around my sizzling brain
Rising sun shines. Positive energy.
Crisp mornings run the gamut of daytime surprises in a frenzy of hope
United howl echoes. Aural embrace.
Bruised hearts find kindred homes
Saccharine letters convey wistful love
The little bee shook his little butt as he drank in the pollen
An equation, forever unsolved, adorns the chalkboard of an empty
classroom.
Expanding lungs breathe in necessary light
Deep scars grow powerful people.
Shimmering threads tightened strongly by compassion
But have they heard of the hubris of the resplendent Jean-Baptiste?
Blue humans read red books
Lonely wind whispers kindly to passerby
Resilient minds, tripping over remember-whens.
Orange kitten cries for catnip treats
Nightblue fruit hanging, starry heaventree
The silent savage wreaks beauty onto the world.
Silent spaces defy aggressive jingoism
Squeaky hearts pumping swirling blood.
Wondrous beetles wander, analogous to Alice
Dry-brown road toward Fate.
Beautiful seeds scattered on turbulent breezes.