Hello Noodlers,
I’m taking a psychology class this semester and my reading assignment this week talks about mimicry. Babies mimic others almost from the beginning of development. It’s an inherent way that we learn how to be in this world and how to be human.
“Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it’s the sincerest form of learning.”
-George Bernard ShawOne of my favorite exercises in poetry is the Mimetic poem. It can be as easy or as in-depth as you’d like.
An easy mimetic starts with a poem like “Where I’m From,” by George Ella Lyon which is a list poem.
My version of “Where I’m From,” was published by Portage Magazine here. You can see that I just made my own list of things, events, and people who shaped me.
A more complex type of mimetic is to read the work of a poet - at least one full collection of poems. Study the poems for what makes the poet unique - language, line breaks, imagery, syntax, and anything else you notice.
Then write a poem mimicking those aspects of the poet’s work. This is a great way to stretch your style, to approach a topic you often write about in a fresh way.
My poem “A Father’s Birth,” is a mimetic of Cate Marvin’s style. I read her book World’s Tallest Disaster in a class and I made a list of things I noticed about her poems.
Some of the aspects of her style that I experimented with in my poem are:
her use of strange and sometimes shocking images
stanzas with the same number of lines
I liked the balance of her stanzas. I found her imagery thrilling and exciting. It was a much different approach to writing than my normal style.
I didn’t take a lot from what she does, just two aspects that I found interesting. My poem still sounds like me. I didn’t try to sound exactly like Cate Marvin. I just used some of her techniques to amplify my own writing.
For this exercise, find a poem or a poet that inspires you to write something new. Try out some new skills and step outside your comfort zone.
Happy Writing!