Let me start by clearly stating that I don’t write poetry. At least not any more. I will admit that there was a time when I did write poetry. Bad poetry. Really bad poetry. This was of course when I was in high school, full of angst and listening to Nirvana. I still have all my notebooks that I filled up with the tripe that I wrote. They’re packed away right now, but I am sure some day I will pull them out again and have a good laugh. I wouldn’t call the following poetry either. They were, or are,… literary exercises inspired by E2. Maybe some of them are poetic, but just because something turns a lovely phrase does not make it a poem.
In college, I studied the Beats. In fact, every literature course that I took to fulfill my English minor (which wasn’t something that I had planned on obtaining, it just happened) related to the Beat writers in one way, shape or form. During the last class that I took, I became interested in Burroughs’s Cut Up Technique, but I had never tried it on my own.
I’m sure I am not the only who has noticed the “chaos” mode for write-ups. But in an altered mental state, I realized how useful the chaos mode could be…
I proudly introduce to you the notion of:
E2 Chaos Poetry
Alright, so I know prefaced the whole idea with saying that I didn’t consider it poetry, but E2 Chaos Literary Exercise just didn’t sound as catchy. Look at this as a way to motivate yourself to link skillfully, creating clever pipelinks and softlinks. The better you link, the better Chaos Poetry can be.
I am sure by now you are wondering exactly how to create these little literary gems of your own. First, find a node with the chaos link. You can find these under New Writeups. Second, hit that link. Most of the work as been done for you at this point. You now have a nice list of random phrases. Well, hopefully it is a nice list. Obviously, some nodes are better suited to this activity than others. Now it is up to you to restructure those phrases into something new.
I.
One day we realized we were going to need a bigger car
Far from the home I love
These various places throughout the Midwest
The American Midwest
Iowa
Stubborn Iowa
Strange in this American Midwest
An American dream stranded
Here lies the America Dream
Rest in peace
Notes from I-80
Journeying west
Traveling through Nebraska at night
II.
Apparently he was a rapist
A woman has the last word on things like this
Daphne informed me
All me were rapists
And it struck a nerve
Revenge
Self-defense
I need a good night’s sleep
My eyes focused on my blue doc martins
III.
The memories of an old man
The army of one
Deeds of a man in his prime
Those who die
Die of illness or old age
The fear of old age
Traveling through Nebraska at night
Beautiful Nebraska
We realized
We were gonna need a bigger car
IV.
Dumbfuck aura
The young man’s unethical guide to getting laid
Twin Cities soda fountain
This wasn’t how it was suppose to be
Coca-cola
Starbucks
Movie theaters
Popeyes Fried Chicken
Hot pants
Dickhead thief
The good drug rationalized
V.
Ronald Reagan
The kite man
The traveler and his dog
Building a time machine
VI.
Dream in Technicolor
January 23rd
African giraffe exhibit
Baltimore
Why don’t polar bears eat penguins?
Polar bears are nothing like penguins.
VII.
Conversation about a potential paranormal experience
Bag of tricksworld psychic spying
A study of psychological addiction
Interesting facts and theories are discredited
New world order
Jedi mind trick
Is there anyone out there
Email hoaxes
Stone circle
The Steve Guttenberg project
Wave radiation
Do x’s exist in nature?
The life of the most popular kid in high school
The roommate from hell
Giving our kids something to rebel against
VIII.
When night taught you
Ain’t no sunshine shiver
The effect of gamma rays
Stars and the moon
The insatiable moon
Obsidian butterfly
Twelve dreams I had one night
Almost transparent
Eyes wide shut
Another night at the frat house
A soulless killer’s blues
Up from the sky
Liquid skin tattoo
You are my sunshine
Dreaming up the blue door house