A Dozen Tiny Poems

Recipe by Joe Hall, poems by Joe Hall & Cheryl Quimba

This is a relatively simple way to collaborate.

1. To begin, a list of 6 words is needed. I suggest that each person take a turn adding a word to the list. This way, the creative push and pull is present from the get-go. These words should be, ostensibly, unrelated.

2. Independently, each collaborator then writes six 3-word poems. Each of these poems must use a word from the list. (With articles and prepositions sprinkled in to taste, these poems can also be 4 words).

3. The 12 poems are then compiled in whatever order seems most compelling. Again, this process can be turn-based, with Collaborator A choosing the first poem, Collaborator B choosing the second poem, and so on.

The end result is something that reflects the play between two intelligences on an almost poetically microscopic scale.

Here's one result--

Wednesday -- Joe Hall & Cheryl Quimba

paraffin
coat
evenly

tallow tremble and paraffin

daffodil treble to husk

downpour
lest unhappy
treble

insouciant digital growth

sweet stroke
insouciant
slumber

flock here,
princely
diviner

flock unfolding in catalytic

cavalier gospel:
such outcry

converter hive gospel

wife shopper madcap

swing madcap
until dawn