Unveiling Torment: #30 of the 365 Day Collage poetry challenge

Well, I've made it to the end of the first month of 365 days of collage poetry. 30 days, 30 poems, some better than others. My favourites so far have been I said No and Myth of Fear. I quite like today's poem too, most of it composed on my desk at work.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Unveiling Torment

will never end

This dark world

of his own imagination

has taken on a life of its own.

Threatening

subversive

undiminished

desire

The enemy within

all the time

slowly revving up...

Love Hell: Day 29 of the 365 day Collage Poetry Challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Obsessive?

Warm up for

secret

passion

talking

mythical

ideas

Break and enter

love hell

Nasty Guy: DAy 28 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Smart.

Wild at heart

Inconvenient

That's

THE NASTY GUY

challenge

every time

Seeing

for

yourself

you

need to retire

that

obsession

Living Dead Sidekicks: 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge #27

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Off-duty

Living dead sidekicks

in the driver's seat



Living it up

impulsive

partying,

cringe-making

screaming



headin' for

catastrophe



Yep, they're still doing it

Get Rich Quick Scheme: Day 26 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

My drawer of words is like a lucky dip. I draw out a few and a theme starts revealing itself within the first few phrases. And every day is different. Today I take a shot at all those get-rich-quick schemes in cyberspace, in the real world, those prosperity seminars that will share all their secrets with you, and the emails relegated to your spam folder. Over and over, we are bombarded with the message that we can have it all. Just sign up here...

P.S Jen, thanks for the black paper!

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

<

WELCOME

to your 100% reality-based

GET-RICH-QUICK

SCHEME

An exclusive invitation

just for you

and all your friends

Don't wait

take a look

we dare you

register your preference

get into it

tell a friend

Forget work

within the first few seconds...

End destructive patterns

within the first minute...

Start living

within 3 minutes...

Ever wondered why it's a crock

We nearly always believe old wives' tales.

Catch-up Collage Poem: Fairytales

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

This is the catch-up poem - Number 25 since I started the challenge.

Almost a what-if the CSI stumbled across a fairytale scenario?

Welcome to the fictional world

Nothing to See Here

A Princess

Hero

wicked stempmother

fairy queen

the villain

Shoes

Mirror

Apple

poisoned chalice

supernatural

character analysis -

murder investigation

It could only happen in fairytales

Collage Poetry Recipe: 365 Day collage poetry challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

The original collage poem recipe

cut-out ingredients

misplaced words

leftovers

recycled language

A dash of truth

A pinch of fantasy

stir up build it

Add something unexpected

Words hit their mark

no matter what happens

the language is sumptious

individual

infused with

creative nourishment

someone asked me how i do my collage the other day, so it got me thinking about my technique (if that's what you call it.) Sometimes I'll have a couple going at once. I'd like to have a dedicated surface so I could leave collages in progress out. However my cat believes that any flat surface is available to him and he makes the most of it. As it is, he has been sitting on a bunch of words today after I finished this poem.

Anyway, by thinkng about how the collage happens, I came up with 'the collage recipe.'

I'm a day behind with the collage at this point. Ironically, i had the day off work yesterday, and I didn't do a collage. I was having caffeine-withdrawal headaches, threatening to become a migraine and I ended up going to bed early.

I wonder if there's such a thing as collage block because that's probably what I'm going through right now. I will catch up.

New card designs at Chickollage

While spending a lot of time concentrating on creating a collage poem every day, I 've neglected to mention that Jennifer has also been hard at work creating some beautiful floral photography collages.

These gorgeous collages are now uploaded to the Chickollage shop and I've created a special greeting card section - a one-stop shop for people looking for greeting cards for all occasions.

The cards include the floral designs, photo designs, collage and text. Step in and have a browse.

Human Prologue - #23 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Introducing the authentic

human

prologue

Ancient & modern

myths

unfold

survival

against all the odds.

Woman

worshipped in art through the ages

shackled

changed

rekindled

revolution at last!

Eavesdropping- #22 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

I'm up to Day 22 of the challenge to create a new collage poem every day, and after another trip to Bookfest yesterday where I could fill a green shopping bag with $10 full of books and magazines, I now have plenty of source material.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Eavesdropping

on the

moon and stars

We've had to wait for

noises from space

Caterwauling

we want you

and your body

Are you ready?

Tomorrow's world

won't

hurt

a bit.

Desperately Seeking: #21 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Years ago, I advertised in ther personals. First time was with my best friend - we advertised together and double-dated - we figured it was safer that way. Two weeks in a row we went to the same teppanyaki restaurant with different guys. The teppanyaki chefs noticed and commented that we were with different fellas the second week.


The next time I got brave and advertised by myself. I think I went on about twenty dates, after eliminating all the strange ones and old, old guys. It was fun. It was tiring. But in the end, it seemed very superficial. I did meet some nice guys but the ones that I thought were really nice didn't reciprocate. I can't imagine how you could know you want to speed some time with someone after five minutes of speed dating.

Strangely enough, about a year after that expirement, I met my partner through an ad. This time, I was advertising for a flatmate. After a few dud applicants (there's some really strange people out there and I think some were just casing the joint over the phone), he rang, we spoke, he came and looked at the flat and moved in. Three months later we were in a relationship. Obviously I need the slow build-up.

So here's a poem about personal ads:

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Desperately Seeking Someone

Read Between the lines

decode your desires

to find a partner

nobody's perfect, but

don't stay home

get into the mood

start a conversation

speak to new people

try before

you buy

breaking the love rules

romance

worth waiting for

Metaphysical Swingers Club - #20 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Day 20 of the 365 Collage Poetry Challenge and I seem to have stepped into strange territory:

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Evening,

Come in,

To the METAPHYSICAL

swingers club!

all the way dinner partires have

anything you want

The near-naked truth

spiced with

the older woman

sex merry-go-round

Be as brave as you dare.

I wonder what sort of people would frequent the Metaphysical swingers club?

More Dark Fire: #19 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

more

dark

fire

baby

turn up

the heat

the way it should be

try it

Why: #18 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

The following collage poem is dedicated to the teachers and students at Virginia Tech, who lost their lives, who were injured or terrorised in yesterday's shooting.

I'll never understand what goes on in the head of the perpetrator, what could bring someone to inflict so much pain. Does he feel less pain as a result? Only because he then shot himself. But you have to ask why these gunman don't leave the innocent victims in peace and apply the first bullet to themselves instead of the last?

The questions of 'Why' would still remain but not spoken with as much angst as is currently gripping the world.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

WHY

what went on inside his head

could this really be

how many murdered

FEAR

in ordinary

life

When love turns violent...

WHY

Myth of Fear: #17 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

This is the poem I started last night. The final joining words finished it off this afternoon. One for the madness that is the war in Iraq.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Finally, the planet

abandoning its

DRAMAS of religion.

paying attention to an already distorted situation.

A common dilemma

Name-caling Name of God Dropping

Hate Crime

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Choose responsibilities

Or simply act now.

Discover what we have in common.

Oddly enough,

It's the Myth of FEAR

Legends: #16 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

I am so tired. Why? it's 5 minutes to midnight, I have Mondayitis, andI've been working hard to make sure that I would post tonight (against a background of Desperate Housewives, half an hour of Brothers and Sisters and Wilfred). So much for getting to bed early. There are still words spread all over the lounge. The cat decided to plonk himself on my lap while I was collaging but that was uncomfortable for me. Later he sat on the lounge behind me and looked at the words with disdain. But with so many words floating around, I already have a head start on tomorrow's poem. In fact if I glue the words down now, I could post it after midnight. Nah, I need sleep instead.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Once they were very famous

day and night

She had known him through the centuries,

literary metaphor,

the stuff legends are made of

splitting the atom

up on his doorstep

Another great work of art

Now someone mourns the goddess

lost forever

Back with a vengeance -

Will it be a reunion of demigods,

mythology back to life

Behind the Scenes & Evolution: #15 & 14 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Day 14 and I missed my goal. We spent the day at an air show, five hours straight on my feet.

Watching the formation flying of the Roulettes:

The fabuolus aerobatics of Inverted Down Under. How does he walk straight when he lands after hovering, diving, looping, and spinning in all directions?

And then I dropped in on the Bookfest. Book lover's heaven. I bought several out of print books, some more magazines to slice and dice, and a 1920 book called The Thousand Best Poems in the Worlds. The Books and Collectibles website indicates that it could be worth $80. I don't feel so bad about not buying the scripture book last weekend.

And then I got home and watched a couple episodes of Hex. And fell asleep. No collage poetry for the day.

So today, I made two collage poems to catch up.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Behind the scenes

The tide is turning

We're almost there

The collective imagination

artists, authors,

get creative

find your niche

something for everybody

inspiration

magic

amazing.

So go crazy

perspective changes

The world spins off its axis

Together we can't lose.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Twice a day.

don't be late....

Evolution begins

online and on time

about 74 per cent of the time.

Be what you want to be

Totally enthralling

Wow! Look at you now

These people are

a must see destination


And it's back to work tomorrow, why does the weekend go so quickly?

Dead Blonde #13 of The 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

The curse of the dead blonde celebrity mum

three men and a baby

'I slept with her' they say

'I think this is my baby'

DNA merry-go-round

The truth

Unveiled at last

She's got your eyes

and a lot of money

Congratulations Dad!

Well, I only just made it with 20 minutes to spare as it's 11.40 pm.

Sometimes it's the connecting words that take the longest to find. This one is dedicated to Anna-Nicole, may she rest in peace!

Secret Photos #12 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

copyright 2007 Diane Curran

sometimes

secret photos of

ancient

boyfriends

- stirs up painful memories

Hard-won wisdom

relationships

time together

compromise

And the magic's

overboard

not your soulmate?

you can buy romances....

but to avoid disappointment

Make your attitude takeaway

stay single

Mmm....tasty!

I Said No - #11 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

At first the whole page was going to be covered with the word 'no' but then the 'nos' shuffled around and starting forming a picture. So today's collage poem has colour, leaves and a visual form. And if you can't understand the meaning, I'm not sure I can help you.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Real Talent: #10 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Poking fun at all the people who audition for Australian Idol (or American Idol if you're in the Northern Hemisphere)

Wanting a Little Less Drama - #9 of the 365 Collage Poetry Challenge

And we're back to the present after a little time travelling.




Easter Monday and another market on the way home. Again, very little in the way of magazines so I didn't make any purchases. In retrospect, I'm kicking myself for not buying an antiquarian book on scripture illustrations. It was a large format book, and the seller said it was published in 1899 although I didn't verify the date within the cover. I wanted to think about it, and go back later. Besides I would've had to ask Robbie to hand some money over for me to purchase it. And then it started to pour with rain, and we ran back to the car, and I forgot all about it. I can't even remember the exact title so I can't torture myself by googling to find out it was worth a fortune.


At the market was the silver statue. The little kid told him it was easy to stand still for long periods of time, so the statue got down from his platform and dared the kid to try it.




Today's collage is a wish of how I'd like things to be:

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Bad Sex #8 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

Easter Sunday and no, I'm not collaging about chocolate, eggs and bunnies. Sometimes the oddest things come into my mind when I start moving the words around on the page, and different word associations occur.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

Oops

After BAD SEX,

the obvious sneaky quick trick

is to phone home...

change the time zone

Transport yourself

to another half-naked spunk

Gorgeous!

Get it on.

It's all about the fantasy...

"What did you do this summer?"

time to smile!

(n)ever Kiss & Tell

Art of Being You #7 of the 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

On Easter Saturday, we discovered some markets at Laurieton, but not much in the way of magazines. I came away, unusually, empty-handed.

Saturday afternoon, I decided to throw in a bit of colour to the day's collage poem.

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

THE ART OF BEING YOU

Don't Panic

Imagine a Blank Canvas

Ignite Your Senses

See how it feels...

Discover broader horizons

Experiment with

Creative dynamique

Risky Expression

Unreal Dreams

With Attitude

Attractive Newcomer #6 of the 365 Collage Poetry Challenge

I'm back after my Easter weekend holiday. Before you blink at the date of the posting, I'm manipulating the dates to remain faithful to my collage poem a day.

As you can see from the photo above, I busied myself with collaging on my retreat. Far from the reaches of the internet, and forced inside by intermittent rain, I busied myself with my drawers of words. I have an elaborate system set up and it proved to travel very well. The yellow drawer holds all my black text, the green drawer holds all the coloured text, the blue drawer holds all the super-size text, and the pink drawer has pictures, little plastic ziplock bags with words that are congregating together through shared themes or ideas, plus my scissors and my glue.

A portable collage poetry factory.





Words, words everywhere....

And now for the first one off the factory production line...

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

The Text

People said

Beware

Attractive newcomer

entertaining Rich

Genius

The Wine is Everything

You like him and he likes you

But keep your knickers on

It's up to you to mention his

Baggage

Women Family Religious Beliefs

Could this be

too good to be true

All men are toxic #5 of the 365 Collage Poetry Challenge

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

POEM TEXT:

She madly in love

He not so

Humiliated after a night of passion

Mortifying moments

Stiff Sentences Banished Words

Romance Angst

Love-Gone-Wrong

If only she had a

Window into the male mind

Found out the hard way

All men are toxic for now.

Okay, so today wasn't a good day as this poem indicates. I'm sure I'll like men again tomorrow, and one in particular.

This is the last post until after Easter because I'm going off the internet grid. Perhaps it will wean me off my internet addicition.

Can't Believe Everything You Read Day 4 of the 365 Collage Poetry Challenge

Today's poem has been influenced by my Blog-off for Breast Cancer post on Privacy. We are competing in a blog-off with a different one-word topic each week. Visit the post for all the details.

Difficult Art #3 of the 356 days of collage poetry

There are two collages for the price of one today. This morning I received a package from Jen filled with designs for the Chickollage shop so she got me inspired to do my own.

First I made the Boyfriend Addiction collage which will soon be available as a t-shirt and many other products at Cafepress.

And then I thought? Four cut-outs? - that's not exactly challenging myself for today's collage poem, is it? So I created another poem:

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

The Text:

Difficult Art

Provokes Envy

Nightmares Seduce

The Troubled Hit Rock Bottom

Welcome to Hell

don't get comfy, friends.

Beyond the Cliche Day 2 of The 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

It's ironic that I cut up magazines, and use their text to criticise their content.

But I no longer support the magazine industy as an active consumer. I rarely buy magazines new anymore. If I'm only buying them to cut up, what's the point of buying them new when I can get a lot more second hand and compensate the person who shelled out the full price for them. And when I look at second hand magazines to buy, I don't even look at the stories. I look at the quality of the text. And older magazines are better than contemporary magazines. The Art Departments have just tried to get too fancy lately with overlapping text and graphics. I need my text plain, simple but evocative.

There was one word in this poem that I couldn't find in a magazine. I think it says something about the kind of magazines that I have to slice and dice.

The word was 'society' and I printed it out on the computer. A little cheat, I suppose - but it's only one word! Do you forgive me?

BEYOND THE CLICHE

Copyright 2007 Diane Curran

The Text:
Beyond the cliche
A Deeper Side
She was angry, bitter and
She hated life.
Bingeing and eating disorders.
Body demons.
Who's to blame?
Magazines. Business. Society.
Young women under pressure.
We all want what we can't have.
The Perfect Guy. The Perfect Life.

Try ditching your criteria -
You might just find YOU.

Evil Girlfriends #1 of theThe 365 Day Collage Poetry Challenge

It's Day One of the challenge and I've completed my first collage poem - EVIL GIRLFRIENDS

Yesterday, I received a fortuitous sign for the challenge when I went to the annual market sale at our local community hall. I picked up 30 teenage magazines for $9 plus Frida (Frida Kahlo's biography) for $1. I have quite a few references to Frida Kahlo in my novel Diary of the Future. and now I have lots of magazines to provide text and inspiration for the collages.