Pollock — Pain’s Paint and dVerse OLN 8/8/19

“Red, Black and Silver,” a painting the estate of Jackson Pollock’s lover, Ruth Kligman, claims was painted for her.

It doesn’t matter how the paint is put on, as long as something is said.

Something sad
Sad how?
It doesn’t matter how.
Put on paint – matter.
Paint it.

Something matters?
How doesn’t it?
Doesn’t it?

Paint is pain, long-mattered
Pain’s paint says something mattered.

Put on pain’s paint and matter —
as long as something is said,
Doesn’t matter how.

 

Paul’s Poetry Playground just introduced an invented poetry form called the pollock, after the form’s namesake, artist Jackson Pollock.  The gist is that you take any quote from Pollock (or from any other person, if you want to “break the rules” which is encouraged) then write a 14-line poem that starts with that quote and using only words from the quote throughout the rest of the lines.  It sounded fun and challenging so I decided to give it a try.

The quote I chose from Pollock is:

It doesn’t matter how the paint is put on, as long as something is said.

I did break the rules a little by turning “paint” into “pain” and “said” into “sad” and maybe changed tense on a word or two.

Image link:  “Red, Black and Silver,” a painting the estate of Jackson Pollock’s lover, Ruth Kligman, claims was painted for her.CreditC41 Media

If you follow that link, you’ll find a NYT fascinating feature from 2013 about the painting.

Update on 8/8/19: Grace is the host of dVerse for Open Link Night (OLN) and so am linking this to dVerse.

45 Comments Add yours

  1. Carol anne's avatar Carol Anne says:

    that’s fab! I liked the poetry form! Well done!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you, Carol Anne. I liked trying it out as it took me outside of the comfort zone.

      Like

  2. memadtwo's avatar memadtwo says:

    I love word games like this. Well done! and excellent choice of art. (K)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you, K. I believe you excel at wordplay.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. memadtwo's avatar memadtwo says:

        Thanks Jade. I enjoy it!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Paul Szlosek's avatar Paul Szlosek says:

    Fantastic job1 I really like the way you tweaked the form by changing paint to pain and said to sad…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you very much, Paul :)

      Like

  4. Paul Szlosek's avatar Paul Szlosek says:

    Thank you so much, it really is a fun form to play with…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      You are welcome. Thank you for introducing me to the form. I want to try it out with other authors now :)

      Like

  5. I love this for the word play, and for the sentiment.

    Just get something done – anything. Such a vital part of life and keeping on.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you very much for reading and commenting :)

      Like

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thanks Linda. I saw your pollock and decided to give it a try :)

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Wonderful word-play Jade, I love what you did here and it goes so well with the painting 🙂💖 xxx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you very much, Xenia. It’s a fun form :)

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Frank Hubeny's avatar Frank Hubeny says:

    Nice line: “Pain’s paint says something mattered.” I like the association of “pain” and “paint”.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you very much, Frank.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. hhennenburg's avatar hhennenburg says:

    I love this. The imperative to matter – to embrace that we matter. Brilliant composition.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you very much, H. I like your comment.

      Like

  9. This seems to be a popular form this week. LOL. Never heard of this poetry form but I believe you did a lovely job. Nice poem. :)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you, Maria :) I just heard of the form yesterday and decided to try it out.

      Like

  10. Well done! I especially like your final two stanzas. -Jen

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Jen, thank you for reading and glad you liked them.

      Like

  11. kanzensakura's avatar kanzensakura says:

    Great job. Pain and paint wordplay is excellent.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Toni, thank you!

      Like

  12. Grace's avatar Grace says:

    Just paint it. An interesting form here – nicely done.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you, Grace, yes it is an interesting form.

      Like

  13. rothpoetry's avatar rothpoetry says:

    This is really a unique form! You did really well!
    Love these lines!
    Paint is pain, long-mattered
    Pain’s paint says something mattered.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thanks, Dwight :)

      Liked by 1 person

  14. kim881's avatar kim881 says:

    I love the word play, Jade, and the way you took up your brush and painted a poem in a new form!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you very much, Kim. Glad you enjoyed the word play and the new form.

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr's avatar rivrvlogr says:

    Paint/pain is a nice twist that gives this depth.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Brendan's avatar Brendan says:

    A real adventure, squeezing from a pollock tube–a visceral gout.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you for reading and for your thoughtful comment, Brendan.

      Like

  17. What a fun form. You did it justice. In my 2 novels I use colors in painting to portray emotions. I hope they said what I wanted them to say.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you, Victoria. I think that would be a wonderful technique to use in telling stories.

      Like

  18. M's avatar M says:

    really cool. (my elder son is named for the painter)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thank you, just lucky to happen across the form. Your son’s name is Jackson? Neat :)

      Liked by 1 person

  19. robtkistner's avatar robtkistner says:

    Thank you for sharing this for OLN Lisa. Engaging read, and well written. Powerful contemplatin on pain. Love the pc!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Rob, thank you! I want to try the “pollock” with others’ quotes as well.

      Like

  20. lillian's avatar lillian says:

    Wow! Had never heard of the form! Well done and intriguing to read!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Lillian thanks, it was new to me also but I see great potential in it! Even though it is called Pollock, the rules I read said you can take any poet’s work as a starting point.

      Like

Your thoughts matter.