The Outcome

Okay, I decided to hang with the Golden Shovel Poems longer. I can’t help myself. It’s not my fault there are so many great poets in the world. I’ve used William Blake and Robert Frost for inspiration. It’s time for me to take advantage of one of the women poetresses. When I read Jo Jo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars, I was reminded of Amy Lowell. I read her work in the past and decided to explore her poetry for a while. Therefore, this new poem will be titled The Outcome.  

 Terrance Hayes invented the Golden Shovel style of poetry. This form of found poetry allows the writer to take a favorite poem and use it to make something original. I experimented with found poetry last year when I wrote Blank Verse poems. Now, I am having fun writing Golden Shovel Poetry.

The rules for writing a Golden Shovel Poem and The Outcome

While researching this style of poetry created by Terrance Hayes, there seem to be four simple rules. You can use as many lines of the poem as you want, and the poem will end with you being your creation. I find this idea interesting. Written below are the three simple rules.

1). Choose a poem that you like. Currently, I will use poems by Amy Lowell.

2)Use each word in the line or lines as the end word in your poem. Make sure they stay in order.

3) Construct an entire poem around them. The meaning doesn’t have to be the same.

4) Give the original poet credit who wrote the line or lines you used.

Here are a few quick facts about Amy Lowell. She was the leading poet in the Imaginist School. This woman never attended college and considered herself a social outcast when she was young. She was an avid reader and book collector. Also, she publicly smoked cigars, which was outrageous for a woman then. Pieces of the poem The Blue Scarf by Amy Lowell will appear at the end of each line of this poem. I will title The Outcome.

The Outcome 

Nobody noticed when she sunk
Lost and forgotten stuck in
The dark mud of gossip and the
Tar-like mire of pitch-black
Lies that were told and
The a false shimmering white
Illusion of truth like marbel
To stand against the sinking sun and the 
Glow shining in the West
Strong against the shifting wind
Of the changes that never truly has
Sheltered as much as if lifted
Hope and expectations like a
blue, boisterous, floating scarf
Trapped in a breeze that landed on
Invisible air silently coasts and the
Delusion of happiness and a seat
At the table and the goal so close
That she came to rest beside
The stream and looked at me
With questioning eyes and the
Question she asked was so blue
I couldn’t start to create a picture of
The harsh reality of it
The ins and outs of a
Time of life turned violent
Even knowing we were all in a outrage
About the final outcome of
A Story told with so much colour

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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