a cento is a poetic form made up of lines borrowed from other poets or writers. it comes from the latin word meaning ‘patchwork’ and functions like a literary collage. the centoscopes here are hybrid in nature; cento poems arranged and presented in the horoscope structure.
for the LIGHT COLLECTING series, i created couplets using literature from the public domain. this month, i focused on the collected poems of Emily Dickinson. i applied an aleatoric approach; i cut up a dozen of her poems, and put my favorite fragments into a glass jar. i vigorously shook the jar a few times (and then once more with feeling) before pulling out random fragments to form the couplets.
Emily Dickinson makes me think of the rich and tender interior life and as the celestial crab, cancer stands as a symbol for very similar themes.
would you try this technique? hit reply and let me know!
xjj
{ ARIES } No fear you’ll miss the road / Of latitudes unknown
{ TAURUS } A world must be / would feel as thoroughly at ease
{ GEMINI } A poor torn heart, a tattered heart / A breeze
{ CANCER } As far from time as history / Intent upon the vision
{ LEO } A face devoid of love or grace / Scares muslin souls away
{ VIRGO } As numb to revelation / As cool to speech as stone
{ LIBRA } Into the beautiful / cautious melody
{ SCORPIO } A quietness distilled / Is easier to find
{ SAGITTARIUS } Two worlds, like audiences, disperse / A courteous, yet harrowing grace
{ CAPRICORN } The sun went out to work / Too imperceptible, at last
{ AQUARIUS } Lead the wandering sails / As far from pity as complaint
{ PISCES } The summer lapsed away / The tapestries of paradise
