Written for:  dVerse Poets Pub  (posted by Linda Lee Lyberg)

Poetics:  Songs of Unreason

"Today I have a Jim Harrison challenge for you."

When I find myself struggling for inspiration, my go to is Jim Harrison’s work. For whatever reason, his words always speak to me and inspire. So today I am sharing with you lines from eight different pieces in the book Songs of Unreason. The challenge is to pick one line and use it as an epigraph for a poem inspired by the line. You may write your poem in any form you wish."

Here are the eight lines I have chosen from  Songs of Unreason:

“There is a human wildness held beneath the skin.”- Arts, Jim Harrison

“He went to sea in a thimble of poetry.”- Poet Warning, Jim Harrison

“In truth each day is a universe in which we are tangled in the light of stars.”- Horses, Jim Harrison

“I don’t know what happens after death but I’ll have to chance it.”- Desert Snow, Jim Harrison

“Yes, in the predawn black the slim slip of the waning moon.”- Remote Friends, Jim Harrison

“Some days in March are dark and some altogether glittery and loud with birds.”- March in Patagonia, AZ, Jim Harrison

“We’re doubtless as old as our mothers, thousands of generations waiting for the sunlight.”- Sunlight, Jim Harrison

“After last night’s storm the tulip petals are strewn across the patio where they mortally fluttered.”- Church, Jim Harrison


A fear of what lurks
in our brain, heart,
and in our arms
covered in shades
of skin–seemingly
impenetrable.

A fear of what we
are capable of
without restriction
imposed by society,
and ourselves.

How would it feel
to scream out loud,
wrap arms around
a gentle smiling
elephant, or live
an outdoor life–
our lullaby, the cry
of a lone wolf?

Our bonds of humanness 
are kept in control,
but, what if there
were no limits?

("There is a human wildness held beneath the skin.")

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