Live Like You Were Dying, By Donna Matthews

Recently, I started a personal challenge to explore and write in 100+ different poetic forms. To assist me in this journey is Robert Lee Brewer’s The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms where he gives the form and an example. Where Will Our Story End is #7 in this collection I’m calling, very simply, 100+ Poetic Forms.

Today’s poetry form is called Cento. From Brewer, “At its most basic level, the cento is a poem comprised of lines and phrases from other previously written poems.” Other considerations include using one poet or many, as an ode or satire, and to be careful to cite your works and avoid plagiarism. Read here for the basic rules.

My attempt:
I cheated a bit…with Bible and song verses…
1 – Psalm 62,
2 – Rainer Maria Rilke
3 – Mark Oliver
4 – Rumi
5 – St. Issac the Syrian
6 – Maya Angelou
7 – Tim McGraw
8 – Basho

Live Like You Were Dying

for God alone, O my soul, wait in silence
for my hope is in Him

you began yourself so greatly
on that day when you began us

delightfully, as if delight
were the most serious thing you ever felt

precious soul, do not delay
embark on the wondrous journey

in all the paths that men walk in the world,
they do not attain peace until they draw nigh to hope in God

the tree speaks; come to me, here beside the River
plant yourself beside the River

someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying

homeless I wander, in the company of God

Now to you…wanna try a Cento poem? Share a link in the comments below!

Hey y’all, thanks for visiting the Go Dog Go Cafe and I hope you enjoyed reading today’s selection. I am Donna Matthews, a born and bred Texan who can usually be found writing, painting, taking pictures, or traveling the world on foot. I’m all about love, people, sharing, and doing life together and would love to get to know you. I host two blogs…the first, The DJ Ranch, documents my personal adventures while the second, Slay The Chaos, focuses on mindsets, technology, productivity and organization. Come on over for a visit sometime 💙