Poem a Day: Next Stop Wonderland

No, I am not talking about Alice, a white rabbit, or a Mad tea party, but you can use this book for the prompt-if you like.  Today, I am sharing one of my favorite Indie flicks, Next Stop Wonderland, with the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Hope Davis.  Have you seen this movie?  Their union is a tangle of mixed metaphors and dreams.  Hope Davis plays Erin, the main character-who is lost in a sea of sadness and prodded by her meddling, matchmaking mother.  She and her boyfriend are doomed from the start.  Her soul mate is constantly in her path, yet she doesn't see the signs-just yet.

There is a scene in the move, where Erin is in a bookstore and she drops a book on the floor.  The elderly book seller sees her and offers this wisdom.

Bookseller: (after Erin Castleton has dropped the book) : Don't close it. You should never close a book until you've read something from it.

Erin Castleton: What?

Bookseller: Well, just a sentence or a word. It can be very, very revealing. Just read something, anything. Well, read from the top, then.


Today we are going to use this wisdom and be open to the wondrous possibilities-in randomly opening a book.  Go grab three books and open each book three times and see what leaps out of you.   Pick a sentence and play.  Rearrange it, or grab a word that you catches your eye, or something off the page that captures your attention-a name or even number.   Here are a few of my finds-you are welcome to use them-if you like~


I grabbed one of my husband's book, Gray Ghost.   He loves mystery author, William G. Tapply.

"Calhoun woke up with gray light and a cacophony of birdsong seeping in through the bedroom window screen."

Here is a sentence from the book, Foolsgold by Susan G. Wooldridge:

"My neighbor Penny passes a tray of small earthenware pots, a kettle of soil, and four packets of seeds to symbolize what we wish to plant in our lives."


Here I have opened the book,  Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams:

"Remember, the teacher or pathway may be the small still voice within, as well as a person, a leaf, a cloud, a stone, a tree, a book, or the Great Spirit."


From, The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman:

"Most of the writing in the journal was Arnish, with captions beneath green and black watercolor paintings."


From, Elephant Winter by Kim Echlin:

"When I closed my eyes I could see mandalas and carved saints and rough stone arches."


Pen a poem inspired by the serendipity of  a found sentence, a word, or an image that surfaces as you glance across the page!   Go grab some books and be guided by chance or use one of my sentences above to inspire you~

Congrats to those of you who are doing NaPoWriMo-this is the last leg(week) of your challenge-Cheers to you!!!

Queen of Hearts: Now then, are you ready for your sentence?