“as above so below”
C. Lofty Bolling
December 19, 2023
in this workshop we will be writing positivity poems. reminding ourselves of things that bring us joy amongst the difficulties of life
Pre-writing:
first, roll the dice or shuffle the deck of cards.
the first number you pick and/or roll, will be the length of the list
make a list of specific things/objects that make you happy
of the same length, make a list of things/situations that inconvenience you
Source Material:
- Sentry by Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist featuring MIKE
- Mondays by Toaster
- Inspo for As above so below by Lofty Boll
Prompt:
after you complete your list roll the dice and /or pluck a card, this time the number you roll and/or pick is going to determine the number of lines youll be writing your poem with.
take a sheet of paper and trace an outline of your dominate hand using your non dominate hand. this will be the arena that you write your poem inside of.
start with an inconvenience then respond to it, with two or three redemptive things.
get creative with the placement, get creative with word size. use the imperfection from the outline and incorporate them into your poem somehow. write words upside down or squeezed in maybe some words are bursting out of the lines themselves
C. Lofty Bolling
C.Lofty Bolling (they/them) is a black, queer, and southern poet who has recently relocated to Chicago in 2021 and have been writing poetry regularly since middle school, self publishing since their senior year of high school. Through their poetry they explore notions of identity formations, the quantum imagination, history, ontology and voodoo practices. They have 6 self published works titled, Lofty (2019), The Aquarius’ Aquarium (2019), Blue and Orange (2020), Unloc’d (2021), Black Atlanteans (2021) and The Master’s House (2021) and additional individual poems published through Lupercalia Press, and Rigorous Press.