March 9, 2025 Collage poem

 

Interview with Turtle Optimist-- Grave Encounters: Exploring the World of Cemetery Tourism

Women Writers of Virginia at Henrico County Public Library-- March 15th at 2pm

 

Bringing collage poetry into the classroom

 

This semester I am giving my students a choice about how they complete their reflections of classic ghost stories. Students have the option to create an artistic piece along with their statement of meaning. Here's one of my examples:

Clever and Literary

Marvels Adore

the Dying

LOSS

Resolving Grief

WITH the

LUMINOUS

Delicate

LOVE IS MEANT

ТО ВЕ

living

WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING

Explain Death

Empower

Bring back

What that Really Means

Statement of Meaning:

This collage poem deeply resonates with the ghostly themes in Edgar Allan Poe’s Ligeia, particularly the supernatural persistence of the character’s spirit and her transcendence of death. The imagery and words reflect key elements of the story, evoking a sense of loss and grief that mirrors the narrator’s mourning after Ligeia’s passing. Phrases like LOSS, the Dying, and Resolving Grief suggest an ongoing struggle to understand death, much like the narrator’s obsession with Ligeia’s memory and intellect. There is also an undeniable sense of supernatural return within the collage, with phrases such as Bring Back, Empower, and What That Really Means hinting at resurrection, recalling Ligeia’s eerie reappearance through Rowena’s transformation. The ghostly woman, the skeletal imagery, and the presence of candles heighten this gothic atmosphere, evoking the story’s fixation on the boundary between life and death. Additionally, the words Clever and Literary, Marvels, and Adore reflect the narrator’s deep reverence for Ligeia’s intelligence and extraordinary nature, emphasizing her presence not just as a lost love but as a being whose power defies mortality.

I almost forgot to mention that the door has a wreath made of roses and vines—both plants included in the story. The door feels more like a portal, as if marking the transition between life and death, the known and the unknown. The swirling smoke adds a spectral quality, while the reaching hands suggest something occult, an echo of the esoteric knowledge Ligeia possesses and the supernatural charge that permeates the tale. Even the shape of the room itself, pentagonal like the interior of a pentagram, subtly reinforces the theme of magic and mysticism that underpins her spectral return. Altogether, the collage serves as a visual and poetic reflection of the story’s haunting essence, capturing the eerie beauty, undying love, and supernatural defiance that define Poe’s tale.

Transformative Language Arts Network Virtual Salon- February 23 @5pmET

 

Visit the event page here: https://www.tlanetwork.org/event-6043429

Spell jART

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January 15 Collage Poem