The “Loves” Emulation—A Thematic List Poem that Digs and Sings

Verselove is a community celebration of poetry in April—an invitation to write, read, and reflect together. You’re welcome to write a poem a day or to come and go as you need. Reading and leaving a brief note—a line you loved, an image that stayed, a feeling a poem stirred—is also a meaningful way to participate. This is a generous, low-pressure space. We’re glad you’re here.

Our Host

A former high school English teacher, Kate Sjostrom is a teacher educator at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Writer in Residence at the Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park. 

Inspiration 

I was introduced to this writing activity, an emulation of Stephen Dunn’s poem “Loves,”* while student teaching under poet extraordinaire Glen Brown. Twenty years later, I still find this writing exercise to be one of the most enjoyable and productive, for students and teachers alike. In his poem, Dunn essentially lists things he loves, but rather than relay them in a straight-ahead catalog, he employs a varied, easy-to-emulate form that gives the poem dynamic movement. He also explores a wide variety of loves—concrete and abstract—that allow the poem to work on multiple registers. Of course, the poem can be centered on something other than “loves,”  providing an opportunity for writers to explore and share as they’d like.

*Note that while I link to Dunn’s whole (very long) poem here, I share only the first four stanzas with students—a manageable and school-appropriate excerpt. 

Process

1. Pick an abstract concept/emotion that you really want to explore. You might write about things that you love, hate, need, want, live for, will lose, care about, are afraid of, envy, don’t understand, wonder about, hide, will never see, will never do, are proud of, share, were taught, or were not taught. You could choose to write about things that control your life, make you angry, have too much of, hurt, taste good, make you cry—or something else altogether.  
2. Explore your concept/emotion from many angles and offer detailed examples that are both concrete and abstract. (For example, Dunn loves plums (concrete) and chaos (abstract).) 
3. As you draft your list poem, consider varying its form and deepening its content by borrowing some of Dunn’s structures:
   1. Say it straight. (Dunn’s version: “I love the way my cat Peaches, / brought the live rat to the door / looking for praise.”)
   2. Think in categories/Make a choice: “Of all _____, _____.” (Dunn’s version: Of all fruits, plums. / Of vegetables, mushrooms sautéed / in garlic and wine.” 
   3. Use Cause-Effect Structure: “When I _____, I _____.” (Dunn’s version: “When I betrayed, I loved chaos, / loved my crazed version of sane.”)
   4. Ask a question. (Dunn’s version: “And what’s more interesting / than gossip about love?”) 
   5. Give a definition. (Dunn’s version: “Love: such a ruthless thing.”)

Kate’s Poem

Shoulds by Kate Sjostrom
           (after Stephen Dunn)

I should do my back exercises,
the feline arches and
plunges of spine assigned
fifteen years ago, before
my back hurt every day.
I should drink orange juice for
folic acid, green tea for antioxidants,
milk for my low-density bones.
And what is more important than flossing
around my crown where the gum is
subject to flame?

           I should take time to write
poems like I used to, letters to college friends,
notes to my husband on the mirror—
red lipstick in luscious script diagonal
and quick.

                        Filing should come 
directly after bill paying. Folding
after drying—no more linen mountains,
monuments to my inefficiency.

Of all errands, the car wash.
Of all floors, the bathroom floor
by hand this time.

        I should be getting to bed,
the essential eight hours. 
I should be studying the still
of my husband’s face next to me
as he feigns sleep, waiting for me
to turn out the light, waiting
for me.

                          I should remember what it felt like
to not sleep at all, to put everything
aside but him, to ride the day after 
like it was the first day of sun.

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.