
poetry.arizona.edu
Pollen-bombing and Pattern-seeking: The Art of the Cento
Centos are poems wholly composed from existing works, juxtaposing source materials without adding any new language. To make a cento is to release any notions of destinations or goals and to instead trust the unknown as it emerges kinetically. The satsuma is in bloom. It’s the time of year we become one with the oak pollen: I’m pulling strands of it from my hair and my coffee mug. Spring is a season of explosion—things end up where they don’t belong, but this act of collage is an act of creation.