Women’s Work
(a cento, from Carl Sandburg’s “Working Girls”)
over the way, the women who know each one the
lunches wrapped in newspapers under their arms
so here are always the others, those who have been
going, so many with a peach bloom of young years
arms that passed around their waists and the fingers
woman life I feel a wonder about where it is all
on the downtown streets
that played in their hair
© 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore
From We Write Poems, a prompt for a cento: Another poet’s writing, taking only certain lines and rearranging them to form a new poem. These lines are from my favorite poet, Carl Sandburg, and his poem, “Working Girls.” Also posted at my poetic home, Poets United, where you can find a plethora of amazing poets on their right sidebar, constantly updating with links.
Sharp Little Pencil 
Annette
This is lovely! I love the image of girls and their hair. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I just found We Write Poems – and I’ll be back!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Annette – will look for you and in the meantime, great pictures and comments on your blog! Amy
pamelasayers
Oh, that is really nice, Amy.
Pamela
Mary
Clever, Amy. This poem of Sandburg was unfamilar to me, but I like what you did with your chosen lines!
Peggy Goetz
I really like this Amy. It flows very well and I like the content as well. Excellent.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Peggy! A
b_y
Enjoyed this, Amy. It does remind me that I haven’t read Sandburg for a long time.
Sharp Little Pencil
Now that’s worth my having written the whole thing. All his works are available online or at the library. He is my favorite; my second is Neruda, with bilingual translations, since I know a bit of Spanish. Thanks, hon! Amy
brenda w
Last stanza: me breathless. Something took me there. These words, your construction. Thank you.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thank you, Brenda, and again, thanks to Carl Sandburg for giving me solid building blocks for the cento! Amy
vivinfrance
Go on, Amy, have a tweak? Not that I can see anywhere that needs it. I love “the peach bloom of young years”
Sharp Little Pencil
Ah, Sandburg is my hero. His stand on social justice, his years in Chicago, and his amazingly feminist views in a pre-feminist time (hardly much past the Bloomer Girls years of suffragettes) have always impressed me. But the tweaking is only punctuation allowed, and I didn’t even do that…!
Debbie
I have never tried this! You make it look easy and yours was so good . . .but I know that might not be the case with mine! ha! Thanks Amy!
Sharp Little Pencil
Once you get started, it’s a lot of fun. Just pick a favorite poet, or two or three, gather lots of books, and see what happens. The important thing is to be able to cite the poet and the work every line came from. A bit like research… but rewarding. Thanks, honey. Love, Amy
beespoetry
That’s a really neat idea! I need to read the original poem, because this one was cool 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
All of Carl Sandburg’s works are available online, or you can check out the local library! Thanks, Bee. Peace, Amy
Mr. Walker
Amy, this has a density of images and thoughts that definitely suggests work, and then it slows down in the second stanza, more reflective. I really like that last stanza. Brava for attempting a cento from a single poem.
Richard
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Richard! Only my second cento, and all of Sandburg’s poems tend to be short, so it was tricky. His sympathy for women, especially those who worked (in one way or another) always impressed me. I think of him as a feminist in light of his social activism, and he’s my favorite poet. I appreciate your feel for the pace of the poem. Amy
1sojournal
Amy, I think I had a lot more to work with, lol. But, I really like what you did here, and yes, you make it your own. I had not done a cento before and was really astounded at the outcome. Sort of like catching echoes and then using them to send a new and different message, making yet another echo. Your Women’s Work is definitely a woman’s endeavor. Thank you,
Elizabeth
Sharp Little Pencil
Yes, and the beauty of it is that the poet was male, Carl Sandburg. I marvel at his sympathy of women in those days. In a sense, a lot of it continues…
This was my second cento – my first was taken line-by-line from all different sources. A challenge of a different sort, this. Thanks so much. Echos resonate. Amy
neil reid
This poem does, yes, play in their hair. Very nicely done. Intimate in its’ way.
You speak to what still needs speaking to. Not near done we are with making this heaven rightly done. Although I confess surprise sometimes at the more narrow roles oft offered to women in our culture – raised as I was by a mother and grandmother as the major voices in my youth. There’s something of common maleness that seems alien to me, makes no sense.
But mostly mostly for you I have one wish – peace. Strength to speak, peace to rest, renew yourself.
Sharp Little Pencil
Neil, thank you for a loving, thoughtful post. I truly appreciate your good wishes. I am at last healthy… sending you an email on the rest.
uponthewingsofnight
I might give this poetic form a try sometime. I would use my favorite poem, Lenox Avenue Mural by Langston Hughes.