The Shape of Eternity is a poem I “found” in a poem by Terrance Hayes.  Allow me to say a bit about found poetry:  this form playfully and intentionally uses existing source material as a departure point for the creation of original work.  Such shameless appropriation of innovations by writers/artists/performers is a generative renewal process that births new forms into existence.  This is not a new phenomena.  Some of the most famous “playgiarists” (a term coined by author Raymond Federman) include Homer, Shakespeare, Diderot, Rimbaud, Proust, Beckett, Annie Dillard, Tom Phillips and a gazillion others.

The playgiarism in found poetry (as in all the arts) is not to be confused with mere plagiarism, which isn’t playful or creative at all.  Make no mistake about it.  But hold on! Playgiarism is a process that goes way beyond art-making.

Playgiarism is a way of living creatively: we take the raw materials of our lives, including what’s been thrown on the reject pile, and begin remixing, reusing and recombining those elements.  Bringing curiosity and fearless engagement to the work with said materials, the horizon lines of our lives expand and evolve from this brilliant synthesis.  Inner riches are illuminated, then reflected back to us by the world.  This is the refreshment of a new beginning, versus the tiresome attempt at a do-over.  Plagiarism, by contrast, is a dullard that can make no such claim.  It amounts to a withdrawal of the creative impulse, not an expression of it.  So, there’s that.

As for the poem itself…ain’t much to add.  It speaks for itself.  The question is right there in the poem if you’re ready to take it to Heart.  We live in “wild space shaped by Love” the moment we drop everything (yes, everything) that limits us via perception.  Anything that weights down our wings and cages our senses has gotta go.  I can find nothing more worthy of my attention.  May it be so for all of us!

* Suggested music to accompany you on the way by J Dilla.  Dilla was a phenomenally inventive “playgiarist.”  This mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful tune, Life, is based on the composition Blue In Green, written by Bill Evans, and made famous on the Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue (third track).

* Image:  by Krayna Castelbaum, The Shape of Eternity, mixed media, 11×17.  All rights reserved.