Each fall, I teach an Honors seminar called "Poetry Lab," in which we spend a semester writing in response to poems we find in the Poetry Center's collections. The class's focus is on experimentation and process over finished product. In keeping with that ethos, we usually spend our final class period playing a collaborative Q & A game I stole from the French surrealists, in which players must provide answers to questions they cannot see (for a full breakdown of the method, see my earlier blog post). The game is always funny and frequently profound. Here is a selection of questions and answers from the Fall 2024 seminar:
Q: How do trees talk to each other?
A: Fall. It's a beautiful time of year. Love it.
Q: What's your biggest fear?
A: Five-hundred.
Q: Why do aliens exist?
A: Because it's the best part of my day.
Q: Are you nervous for finals week?
A: No, you should not jump off a building.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: There is no real answer. There is only the moment we live in.
Q: What is the optimal unit of measurement?
A: The University of Arizona.
Q: If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?
A: The Baltimore Ravens. They're named for a poem.
Q: What's the thing you dislike the most about poetry?
A: All my fears are a fraud.
Q: What's your opinion of cyclists?
A: Essence of llama.
Q: What is the meaning of life?
A: Mac and cheese.
Q: When was the last time you spoke to your extended family on the phone?
A: Noise.
Q: What drives you crazy?
A: My first crush as a child was a boy named Sean, in kindergarten.
Q: When was the last time you told someone the truth?
A: Cats.
Q: Who was your crush as a child?
A: The cheetah is the fastest land animal.
Q: What happened to your first love?
A: No, I don't know about that.
Q: What's your favorite part of the holiday season?
A: I feel like you shouldn't climb Mount Everest. A lot of people die up there.
Q: Who is your greatest role model?
A: There's a secret cave in my mind full of water and light.
Q: How do you see yourself in 10 years? Goals?
A: A skyscraper.
Q: What do you drive to work?
A: Karim.
Q: What do you study?
A: My favorite fruit is banana.
Q: Why is the sky blue?
A: Sleeping in on a rainy day.
Q: What motivates you every day?
A: I really like flowers, and a small (and unrealistic) dream of mine is to open a flowershop.
Q: Why did you go to the U of A?
A: Water Lilies, the painting by Claude Monet.
Q: How do you know when you're happy?
A: I feel that lemons are underrated fruits.
Q: What is your favorite time of day?
A: A bunch of bananas that will never be used.
Q: Where would you like to travel to?
A: I love the color pink.
Q: Why all the hate against pineapple on pizza?
A: Way too early and way too late.
Q: What is your dream job?
A: I've seen the Eras tour movie three times.
Q: How do you win a fight against a manticore?
A: God.
Q: Do you believe people ever truly change? Why or why not?
A: Yes.
Q: Where is your favorite place?
A: Your feelings are valid but your actions are more important.
Q: What's your favorite mood?
A: I've witnessed too much. Now I must sleep.
By HNRS 195K, "Poetry Lab," Fall 2024: Patrick Crenshaw, Natalia Douriet, Kate Eid, Maxwell Eller, Jerod Folden, Elizabeth Ghartey, Karim Jayyusi, Sarah Kortemeier, Lauren Licardi, Maggie Malone, and Lindsay Moreno