Notebook Check-In 3: The Monostich and Epigrams from Mom

Plus, a flash sale on Nancy McCabe's class "Shapes of Stories"!

Apr 19, 2024

What people are saying about Nancy’s course:

This course was invaluable in helping me find a viable structure for my memoir. The course material and the generous amount of feedback from Nancy were excellent and provided useful insights into how I could focus my diverse material into a well-structured whole. —Diana Gittins, writer and poet

It’s April 19th, and I’m at my brother’s house in Florida. There is much to be said for a change of scenery, if/when you can swing it. I feel incredibly lucky. Also pretty tired? According to the astrology accounts I follow, tomorrow will bring a Uranus-Jupiter conjunction in Taurus, which is apparently a big deal. According to Astro Butterfly, “A conjunction is simultaneously an ending and a new beginning, initiating a new cycle. The previous 14-year Jupiter-Uranus cycle comes to an end. A new Jupiter-Uranus cycle is initiated. The Jupiter-Uranus conjunction is not just ‘another cycle’. We are talking about a 14-year cycle. These are MAJOR developments that will set the stage for a new chapter in your life.” You can read more here. OK, on to our notebooks and the work they can inspire …

This week I’m thinking about the epigram and the monostich, which is a one-line poem. Maureen Thorson has a good prompt about the monostich over at NaPoWriMo, and the examples she gave are poems by Joe Brainard and Frank O’Hara that string together such one-line pieces. Here’s the O’Hara poem:

Lines for the Fortune Cookies

I think you're wonderful and so does everyone else.

Just as Jackie Kennedy has a baby boy, so will you—even bigger.

You will meet a tall beautiful blonde stranger, and you will not say hello.

You will take a long trip and you will be very happy, though alone.

You will marry the first person who tells you your eyes are like scrambled eggs.

In the beginning there was YOU—there will always be YOU, I guess.

You will write a great play and it will run for three performances.

Please phone The Village Voice immediately: they want to interview you.

Roger L. Stevens and Kermit Bloomgarden have their eyes on you.

Relax a little; one of your most celebrated nervous tics will be your undoing.

Your first volume of poetry will be published as soon as you finish it.

You may be a hit uptown, but downtown you're legendary!

Your walk has a musical quality which will bring you fame and fortune.

You will eat cake.

Who do you think you are, anyway? Jo Van Fleet?

You think your life is like Pirandello, but it's really like O'Neill.

A few dance lessons with James Waring and who knows? Maybe something will happen.

That's not a run in your stocking, it's a hand on your leg.

I realize you've lived in France, but that doesn't mean you know EVERYTHING!

You should wear white more often—it becomes you.

The next person to speak to you will have a very intriquing proposal to make.

A lot of people in this room wish they were you.

Have you been to Mike Goldberg's show? Al Leslie's? Lee Krasner's?

At times, your disinterestedness may seem insincere, to strangers.

Now that the election's over, what are you going to do with yourself?

You are a prisoner in a croissant factory and you love it.

You eat meat. Why do you eat meat?

Beyond the horizon there is a vale of gloom.

You too could be Premier of France, if only… if only…

O’Hara is O’Hara because we love his charming, gossipy, epigrammatic voice. (“I realize you’ve lived in France, but that doesn’t mean you know EVERYTHING!”) I can imagine him walking around paying attention to his thoughts and collecting lines he overheard, and I love that.

I think, also, of one-liners I’ve collected from my mother and grandmother. These one-liners have certainly been a source of inspiration for me. I shared some from my grandmother in this post. Below are some found in my iphone notes via my mom:

And here’s another group of one-liners I found in my phone Notes, starting with a line from my mother and then veering off into thoughts (and possibly phrases I heard or read). I did end up using some of the phrases below in a different poem, the last one here, if you’d like to read it!

So, here’s a prompt idea: Look back through your notebook(s), and possible phone Notes, and weave together some one-liners!

Upcoming workshops:

Spring essay & memoir workshops with Megan Baxter and Nancy McCabe open on April 28th, and I’m hosting a generative workshop over Zoom on Sat. 4/27! See link for full descriptions and registration info.

Also coming up soon: Information about a special topics workshop with me in May and an announcement about my next round of generative workshops.

What people are saying about Muse instructors Nancy McCabe and Megan Baxter:

Nancy is the best instructor with the best curriculum. I would take any and every class she offered.

Nancy is an amazing instructor and her classes are excellent!

I already told Megan that I SO appreciate her creative and wise approach to course design. I teach writing and run groups as well, and I was so impressed! I loved everything about this class! Also, I'm grateful for her availability to give individual feedback each week.

I appreciated Megan's creativity in the course design and her feedback were also excellent!

Don’t miss your chance to grab a spot in one of our spring classes!

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