The Lotus Eaters Forum Cross-breeds

The Cross-breeds. In cross-breeds I use an adjective and noun that usually do not go together. Or I can use a noun and a verb that are an unusual match. Just the two words may prompt you to think differently about the subject, especially to think metaphorically.  You may need to do a freewrite first, in which you do not edit yourself at all, but follow your stream of consciousness and write down everything the cross-breed shocks you into thinking.

 

Not only does this create metaphorical thinking but it highlights how every word, in poetry especially, inspires thought.  Words bring into the mix their connotations, or to use the cross-breed metaphor, their own DNA.  See what you may create in your own laboratory of the mind.  Beauty or Beast?  Here are some cross-breeds you may want to use, just to start you out.  But all you need is a dictionary and choose random words.

 

Here are some examples:

 

red-throated labradors

scornful courtship

poetic battle

brain stiffens

full moon laments

pregnant unicorn

fire lodges

angels witness

subway dances

naked Saturdays

hand-painted bones

 

They may not give you an idea for a whole poem, but they may lead to a good line or two.

I hurried slow through a work I just read. Does that count?