The Writing Experiment by Hazel Smith

we need to approach the past

to approach the past we need we need

to approach the pastoral

we need to approach the pastoral in a car

o approach the pastoral with care

we read to poach the pastor

to cart toward aporia

approach the waste and pare the weed to the core

to catch a parsnip

and remember that it’s not

and remember that it’s not a convent

and remember that it’s a con

ut poesia pastoralis

From Neither the One nor the Other (Presley & James 1999, no pages)

WORD POOLS

Exercise 1c asks you to create a pool of words and then combine the words
into unusual and striking combinations. The words that make up the pool
do not necessarily have to relate to each other, in fact the exercise will
probably work better if they are unconnected in meaning. Choose some
verbs, nouns and adjectives which are colourful or strong. Begin by creat-
ing a pool of about 15–20 words:

Example 1.21:Word pool

Time

clock excrement

step vomit bicycle

word fidget

blood drift

mouth loss squat

sense wail ladder

Once you have done that, juggle the words into combinations which seem
to be evocative, unusual and striking. By this I mean forge phrases such as
‘time squats’, or ‘sense wails’, which create a metaphorical effect. You may

Playing with language, running with referents 17