Cleave Generation

Andrea Barton, a cleave poet, has introduced cleave poetry to her school (RHAM High School, Hebron, CT) where she teaches creative writing.

It has engaged students who have never written poetry before.

Are these students the poets of the future?

Cleave Generation is a site for students of all ages to explore, discuss and experiment with poetry, specifically cleave poetry.

*No experience needed*

“I did want to let you know that a “Cleave craze” has begun at my school. First, I required all of my CW students to try a basic one. From there, they can’t seem to stop, and I have other teachers approaching me in the hallways telling me of what their kids, who aren’t even in CW, are doing!” Andrea Barton Creative Writing teacher RHAM High School.

“I was never really that big into poetry until I took a creative writing class with a teacher who is posted on your website Andrea Barton. The first time she showed us her cleaves I thought it to be mind boggling,…” Michelle Lynn Bernard, student RHAM High School.

Rhapsody-Cleft by Andrea Barton

………………I should ode a meadow – a solitude we once passed through
….a million million grains of grain – a lea
………………..golden and currented – like dawn at sea
and answer its enchanting beckon – for us to come and wallow in
………its ripples kissing landscape – its tide so invitingly introduced
………a profoundness by which we – unsuspecting prisoners-to-be
………………………………………–were seduced-

Cleave by Andrea Barton

                      Cleave

                  It is –A- joining of words
        A fusion and -cleave– separated by
oddly, a division that –is– a physical gap
             ruptures -the – eye’s path
   the rhythm here –opposite- to a smooth
        joint venture -of- meaning
      in clutching -itself- as one

Marrow, a 3 way cleave by Andrea Barton

                             Marrow
    The union between–at the core of us–the heart and the hand
     a poet’s heart–is a gossamer strand–must work
             and his hand–of steel–as one
is the fine gilt thread–binding love–to fuse poetry
                 of words–to loss–to feeling.

Maypole – a 6 way cleave by Andrea Barton

A 6-way cleave by Andrea Barton - a concrete cleave?
Here are her words:

"this is a six way poem based on the cleave form. 
I'm going to wait and see if anyone can figure out 
the six ways in which this poem can be read..."

                   Maypole

                     The
brightly colored - center - celebration of
            spring - of - ribbons
         held by - poems - this way
          colors - are - dancing
        girls - maypoles - that way
        twirling - driven - skipping
      twisting - into - light steps of
        children - the - laughter and
         hope - earth - in the sun
                   and
                    w
                    a
                    i
                    t
                    i
                    n
                    g

My Human Brain by Andrea Barton

Here is another ground-breaking cleave from Andrea Barton, 3 poems fusing into one:

bold (right), italics (middle), normal (left) and then the whole cleave.

                    My Human Brain by Andrea Barton

        May I direct your attention –here– follow me
                    this way please –I am– here to the right
                        on your left –in– this section
                     you will notice –all– ready for paint are
               the columns formed by –the– blank canvasses
   logically situated battalions –quivering– in anticipation
             of warriors at the –conjunction– of thought and feeling
                ready for the battle –of– reason vs. intuition
               there is no room for –love– in our struggle for
      identity today, only sequence –and– expression caught in the fray
  and contrapuntal equilibrium of –algebra– or in the poetry of a lush epic.
                   rational thought –and– be careful here
                   on your left –childbirth– the absolute beginning
            art in its purest form –and– the creation of life
a mere moment we are only without –fault- exquisite and blameless.

Submission: Andrea Barton

A great little cleave by Andrea. Something to ponder on.

I’m out of town until Thursday.

Also, I’m trying out some different formatting.

Enjoy.

Lots more cleaves and thoughts when I return.

           Things I Need by Andrea Barton

             In the end - it comes to this:
          I parse words - on a grocery pad
        meant for lists - for things I need.
      A line drawn down - the middle of my words
            my thoughts - rent in half
            on a Sunday - in the wee days of this new fall
at the end of September - I believe
                 I need - and want
            to remember - these words.

Submission: Andrea Barton

___________________Point of view

_________________I see – the same thing:
__________________you – through a different lens
_____________your eyes – blue, oceanic
______the way they look – a sea to one
they take in the distance – to another, sky
__________the center of – the you place
________________maybe – eyes wide
_______there aren’t any – hollower places;
____________starpoints – or pinpricks of light
_____________only you – through a different lens
_________________your – eyes, the way they look
_____________blue gaze – and the way you see.

Cleave poem submission by Andrea Barton

Welcome Andrea to The Cleave. This poem shows how the Cleave can be a form of parallelism like the Psalms and Hebrew wisdom literature. If you feel inclined to more parallelism try this link on writing a psalm.

_______________Oh– my god:
_________give me – strength,
_____forbearance, – for another day
a life lived richly – with love
________and with – gratitude for
________what are – hard lessons
_____God’s plans – for me.

Andrea Barton teaches Creative Writing and Communications to high school students. Her own poetry was last published in the Lewis and Clark Literary Review. Most recently she was recognized as a notable new Staff Pick at the Gotpoetry? website under the alias, “HSTeech” where much of her current work can be found. She lives with her daughter and Chacha the Cat in the bucolic suburbia outside of Hartford, CT.