Stuff

Things, everyday things, bring us into a place, a time, even a feeling. Ordinary everyday things can bring a piece of writing alive. That is one reason we often ask you to think of list of objects, names of people and places.  What we’d like you to do today is to think of materials -things like wood and glass and paper and cotton. And then to list the things that are made of them. In his poem, Stufferation, Adrian Mitchell, does just that. He says ‘This is a series of riddles. First two lines of each verse forms the riddle, the answer to which is always some material substance like iron or rubber or whatever. Has to be performed with a sort of jazz beat.’

Here are a couple of verses to give you an idea of how it goes:

Tuna fish get trapped in it

Legs come wrapped in it

Nylon

I like that stuff

Harps are strung with it

Mattresses are sprung with it

Wire

I like that stuff

And the poem ends:

Well I like that stuff

Yes I like that stuff

This earth is made of earth

And I like that stuff

Here’s a link to the whole poem: https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/poem/13623/auto/0/0/Adrian-Mitchell/STUFFERATION/en/tile

You could try writing a poem with the same form and rhythms as Adrian Mitchell chose or you could just write lists of materials and things that are made of the materials. Sometimes writing is just about thinking carefully of things, and making lists.

 Adrian Mitchell was a wonderful poet, passionate and kind and funny.  We recommend that you find out more about him and listen to him reading. He was a great performer. You can find him reading on YouTube and at the Poetry Archive.