A cento is a literary form, especially a poem, that is made up entirely of quotations from other work. Sort of the original mashup – here’s one of mine.
Book Love
There is no frigate like a book.
I love how books begin; those passages
Where the hills are twice as steep, and twice as rough,
And the yellow half-moon large and low:
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
And inspirations, that we deem our own,
Whiter than new snow on a raven’s back
Imagination gathers up.
With courage to endure.
– cento by Jenel Alan
(Credits: “There is no frigate like a book” by Emily Dickinson, “Chapter One” by Mark Aiello, “The Man from Snowy River” by A.B. Paterson, “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning, “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duff, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, “Imagination” by John Davidson, “The Old Stoic” by Emily Brontë)
Jenel Alan 