I am in love with the show Twin Peaks. Like really in love with it. Ask any of my friends, I dare you, and they’ll tell you that it’s all I talk about. Last semester I wrote a poem that used characters from Twin Peaks.
I wonder if any of you have done the same for your favorite TV show, movie, or book. Have you? Tell me and if you want you can post it here too!
OK, background to my poem. Special Agent Dale Cooper is usually calm and collected in the show, so I wondered what he would be like if wasn’t so calm and collected. Diane is an “off show” character that he sends recordings of what he learns of Twin peaks to.
Here’s my poem:
The Desperate Recordings of Agent Dale Cooper
Diane,
When are you going
to visit me? “It is
happening again,” he
told me—
How’s the family doing?
Do you know others? Is
that why you won’t visit?
Diane,
“There’s a man…
in a smiling bag,” he
told me—
There are bags under my
eyes. How long
has it been?
DAMN GOOD COFFEE and DAMN
GOOD CHERRY PIE. I’m
tired of it.
Diane,
Please, Diane, Diane—
Why won’t you visit me?
Diane?
Diego, my answer is HELL YES. TV shows and characters have inspired some of my favorite poems, and I really do believe that the creativity we see in others is reflected in our works. I love writing about the characters I don’t understand, simply because getting into their heads and imagining them as others have created them gives me practice empathizing with the subjects of my poems. If I already love the character, why shouldn’t I create more reasons to love them? I think that fanfiction poetry is all about spreading that love, and sharing the complexity you see in a character.
Diego, I love Twin Peaks!! This poem is so interesting, even if you don’t know the character of Dale Cooper. I especially like the repetition at the end. I’ve never written poetry based on a TV show, but I’d like to try it after reading this. Have you ever seen the British TV show Utopia? The aesthetic alone is enough to inspire me, I think I will write my poem after watching it.