C E N T O R A M A is devoted to the cento, a poem made up of lines from other poems. The centos at C E N T O R A M A are usually composed of lines from published poems (sometimes we slightly modify punctuation and capitalization). Sources are listed for each line of every cento.
Our citation practice falls under US copyright law’s doctrine of fair use, but we will, as a courtesy, defer to the wishes of poets who do not want their poems playfully adapted for (re)presentation at C E N T O R A M A.
We hope that readers will look for more work by the poets whose lines are sampled here, and we encourage readers to support contemporary poets by purchasing their books.