Found Poetry
Find a bit of language–overheard conversation, labels on an object, street signs, etc–and use it in a poem. Break the words apart from their usual sense. Surprise yourself with what’s contained in them. For example, in the Effie Kokrine class while we were listing phrases from a freewriting exercise on the board, one student said, “Energy drinks rock,” and I heard it as noun-verb-noun instead of adjective-noun-verb, so that in my mind, the energy was drinking the rock. A good start for a poem.
What do you find? What do you hear? What else does it bring to mind?
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Here’s a response from Glow:
ruby crescent fingerlings
fat small doggie paws
swamp mama’s greatest
persimmon fur pie
the verse repeats
the new celtic fiddle restrings
the cats peek out from under
blood gushes, snow flitters
I play at night before bed
dream characters sing all night
I wake up with music
skimming through my head
Mattie's Pillow 