It’s been a while since I went hunting for a found poem. Here is one using single lines or phrases found on the WordPress Blog roll under the topic of poetry between noon and 1:00 Pacific today, August 18, 2013. Each line of the poem comes from a different poem. If you find a line from your work, please link to it in the comments!
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Lessons in bird song
like it was our world.
Art of revelation-
something more than me-
more temperamental-
heart of a warm sky,
My soul is
a glorious riot of frogs-
threads of raindrops-
transitory life.
Fear and pain
tied artificial limbs together.
Your words float
my infinity,
a drawn sword.
Twilight comes
shadows litter roadways
waiting to be discovered.
You lay here wanting
the new heaven
like a sinner sees God.
I danced a lone waltz
The women break
philosophical dreams
amid the forest wild.
Hope was an ever-blossoming flower
where dreams are made.
I caress your face
tear my soaring wings.
Everything in my head went quiet
a flute for the wind’s mouth.
She is the music
holding hands with my future nostalgia.
Let’s not be the ones who sleep with no dreams.
Beauty sits in itself,
one word for freedom,
the child that I used to be-
an archipelago of memories.
Pain needs no name,
exploring all its mysteries.
The sun touched your face,
passion
exuding her scent
never to grow old,
petals falling from a rose.
This thought ought to be true
like tree roots’
perennial embrace.
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What I like about found poetry is the juxtaposition that comes. The pronouns change, and while some fit seamlessly, others jar you, and you have to consider why it works (or doesn’t, as you perceive it!). Sometimes a line catches you and holds you, and you have to ponder. The meaning weaves from stolen images, like Frankenstein’s monster.
Shawn L. Bird 