Found Poetry – Fun for Everyone

I want to share this notion with you because it only take a few minutes and it creates amazing results.

O.K. so what is ‘found poetry’? A friend who loves words, writing and reading brought this to my attention. As I understand it, you need a book of your choosing, paper and a pen or pencil. Now comes the fun: open the book to any page and touch a sentence at random. Write it down. Now repeat this action two more times. You will end up with a strangely clever poem. Consider taking more lines from various sections of one book if you want a longer poem.

Here are my examples (taken from various novels over a couple of years). I went to 2/3 through the book, back to the front and then to near the end for my sentences. I tend to add my own punctuation, quotations, etc. but I don’t alter the sentences or the order of the sentences in any other way. (For this samples, I didn’t add any punctuation.)

Writers who thrill you

recently bought a place in Rome

Now producer’s are coming to visit

Several empty wine bottles stand

permanent in his cave-shaped shop

watching one more day pass in history

She knew exactly how she wanted it to look.

Having the reception incorporate the colors and flowers from both weddings

“There you go. Not so perfect after all.”

I’ll file this first thing in the morning.

Have fun! Send me any found poetry you wish and I’ll share it with others who read the blog.