Happy Poetry Friday!
For the past few summers I’ve been participating (more or less) in Kate Messner’s Teachers Write online summer writing camp. This summer the focus is poetry and play, so of course I was all in. On Monday, Kate talked about found poems and challenged us to try it out. The fun part is always finding good source material.
I’m currently reading World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Although Aimee is an extraordinary poet, this is a book of prose celebrating the wonders of nature and the lessons we can learn from them. In “Vampire Squid” Aimee talks about the ability of this creature to escape predators by seemingly disappearing, wishing she had that skill as the new girl in high school. As I read, I jotted down phrases, then rearranged and revised.
The New Girl: A Found Poem
like the vampire squid
with arm tips glowing and waving
who pulse-swims in darkness
then strikes a pineapple posture
arms overhead,
an appearance of fangs—
I wish to disappear.
Draft, 2023Rose Cappelli
I also returned to A Blessing of Toads: A Guide to Living with Nature by Sharon Lovejoy. I wrote about Sharon’s beautiful essays here, and from time to time I continue to read and reread from this book. Yesterday I read about an injured hermit thrush Sharon found. I concentrated on the part where she finds the bird and how she cares for it. I took some liberties with verb tenses and word forms, preserving as much of the original phrasing as possible.
A Thrush in My Picnic Basket: A Found Poem
Found: injured hermit thrush
beneath berry-laden bushes
one eye missing
a lidded picnic basket
becomes a temporary home:
holly for a perch
water
a crushed mush of berries
when I check
she tilts her head
gazes
preparing
to sing down the sun
Draft, 2023Rose Cappelli
Thanks Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Sharon Lovejoy for crafting such beautiful words and for the opportunity to refashion them into found poems.
Linda has the roundup today at A Word Edgewise where she takes us on a journey of words and art with a cluster of poems written around “Enough.” Be sure to stop by!
Imagine the Possibilities 
Rose, aren’t found poems fun to play with? I did the exercise, too. I love both poems for their imagery. I am especially drawn to the little bird, rescued, who then “sings down the sun.” Thanks for sharing.
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I love the notion of finding gems, too. Thanks, Rose!
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So creative, Rose. I found “sing down the sun” both a strong act of the bird’s will and a perhaps sad foreshadowing of what is to come for the bird. : (
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Found poems are delightful! I like both of these and especially like how you incorporated the word “Found” in the first line of the poem about the injured hermit thrush.
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Aimee and Sharon are both such excellent writers of the natural world. I love what you did with their words!
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A found poem with the word “Found” in it – clever!
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Oh, your injured thrush poem squeezed my heart!
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You chose wonderful sources for finding poems, Rose. I love a hidden thrush in a picnic basket, surviving to sing down the sun!
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Rose, “preparing/to sing down the sun” is a beautiful line. You found it and I think it is amazing for the ending of your poem. I do love finding poems amidst prose.
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These are so beautiful, Rose! And were your ears burning on Wednesday when I was recommending your mentor text books to Texas educators?
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Oh thank you, Laura!
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Oh Rose, you have worked magic with your found words. In A New Girl, you hooked me with the first line “like the vampire squid.” As I continued to read, I could see a girl looking in the mirror seeing herself with your details. And that last line, “I wish to disappear” is so powerful. Great voice! I can see myself reading your poem as a first, second, or third poem in a verse novel and thinking, yes, I want to finish reading this book!
In your second poem, in your first stanza I love your technique of starting the first line with the word “Found” as if the poem is in a newspaper under the Found section, which immediately hooked me. The second line is a beautiful detail and the third line “one eye missing” is like the surprise at the end of a haiku. In your second stanza, I love your technique of showing the beautiful details that hands are tenderly building “a temporary home.” In your third stanza, each line is a beautiful new image. You have me on the edge of my seat wondering if the thrush is going to be okay or not. And that last line “to sing the sundown” is a powerful ending to a poignant poem. Wow.
I am so glad I read your blog; your poems moved me and inspired me. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you Gail. Found poems are tricky sometimes. I often take the liberty of rearranging the order, changing tenses, or adding a word here or there. That is probably breaking the rules, but it makes me feel more like a co-author with the writer of the original work.
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You’re welcome. I think your method is a great idea. I have only written one found poem a long time ago in a local workshop, but the instructor was too much about the rules and I didn’t like his book choices that we had to write from. Maybe I’ll try again from a source I like and use your above method. Thank you for sharing. How is your summer going? It’s been way too hot, humid, sometimes smokey from Cananadian fires, and so much rain causing too many weeds in my flower gardens. I haven’t been walking a lot because I don’t do well in the hot, humid weather, or with the smoke. Otherwise doing well.
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I love the ending in your first poem, so dramatic–both of these poems have wonder-filled imagery, thanks for them and sharing the books!
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