Found Poetry Back to Haunt You

This past Saturday my (friend and) colleague Chris Thompson and I presented a workshop at the CUWP mini-conference at BYU.  And I believe that I speak for the entire (small) contingency who attended that it was time well spent, even though it was on a Saturday morning.  I'm just going to graciously omit the details regarding the fact that we had to share the building with a BSA merit badge pow-wow.  Boy, did it reek of eleven-year-olds!

In our session, we discussed how found poetry functions as a means to helping students overcoming their trepidations regarding poetry or writing in general as it provides a structured (relatively) safe environment.  Found poetry allows you to manipulate others' words without having to pull them out of the air on your own.  More about found poetry can be found in an earlier post (see 17 April 2011).

We reviewed the basics and then delved into variations on our theme.  One awesome method that Chris brought to the table centered around "black-out" poetry.  Check out this video if you don't know what I'm talking about.  It's quite challenging, especially if you are working with younger students, and you want them to be coherent.

I also talked about spine poetry, which I will explain more in depth in a day or week or fortnight or month or so.

At the end of the time slot, we allotted time for the participants to play with the different methods of found poetry.  Of course, I had to play along.  Below is my contribution to the ever-expanding world of found poetry.  It started out as a black-out, but evolved into more of a traditional found poem.  Regardless of its hybridization, here it is:

“Essential Tips for Struggling Writers (and the Utah Jazz)”

To stay out of trouble,

you must

change

at some point.

After

last year…well…

it’s a problem.

You have

to work to

improve.

For now,

witness firsthand

how some the best are

intent on improving:

Come with a sense of purpose,

display vision.

Communicate better

with slimmed-down

muscled-up

versatile play.

Make

transition and contrast

big.

Produce

what’s real for you;

show glimpses

of

who you are.

Be a little patient,

be willing

to step up,

buy in.

With this mindset,

change.

Add confidence.

Because of the way

you work,

you take your game

to a whole new level.

Fans will notice.

from “Jazz have bigger goals after bolstering weaknesses” by Lynn DeBruin. Daily Herald. 25 October 2012.