Found Poetry Collages by Mary Bast: Something Else Is Here

Friday, April 24, 2015

Something Else Is Here

I am the human female, soothing,
bending, sheltering, adaptable,
a willow weeping, hiding place
for what is shy. And I am daisies, bright
and sunny, delicate, or orange blossoms,
growing new potential. Not dainty, not
gorgeous, I am sunflower, medicinal
Indian Paintbrush, Live Oak – wide,
open-armed, grounded for protection.

I, the human female – horse or elephant
with heavy load – would be a songbird
yet toe cat-like, sleeping in the sun,
perching at the highest spot. I’m panther –
sleek, elegant, ready to pounce,
independent, watchful and aware,
on guard and in control. I’m owl –
wise, profound, swoop and feel
the whoooo within - and eagle,
strength and power holding in the wind.

I, the human female, cannot be mistaken,
simple outside, multilayered within,
I’m roast beef, succulent kohlrabi,
Yorkshire pudding or mezze Lebanese,
grilled tuna, wild mushrooms with endives,
delicious, healthy but a bit indulgent,
spicy and surprising flavors, rich tasting
on white china with blue flowers,
or a bowl of rice carried to the Buddha.

I am the human female, light bamboo
rickshaw gliding through the streets.
I’m walking, or canoe, skimming
with the flow through water soundlessly,
attached to past, a sentimental 1960s
mustang, red convertible, nostalgic,
ready to accelerate but not too fast
or too abruptly, a tall ship,
sails blowing, gathering speed.

I am jazz, a flute of willow
playing with the wind,
music teaching self, I'm
strong emotions, the unusual –
Claire de Lune and Halleluyiah,
Welcome to The Black Parade
and Life on Mars. A song with words
important as the music, I,
the female, cannot be ignored.

PoMoSco's SURVEY SAYS badge required developing a survey with 3-5 questions and creating a poem from the results. My survey questions:

Describe your favorite flower or tree and in what way you’re alike.
If you were a dinner, what ingredients and types of food would you be? How displayed?
If you were an animal, what kind would you be? Why?
If you were a mode of transportation, would you be a car, plane, bicycle, skate board, or something else? What style, color, uses would be characteristic of you?
If you were a piece of music, what would you be? What kind of listeners would be attracted to you and why?

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About Me

Former Editor at Bacopa Literary Review, I write poetry, found poetry, and memoir. When my hands aren't on computer keys they're creating art.

The Found Poetry Review's 2015 PoMoSco (Poetry Month Scouts) project especially intrigued me -- the chance to experiment with a variety of found poetry structures.

Those exercises also enhanced my under-standing of poetry and writing in general. For example, the "First in Line" badge required creating a poem from first lines in one poet's collection.

My resulting poem, "The Days Have Done With You" (from Nina Bogin's collection In the North) made me much more aware of the way a poem's first line can either set up what's going to happen or drop us right into action, much the same as the start of a good novel.

Some Forms of Found Poetry

Found poetry is created by taking words or phrases from other sources and changing spacing and lines, adding or deleting text, thus imparting new meaning. Any poetic form can be used with found poetry.

There's also the cento—made up of lines from other poems. The sources may be poems of a single poet, or many poets, or even many different languages.

Erasure poems eliminate everything from a page or pages except the words that make up the poem. The "erasure" may be accomplished by white-out, correction tape (of various colors), lightening a photo and writing the poem's words over the original text, and many other variations.

Called blackout poems when covered with black tape (often refers to newspaper articles blacked out except for the words of the poem).

Ekphrasis usually refers to poetry inspired by visual art; I've extended the term to include art inspired by poetry.

Illustrated poetry describes poems and art side by side.

Haiga traditionally incorporated an ink-brush or watercolor painting, a haiku poem, and calligraphy. Modern poets stretch these boundaries, superimposing haiku on photos, for example.