Found poetry

Tonight in Creative Writing, we learned about "found poetry," a term that Mr. Power actually taught to us in Grade 12, but my prof today talked about it as well... Except he called it something different. I forget though.

Anyway, we all got a random page (page 155 if you must know) from a book called Caucasia -- I haven't read it -- and were told to make a found poem. Here is what I created:

Oblivious,
a dark silhouette.

Imagine us, our home:
true comfort.

My chin
permanently in this place,
staying still.

Waking up lucid
in that place of timelessness.

A painting faraway
beckoning me.

Yes, punctuation, capitalization, and spacing were added. Here's how to make your own found poetry!

Justine's Super Awesome Guide To Super Awesome Fun Found Poetry

Step One: Take a page out of a book, a page from a newspaper article, etc. Any piece of literature will work. Please photocopy the page if it is not your own copy of the work and/or if you plan to read it ever again.

Step Two: Grab a black marker or a pen or any sort of writing utensil. Even a highlighter will work. Go through and blackout all the words you don't want to use in your poem (or highlight the words you've chosen to use). You probably want to pick out single words or short phrases, and try to space them out a bit so you aren't simply retelling the story you have in front of you.

Step Three: Take those words you've chosen and keeping them in order (this is key), create a wonderful masterpiece of a poem!

Here's an example using a chunk of an essay I wrote last term on Hinduism and rebirth. [The white words are those I've selected to use in my poem]:

Members of all religions have different outlooks on both life and death. There are those that believe in a finite lifetime, that the only time you have is that spent on earth. There are others that believe in an afterlife of heavens and hells where the evil are punished and the good reap rewards. Others believe we are reincarnated at the time of death. In fact, most Eastern religions foster a theory of rebirth. One of the most elaborate doctrines of rebirth can be found in Hinduism.

In order to fully understand the Hindu cycle of life and death, there are several terms with which we must familiarize ourselves. In our exploration we will discuss the concepts of brahman and atman, the cycle of samsara, the law of karma, and the attainment of moksa.

The first thing that we must understand is that, unlike most Western cultures, the Hindu population does not believe in one God who created the universe. Instead, Hindus believe in a concept called brahman. Brahman is not a god, but a reality. More specifically, it is the “unchanging, infinite” reality and the foundation of life (“Brahman”). Brahman is often referred to as the “ultimate reality,” the one truth of the universe (Rice 71).

This was a bad essay to choose, as you can see, but our "found poem" would go something like this:

All the time spent on earth,
Rewards at the time of death,
Elaborate cycle.
Several cultures believe in God.
Who created the universe?
A concept called reality,
the foundation of life,
the one truth.

See! It's easy! And fun! [Okay, so that wasn't the most beautiful poem ever, but you see the point.]

So go find a book that you hate or have no intention of reading and get your money's worth. Make reading fun with found poetry!

Oh God, I need a life.