Greater

IMPOMPTU #5
with the Found Poetry Review for National Poetry Month

The Prompt
Ok, here’s the prompt: pick a song that you find dynamic. Track its moves. Try to replicate that movement with a poem.

The Process
Sarah's awesome prompt is... well, very involved. I am taking a baby step towards the goal, by taking a song's lyrics and replacing them. I asked my husband to pick a song. He chose "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" by Weezer.... I am translated part of the song.

The Poem

Greater
I fit to keep it neat like I just won't dance
But soon you'll be stitching in a signature

We're like a team with a magical dream
I howl like a wolf when You fill the moon

You get the moon and I get the ground
We've had the plot to take on the world

We've taken this all the way
and Curse on them for trying to take us down

Letter from the Illuminati

IMPROMPTU #2
with the Found Poetry Review for National Poetry Month
The Prompt
This prompt is modeled after that project. You can start with any piece of junk mail or advertising, or any legal document or bureaucratic form (it’s tax time!). Choose a few sentences. Remove the nouns. Replace them with:

• words from a poem you’ve abandoned
• words from one or more poems you love (by anyone, yourself included)
• any other source that works

From there, work what you’ve got into a poem.


Note
My husband and I just renewed a particular policy. Can you guess what kind of policy from the poem? ....

LETTER FROM THE ILLUMINATI

With respect to the Majority,

You may claim that abandonment benefits loss.
You may call your local House.
But you have Selected.

So now you have Reflected?
You cause Volcanic Eruptions to Damage us?

To expect your best is your business.
Only your obligation is our priority.

And you will Pay your Share
when we pay for the glass roof and hidden rot.

This was made clear upon signing. You have already
Paid in Full.

Your obligation and Your risk, these are our Delight.

We know You will renew your policy.

Thank you.
The Trampoline Dog of Law

Oulipost Warmup

As part of national poetry month, I have been gently coerced into a 30-day writing challenge wherein I'll be provided daily poetry prompts via The Found Poetry Review's Oulipost Project. 

To start the project, I've been asked to answer five questions...

1. What Excites You About Oulipost?
I have not written from prompts for a while and I look forward to the potential these prompts will unlock for me.  I am always looking for inspiration and new ideas to help stretch my poetry muscles.

2. What, If Anything, About Oulipost Scares You?
At first I was nervous about selecting a newspaper source because I do not usually read a daily paper.  Having done a little looking around, I have found a locally sourced news website that I like well enough.
Now I am only nervous about keeping up with the routine of writing a daily poem.  I hope to keep up with everyone else's work too if at all possible.

3. Have You Written Experimental or Found Poetry Before? If So, Tell Us About It.
Yes.  I can think of a few examples where I dabbled in experimental/found poetry, let me show you some...
Apples-to-Apples Poems - I had a few lovely friends over for tea and a game of Apples-to-Apples.  Once the game was over, I used the words each player had acquired to compose a series of couplets.  The bold words are the words that appeared on the cards.
Poems Inspired by Pictures or the The Ekphrasis Project - simply writing a poem inspired by an image.  I am not sure if this counts as experimental or found.
Give a Title, Get a Poem - I do this quite regularly where I ask friends on facebook to suggest a title for a poem, then I write a poem with that title for that person.  It's a fun way to engage others in my writing.
Facebook Status Stolen Poem - This was particularly fun.  For a few days, I went on facebook and stole status updates from friends and turned them into poems without them knowing.  This project got a lot of cool feedback.
the Love Poem Project - I haven't finished this particular project yet (and I started it over two years ago), but I have been "translating" English language poems into English for a while now.  It is my favorite method of transforming poetry into something new.  In fact, a poetry friend and I translated a George Oppen poem over and over again to create a chap book called Origami Shipwreck.

4.  What Newspaper Will Serve As Your Source Text?
CapeCodToday.com and New Scientist when appropriate.

5. Who Is Your Spirit Oulipian?
Raymond Queneau, if only because he is the one I know.  I am beginning to read more about him (and by him).  I look forward to introducing him into my work both as a role model and as a character.