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Posts Tagged ‘found poem’

Essential Ingredients

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged , , on September 6, 2013| 8 Comments »

Poet Jane Hirshfield

Poet Jane Hirshfield


Jane Hirshfield is one of my favorite poets. Such a gentle soul! I attended a reading years ago at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, a blessing to be in her presence. I don’t remember what she read but how she read. Her voice was like the soft rocking of a grandmother. I wanted to stay in her voice and live there.

I spend too much time on Facebook, but it’s not what you may think. I skim over the pictures of my friends’ families and dinners and children and click on links from my professional learning communities. The other day The Academy of American Poets posted a link to this Jane Hirshfield article, 5 Poetic Essentials for the Home Cook.

I spent some time with her article to absorb the essence of it. Here I have created a found poem.

Simple obedience isn’t possible.
Right now you are making something
of this very moment. Imagination
rises like wild yeasts. Why not invite it?
What else is needed? Lemon zest of curiosity, yes!
Taste the boldness. Experiment because failure is inevitable.
Classic companions-oil and water-make good company.
We sustain one another. The pause here is essential.
However brief or silent, it changes the day
seasoning with powerful gratitude.

–Found by Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Laura Shovan at Author Amok

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Laura Shovan at Author Amok

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Mr. Al

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged , on January 10, 2013| 5 Comments »

Renee is hosting Poetry Friday today.

Renee is hosting Poetry Friday today.

A found poem is a form of poetry using existing text and fashioning it into a poem. My students enjoy this kind of poetry because it seems easy; Just find some golden lines, put them together, and voilà, a poem!
“Poems hide in things you and others say and write. They lie buried in places where language isn’t so self-conscious as ‘real poetry’ often is. [Writing found poems] is about keeping your ears and eyes alert to the possibilities in ordinary language” (Dunning and Stafford, Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Exercises.) For a complete lesson on Found Poetry, go to Read, Write, Think.

Watercolor painting of Mr. Al by Jerome Weber

Watercolor painting of Mr. Al by Jerome Weber

In May of 2011, an old oak tree was saved by a group of community members. At the time, I involved my students in writing letters to save the tree. It was moved with much effort and at a high cost. I pass this tree every day as I drive to school. A friend of mine is the arborist hired to care for Mr. Al. On Tuesday, the newspaper had an update on Mr. Al’s health. The title of the article was “Looking a Little Thin but OK, Mr. Al weathering it all.”

Weather forecasters predict severe storms.
One resident is not concerned.
Mr. Al, 120 years old,
is setting down roots
in his new home.

Weighing 800,000 pounds,
such a move can put significant
strain on his magnitude,
a pretty mean way to treat an old tree.

The stately oak looks thin
but this is normal for his type.
He’s catching up.

Come and sit by my roots,
invites Mr. Al,
and think the things that
an old guy thinks.
–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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A Gray and Green Day

Posted in Poetry, tagged , , on May 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A friend, mentor, fellow blogger, Diane Moore resides half the year in Sewanee, Tennessee.  I don’t think she has quite embraced the gray landscape of Gothic architecture and mountain mists.  Today, her blog came to me while I was looking out on our warm green landscape and feeling tired.  I loved her words and composed a found grossblank.  Found because these are her words.  Grossblank because there are 12 lines of 12 syllables.  Here’s to the contrasts of colors in our lives:

A Gray and Green Day

For Diane Moore

This neutral color of gray pervades The Mountain
This morning.  Gentle rain, iron-colored sky mists.
Pearl, charcoal, silver, gunmetal replace old gray–
Pessimistic hue no more uplifting than fog.
Color dignified by Gothic architecture.

To be creative, stare at green life, lighten up.
Walk in the woods; Alleviate anxiety.
Sacred shades of green and blue signify a new
Paradise of painted oceans, spirits lifted.

Poetry in emerald peace, trees leafing out.
Grass drinking dew, mint fragrant in spring memory.
Even the sky is the color of my opera.

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