Found poetry

In a follow up on a previous post on this blog, I would like to introduce and develop the idea of 'found poetry'.  If you're really strapped for inspiration to write a poem, and your muse seems to have deserted you... try found poetry. 

Yes... found poetry. As the name implies, you need to look for it. It can be hidden anywhere, and it's in plain sight. It's a little like cut-up poetry. Take any text you can find .... it can be an old newspaper or magazine article, or text from a book, or even a restaurant menu. Just about any printed text will do. 

Next, sit down with a highlighter pen, and begin to seek lines, sentences, words and phrases that will constitute your found poem. You can do this with the highlighter, as I have in the photo above... or if you prefer, use a dark marker pen to blot out words you don't want to use. 

In the image above, I used a page from an old university alumni magazine. The resulting poem, I think, is quite pleasing... it has rhythm and rhyme, and it actually makes sense in a quirky kind of way. 

I have written at least half a dozen (no... make that six) poems in this fashion. It doesn't take long once you've mastered the skill of spotting lines and phrases that can fit together. It may not work for you first time, but do persevere and let's see what you can come up with!

I welcome comments as ever, in the comment section below.

Steve Wheeler

Beating writer's block

Writer's block... you know it. That helpless feeling that you want to write, you know you need to write... but the words just don't come. Or you write words, and they either make no sense to you, or they are fit for nothing more than the trash can. All writer's suffer from it at some point in their lives. Some have regular bouts of it. 

Wikipedia (that super intelligent font of all knowledge) helpfully states that writer's block is a non-medical condition. I had a snigger at that. That means, without too much extrapolation, that writer's block is psychological in nature. Now... if only there was a psychologist to hand to explain this.... oh, wait... there is. 

When you experience writer's block and you feel as though your muse has deserted you... create some inspiration for yourself. Here are seven useful ideas to get your flooded engine kick-started again:

1. Pick up any everyday object.... an old tea cup, a pair of muddy boots, a set of car keys... your dog or cat.... and write something about them. Doesn't need to be anything flowery or profound. Just write. 

2. Listen to some music. Any music will do. Close your eyes. Listen. Write about the first thing that comes into your mind.

3. Sit in silence. Close your eyes and listen to the noises around you. Some will be distance noises like the wind, traffic on the roads, children playing in the street.... write about that.

4. Grab any old image, or photograph... and write a poem about what that image evokes in you.

5. Turn on the TV or radio news. Yeah, I know it's depressing. But the very next new item that is presented becomes the basis of your next poem.

6. What was the last conversation you had? Can you remember? Write about what was said (or not said).

7. Let your imagination run wild. Think of two characters from history, or from a novel or from the world of pop music or the movies. Pair up the most ridiculous two you can possible imagine. Micky Mouse and Barack Obama... go on holiday together... there's a poem right there. (NB: I would have used Micky Mouse and Donald Trump, but there isn't a ridiculous angle there). 

I'm sure you can come up with plenty of other ideas to break open that writer's block. So come on... share your ideas in the comments box below. I would love to hear your ideas and suggestions!

Steve Wheeler

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Passion for Poetry

Why did I start to write poetry? What was the catalyst? It all began when I was around 18 or 19 years old. I was working at a local college, in the technical department that supported academics and students in their teaching and learning. I was seconded to the library, where one of the tasks was to take valuable paperback textbooks and prolong their lives by removing the flimsy covers, and dismantling them, before pasting them onto card and then reconstructing them with a laminate cover. Thus I learnt how to book-bind. 

While working in the library over those months, I happened by chance to walk past the literature section, and there... in the middle shelves, I found the works of Dylan Thomas. I admit, at first, it was heavy going, but after a while of reading the Welsh bard, I became seriously hooked on poetry. The library was throwing out a pile of old poetry books that had seen better days. I managed to grab a dozen or so, and took them home to read - I still have them in my collection today. One particular Penguin edition contained the work of Charles Bukowski, Harold Norse and Philip Lamantia - three American poets that inspired me further. 

Soon afterwards, I was writing my own experimental forms of poetry, and eventually, I began to perform my work at festivals, open mics and so on. It's important to acknowledge your roots and inspiration. For me the encounter with these four poets led me down the road to a lifelong love of poetry, both reading and writing. 

What was your inspiration? What has fuelled your passion for poetry? Why are you writing poetry right now? Answers in the comments box below please!