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
