The Art of Found Poetry

One of the joys of being president of the Tucson Poetry Society is the continuous learning journey about different types of poems from our knowledgeable members. While my background is not in poetry, I have always been inspired by the passion and knowledge of our TPS members, many of whom hold actual college degrees in poetry. My journey with poetry started as a mere dabbling, but it has now evolved into a more structured form, as I incorporate rhyming in my science-based illustrated books.

One fun yet challenging poetic form is the “Found Poem.” A Found Poem is derived from other written works: other poems, titles, letters, signs, etc. A “pure” found poem is made up exclusively of others’ texts, i.e. the words are presented precisely as they were found, with few additions or omissions.

During a recent visit to the University of Arizona Poetry Center, I was encouraged to try writing a poem from the titles of the books on their shelves. The Poetry Center has almost 60,000 books on contemporary poetry. I hadn’t visited there before, so this visit was a fantastic experience. Check them out at https://poetry.arizona.edu/mission-values. Not only do they have books related to poetry, but they have all readings recorded and available. Poets reading their own works is special. They have them indexed by individual poems!

My First Attempt at Found Poetry

I usually write rhyming stanzas with a scientific theme, so writing a found poem was not usual for me. It was out of my ‘comfort’ zone. However, I was willing to join in when I saw some of the titles. The first title was A Necklace of Bees. I was off and writing.

Collecting The Work of the Sun 

The air is filled with Ecstatic Sound

A Necklace of Bees

Called to the Dandelions by Scented Rushes

Pollinating, becoming The Winged Seeds

With the gathered nectar, she’s a Sweet Machine

She’ll be Back in No time

To feed the results of the Mating Season

On her final flight, filled with Catastrophic Bliss,

Her wings stop, she dies

Falling to Earth.

The Work of the Sun by Charles Edward Eaton

Ecstatic Sound by John Hughes

A Necklace of Bees by Dannye Romine. Powell 

Dandelions by Dave Etter

Scented Rushes by Nada Gordon

The Winged Seed by Li-Young Lee

Sweet Machine by Mark. Doty 

Back in No Time by Brion Gysin Jason Weiss

Mating Season by Kate. Gale

Catastrophic Bliss by Myronn. Hardy

Falling to Earth by Tom Hansen

Yes, this is a rough first draft, but I like its scientific tone. I bet I could have done much better in more than a few minutes. I wrote while I waited my turn to visit the special collection with the interesting broadsides. 

You can write a found poem with any written sources, it doesn’t have to be titles. Try writing using only the copied lines. I had to insert extra words to tie my lines together.

At first, I was worried that found poems might be too close to plagiarism, but as long as the poet acknowledges the author and source of the line used and doesn’t claim it as their own, you’re good.

There were other interesting titles that I’d like to work into a found poem: The Zebra Stood in the Night (Kerry Hardie), Dear Ghosts (Tess. Gallagher ), Walking on Bones (Richard Gwyn), End of the Alphabet (Claudia Rankine) and The Saddest Thing is That I Have Had to Use Words (Madeline Gins. Lucy Ives). The mystery writer in me can see many possibilities for using these titles. They are great writing prompts.

I am delighted to have found found poems. I encourage all of you to explore this unique form of poetry. You can find them, too!

As you explore the world of found poetry, don’t forget to check out my rhyming science-based illustrated books! Dive into the pages and discover how poetry can inspire curiosity in young minds.