Here’s another found poem, a poem of erasure I suppose, from Stephen Burt’s The Poem is You. The full text may be found in his commentary on p. 171.
Tag Archives: erasure poetry
Day 19, LexPoMo 2020
Posted in Poetry
Tagged erasure poetry, found poetry, Lexington Poetry Month, LexPoMo, Stephen Burt, The Poem is You
Day 15, LexPoMo 2018
The meds are helping, but I think I need more naps and Dr. Who.
What we hold
In all probability, the assumption
of parents does not appear
to be mentioned.
There are, however, a series of facts
about the name on the lips
of an anonymous crowd.
There is no Joseph
until a decade later, drawn from
the reference to a suggestion.
This same theme believes
the genealogy, traces the line
of the most desperate moments.
We turn in search of ancestral
mothers, women known
for their stories.
This erasure poem uses text from chapter 14 of Unbelievable, by John Shelby Spong.
(Reposted from the Lexington Poetry Month web site: https://lexpomo.com/poem/what-we-hold/)
Posted in Poetry
Tagged erasure poetry, John Shelby Spong, Lexington Poetry Month, LexPoMo, Unbelievable
Day 14, LexPoMo 2018
I’ve not been posting nearly as much as I’ve been writing, and not writing nearly as much as I would like. Bronchitis and its attendant medications sometimes have that effect. Today I did nothing but nap, poetry, and Dr. Who, so I’m sure I’ve advanced my recovery exponentially.
Acceptance
I don’t know what moves
a poem, makes language in space
unfathomed–simple, open, powerful–
toward which I gravitate
common concern manifests
whatever feels honest and specific
to the thousands that receive
more than we publish
occasions resonate in particular
when the story seems surprised
it can love itself–
whatever that may be
This is an erasure poem derived from an interview at Frontier Poetry with Hannah Aizenman, poetry coordinator for The New Yorker. I recommend reading the entire interview, which may be found here:
https://www.frontierpoetry.com/2018/06/05/editors-talk-poetry-acceptances-hannah-aizenman/
(Reposted from the Lexington Poetry Month web site: https://lexpomo.com/poem/acceptance/)
Posted in Poetry
Tagged erasure poetry, Frontier Poetry, Hannah Aizenman, Lexington Poetry Month, LexPoMo, poetry exercises, The New Yorker
The 18th of NaPoMo 2018
This year I decided to take a more holistic approach to NaPoMo, because writing is only part of my work as a poet. On the days I haven’t drafted new poems, I’ve been revising existing poems, looking for places to send them, and READING lots and lots of amazing poetry from around the world.
Here are a couple I drafted from phrases in a post at the Natural Dreamwork blog. They are a hybrid of found poetry and erasure poetry.
Natural healing process
skin your knee, the body mobilizes
the wound closes, the bleeding stops, a scab forms
leukocytes engage and destroy
fibroblasts build new skin
eventually the scar may fade
***
Failed dream
it’s against the law to remove antlers
from a national park
the wounded elk might be easy to miss
buried in a narrative
dreams are not narratives
they are a movement of feelings
the experience of space, time, and feeling
aren’t really separable
an image appears and beckons
wants to be my mirror
that bloody wound is my medicine
to face it becomes a healing
story-making spins away
distances, fails to notice the image
making it about anything
but feelings
the medicine isn’t always delivered
Source material: http://thenaturaldream.com/dreams-are-not-narratives-they-are-a-movement-of-feelings/
The Daily Compost 