Spirited Away

Found Poetry

This poem was found in the beginning of the script from the movie spirited away. I’ve been trying to think of new an interesting texts to use for my erasure materials and though a movie script could be fun. Because it’s all dialogue I found it quite hard to make it work. It’s a little interpretive but I think it came together ok.

Lost

we meet again
almost out
we go
the only place we
look
it looks old
flowers are dying
its because
you’ve been holding them
the whole time
just put them in water
they should be fine
the first boquet
i’ve ever gotten
its too bad
they were your last
just one fell
just sit still
a wrong turn
its over there
one road
our house
we always get lost
just a little longer
rocks like houses
honey
stop fooling around

Apollo

Found Poetry

This poem was found in the pages of a Greek mythology textbook I have from a past class. I thought it would be interesting to take a passage from “The Nature of Apollo” and try to form something from the text. I’m a big fan of mythology of all kinds and hope you enjoy this little poem.

Apollo

facets are complex
nature sums
up contradictions
in tragic existence
gentle and vehement
compassionate and ruthless
guilty and guiltless

extremes of emotion
can one ever forget
the dangers of excess
sea of blood and guilt
bring enlightenment
atonement
and purification

Syllabus

Found Poetry

This found poem was one I formed a while ago but was unsure about. I used my class syllabus to try and find some sort of narrative in the words. At first it came out really clunky but I think it sort of works now, let me know what you think!

On tuesdays we’ll begin
expect to take
the first move

I’m counting so
please
make them
work

the pattern
I sharpen

shed light
its messy
falls flat makes
everyone feel awkward
and causes
discomfort

being asked to be
your own teacher
is not easy
or comfortable

Halves

Found Poetry

This poem is derived from a Facebook conversation I found. It’s actually a pretty heated conversation about whether or not telling children half siblings are half siblings is good for them or not. Man do people get heated on Facebook. Hope you enjoy.

have half
decide
and some time
when we
have our second
maybe
they are
mere words
and their hurt
will not think

call them half
is there any harm
in half?
they grow
and handle
no need for truth
because there is
nothing wrong with
only half

The Sun is Also a Star

Found Poetry

I have been reading a ton this quarter and many of the books are romantically charged giving me a lot of sensual images and material to work with. Heres a little poem I pulled out of a page in the most recent book I read.

Soft Spots

Show soft spots
Let this moment grab and
Pull
Full lengths of bodies
Touching
So close
Feel the heat from blush
The breath
Of space between
Eyes say yes
Lips sink
Can’t get enough
Tongues tangle and
Tangle again
Chemicals
Will not fade away
“Come back,” I say

Time to Panic

Found Poetry

For this poem, I took a New York Times article about climate change and used erasure to dramatize the content of the article. Since the article was about igniting panic to make change, I wanted to paint a picture of what it might look like if change never came.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest Fire
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/16/opinion/sunday/fear-panic-climate-change-warming.html

panic
is here
a heat wave killing
more than a million
acres to ash
trying to escape the flames

3.6 degrees he said

panic might
seem counterproductive
but
change is a crisis
it is right to be alarmed

temperatures catastrophic
ice-free summers in the arctic
climate refugees fleeing
to stay safe

People pay
because the game is over
fear can mobilize,
even change the world

bad news
each day
seeming to bring a new
trauma already unfolding

the threat is all encompassing
imagine
a world on fire
a threat the size of life itself

we can’t see anything
collapsing
everything
this is only a beginning

Firsts

Found Poetry

Skiing is a passion of mine so I have tons of ski magazines lying around my house. Picking one up I flipped to an interview with a skier and decided to see how a poem might form out of the writing. The poem didn’t end up having much to do with skiing but I think I like it better that way. The interview from the magazine was about firsts and I wanted to keep the idea of firsts throughout the poem.

Firsts

First
re-discover the feeling
attempt to fall
back in
and land
perfectly

First
remember the want
and agree to be
intimidated

First
confuse life
catch the air
think steep
damage and bruise

First
mistake not listening
when it told you to
die right then and there

First
win
and push comfort like
underwater breath
act and defuse

at the end
make it to the other side

Kardashian Tweets

Found Poetry

For this little poem I decided to use six of Khloe Kardashians most recent tweets to do some erasure. The tweets don’t necessarily go together so I thought it would be fun to try and form something cohesive out of the bunch.

move on
my life
harder and more painful
this sick rollercoaster of
shock
is equally to blame
regardless of addressing
what conspired
I address him
to try and save
my love
you know
I’ve been kind
Ill be back when I
remember

Breakfast

Found Poetry

I attempted to create a poem solely off a breakfast menu. It sounded rather simple initially but after a few failed attempts I realized it is much harder than I thought. Taking words and phrases from the old town cafe menu, here’s what I came up with.

Outside window of Old Town Cafe, Bellingham

Two eggs served
tar grilled
just two
rain and real maple syrup
small
medium
eggs
you
each separate
same old town
served with your favorites
two eggs

Drunk Girl Angst

Found Poetry

This poem was found through drunk girls words on the bathroom stalls at a little dive called State Street Bar. I figured it might be interesting to try something unconventional and see if anything good came of it. I took quotes from the stall walls and rearranged words to try and find a narrative. I’m not sure it really works but it was worth a try.

View from the toilet
View from the toilet

Quote the douche

Let shit eat

you for breakfast

I feel like

the most intimate

Cliche

Sorry I can’t talk…

Fuck politeness

I’m disappointed when

I think

about you

I touch myself

Fuck you

Stay out of my eyes

The truth shines

Follow him through

The forest