April is Poetry Month 2025

Seeds From a Birch Tree. Gouache on black paper.

Inspired by the haiku how-to book of the same name by Clark Strand.

April is once again Poetry Month (yay, April!) and this year I'm prepared with not only a new notebook, but a list of prompts culled from my standard go-to: cutting words from old magazines and pasting them in my notebook.

I wanted to share my list with you so here we go: 30 prompts, 30 days, let the fun begin!

1. Singular vision
2. We never disagree
3. She knew her history
4. She made me think of things I hadn't thought of
5. Too many old houses
6. A mix of items
   
7. Other fascinating personalities
8. I have my daughter
9. I was looking for a . . . 
10. I don't know what . . .
11. Wisdom old and new
12. Stop and stair (sic)
13. Root and branch
14. The future of cool
15. Into a white box
16. Dares to be different
    
17. The bedroom walls
18. Seeing stars
19. Aesthetes of all orders
20. The unrivaled
21. Unlock
22. A sinuous house
23. The end of hospitality
24. It snowballed from there
    
25. Out of town
26. Stone scraps
27. Skin is a scent
28. Convert
29. Until I see . . .
30. Each room feels . . .
    

Prompts can be used in any way you like: as titles, themes, a line to be used just once, or repetitively as part of a ghazal or pantoum. One of my favorite techniques is to choose one prompt as a unifying overall title for a chapbook and then write each daily poem as part of a connected whole. 

Whatever your method, keep in mind that just as there are no right or wrong ways to use prompts, there's no "correct" way to write a poem either. Even the rules to create a sonnet or villanelle can be bent or outright broken if that's what's calling you. And don't just limit yourself to what you think "looks like" a poem on the page. Some of the best poetry I've ever read has been in the form of "prose poems," little paragraphs that look--and sound--like some of the best flash fiction you'll ever read. The whole point is to not worry about results but to sit down and . . . write. Wishing you a wonderfully word-filled month ahead!

Tip of the Day: Poetry prompts--or those used for any form of writing--don't always have to be text. Some of my favorite prompts have been visual, especially when I've used established, or famous works of art as starting points. Writing based on a painting or sculpture is known as ekphrasis. If you'd like to learn more, here are two posts from the past I wrote on the subject that I hope you'll find helpful in your April Poetry Journey: The Art of Letting Go and Ekphrasis, Anyone? Stay inspired!

13 Reasons to (Not) Cut Up a Magazine

Hello! Happy Spring! The last two months have found me on a blogging hiatus and for a very good reason: I was busy revamping my website, Valeriestorey.com. It was time for a change, and most of all, time to start selling my beaded bookmarks, jewelry, and artwork online. Hope to see you there!

Now that's done, however, it's back to blogging and one of my favorite topics: using magazines as a source for art and writing prompts.

I love prompts for any kind of creativity, even for game playing. Over the years I've used prompts in so many ways I can barely remember a time when I didn't use them. From Susan G. Wooldridge's Poemcrazy and her idea of creating "word pools," to simply having stacks of photo references for NaNoWriMo, magazine prompts have been my go-to method of writing forever. In my opinion, nothing matches an intriguing photo or a mysterious phrase to get a new scene or manuscript really going.

There's just one small problem: I can't find enough magazines! Always in the past free magazines seemed to be everywhere I went. I found them in local tiny libraries or for the grand price of twenty-five cents in thrift stores. Friends would happily give me several at a time, saying, "Oh, you like to cut things up. Take these--please!"

But lately my sources have dwindled. People don't subscribe like they did before, or they read online. So when I do come across a magazine full of great pictures or stories, I don't automatically grab my scissors. Instead, I'm keeping the pages intact and using every little thing they have to offer.

The upside to keeping magazine pages whole rather than shredded is I have a fresh outlook on how I use them, almost as if they were a type of multi-purpose reference book. I've discovered that I can more easily carry an individual magazine with me any time I choose to write outside or at my favorite cafe--no more dropped cut-outs scattering each time there's a breeze. Another benefit to working from a single magazine is I've discovered each issue will have a certain consistency that brings cohesion to a theme or a "look" for when I'm searching out characters or settings. For instance, take:

1. Characters. Because so many magazine issues are built around a single theme or subject, especially the month-by-month issues, it's easy to find groups of people (characters) who belong together. Whether they're all on vacation, all bankers, all celebrating Easter, or all wearing the strangest clothes ever designed in the whole of human history, page after page will feature people in related poses or situations. Regarding them as a group can create a cast of characters with a natural reason for knowing or meeting each other. Even the people and pets in the ads can fit into this united gathering.

2. Settings. Travel destinations. Art galleries. Home improvement. Magazines dedicated to single subjects will have multiple articles and ad repetitions of offices, bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, gardens, hotel rooms and restaurants providing so much detail, detail, detail you might never stop writing. When these details come from the same source, you once again have a more unified vision of where your characters interact and why.

3. Phrases. Article titles or ad-copy headlines are perfect for structuring story themes, or even adding to dialogue when they share a common purpose. For instance, art and design magazines will use a lot of technical references; literary magazines tend to be more poetic. Having a full list of phrases from a single source can be an excellent way, for instance, to title chapters or create a logical plot.

4. Found poetry. I love found or "black-out" poetry, taking shortened versions of existing phrases or lines out of context and placing them into new--often startling--arrangements. My personal preference is to use food magazines, but any magazine focusing on just one topic can provide an underlying consistency to your work, resulting in a more complete and better-crafted poem. To keep the magazine in top shape, consider photocopying the pages so that you can experiment with different ideas more than once.

5. And speaking of food . . .  Recipes! It's rare for a magazine that includes recipes to simply present a grab-bag of ideas somewhere on the back pages. Individual issues will instead usually choose one food type, such as salads, pasta, or a thousand-ways-with-eggs to complete each month's edition. "Recipe groupings" are great sources for character "show, don't tell" when you want to describe any of your characters' food preferences, dislikes, or allergies. They can eat the same thing over and over but cooked in a variety of ways, or avoid certain dishes with valid authority rather than "I don't like it."

6. Respond to a magazine's theme. Study each page and/or article as a whole and freewrite your feelings about what you read or saw. Sometimes the general color scheme alone can inspire a wealth of emotional response.

7. Add your own article or story. When you're finished reading a magazine, write something of your own to add to it. You might even want to write a piece in the voice of one of your characters to explore what truly interests them or how they feel about any given subject.

8. Get mad! Conversely, something about a magazine might bother you. You don't like the message, or how it was presented. Get snarky, be rude! Throw it at those horrible people in their dreadful glass houses with too much furniture and artwork. Let 'em have it. And make sure your characters behave even worse.

9. Get published. Why not? Magazine editors are always complaining about submissions that have nothing to do with a magazine's theme or requirements. But if you like a magazine, have studied it thoroughly, and think you have something to contribute, write a piece and submit it. Contact information and submission guidelines are usually listed in the first few pages.

10. Don't just sit there--read. With a magazine in your sketch- or writing-kit, you'll never be bored and will always have something to read wherever you go. You can't do that with a folder full of cut-outs.

11. DIY. Fashion, decorating, style--the things we're attracted to might be things we'd like to imitate or make ourselves. Creative prompts aren't exclusive to writing or painting. Ideas for knitting, pottery, or sewing can be as readily based on a magazine prompt as a story.

12. Art school. On a completely different note, magazines are fun to sketch with. I like to copy, trace, or find color palettes as exercises to fill my sketchbooks.

13. Break the rules. Draw on the pages. Add doodles, improve the view, change the colors of everyone's clothing. Use gesso to glue pages together and turn the whole thing into an altered book for more drawing or collage. (Of course you now have to go find a new magazine for new prompts, but at least you had fun!)

Tip of the Day: If you haven't already, gather a limited number of magazines that inspire you. I find six is a good number without being too cluttered. Personally I like to have a combination of art, fashion, interior design, food, and some kind of subject I wouldn't normally choose, say, a pet magazine. A good literary magazine is essential too. And don't overlook shopping catalogs. When you're ready for a new collection, simply pass your used copies on to your other writer friends and start all over again!

Spring into Spring! Try Something New

 

© Creative Commons Zero / Dreamstime.com

Happy Spring, Everyone! What are you going to do with this happy and colorful season? How about giving yourself the gift of a brand new creative start? For instance:

• Try writing in a new genre. Although I primarily consider myself a literary author with a background in writing for young readers, I've always wanted to try writing a traditional mystery for grown-ups. With that goal in mind, I've purchased a copy of Hallie Ephron's How to Write and Sell Your Mystery Novel. The book is brimming with dozens of useful exercises designed to cover all aspects of the genre, exactly what I needed to get going. Conversely, if you've written several mysteries already, you might want to try writing a historical romance, or a children's picture book. Spread your wings!
  

• Draw or paint in a new medium. (Even one you usually resist.) The key here is to not worry about results and to focus on exploration. If you've only painted with watercolor, try oil paint, charcoal, or melted crayon. Often you can surprise yourself by using untried materials in your own way, rather than "following the directions."
  

• Take a Five-day Challenge. Five-day challenges are a great way to start or finish a particular project, especially one that's caused you to stall or procrastinate. Five days may not seem like a lot, but it's astonishing how much you can accomplish if you make the effort to show up every day. So what have you been putting off? Starting your novel? Hemming a quilt? Painting a series of animal portraits? Set aside a dedicated time to work for five days straight and plan to be amazed at your progress.
  

• Buy a new journal or sketchbook and use it for a single theme. While it's easy and tempting to use your journal or sketchbook as a catch-all for every fresh idea or observation that pops into your head, it can be far more rewarding to assign one subject per book. Using one sketchbook for drawing faces and hands, and another for ink studies of trees can help eliminate the problem many artists have of wondering "what to draw or paint" every day. It's the same with writing. Having a journal solely for, say, character studies, and another for poetry means you'll be ready to write the minute you sit down at your desk.
  

• Choose a subject to research. A good friend of mine has just returned to her home in Mexico from a trip to Guatemala. I'd love to do something similar, but travel's not an option for me right now. However, that doesn't mean I can't go for a little armchair travel with the help of my laptop and local library. One of the subjects I've decided to explore based on my friend's journey is Mayan clothing. I've become captivated with the hand woven and embroidered huipiles that Frida Kahlo so famously wore. After only a few pages of research I'm already inspired to dive into some new sewing, drawing, and painting projects utilizing these wonderful designs. 
  

• Write some flash fiction. The beauty of flash fiction is its brevity. Set a timer, set a word length, choose a word prompt, and get ready to write. Although you may want to edit, revise, and polish your work at a later date, the secret to good flash fiction is to immerse yourself in the moment: write as fast as you can in as short a space as you can. Let the words take over. Approach the exercise as a game or challenge rather than a race to perfection.
  

• Try virtual school: watch a series of how-to videos and don't forget to do your homework. While my favorites are always the art classes, there is simply no limit to what you can learn online. What's important here, though, is to go beyond being a passive viewer and to put what you've learned into practice before moving on to the next video.
  

• Find a discarded manuscript or some old sketchbook pages and rework them. If you're anything like me, you have a cupboard or storage box filled with practice work: sketches and story snippets that may not be your best but certainly helped you reach the skill level you have today. Open the box and see if there's anything you can salvage and re-use. Is there a story you can completely revamp with new characters and settings? Can you draw or paint fresh pictures based on your old sketches? (Bonus tip: Is there anything you can part with and declutter while you're at it?)
  

• Write, draw, or paint with an unusual implement. Try writing or drawing with a coffee stirrer, a bamboo stick, a broken twig, a feather, your fingertips. Pencil tip erasers. Your non-dominant hand. Gold ink, tea bags, squashed flower petals. Play with a variety of supports: cardboard, newspaper, an old sheet or a piece of unwanted clothing. Let your creativity flow.
  

• Create some found poetry. Found poetry is much more than cutting out groups of eye-catching words and phrases from old books and magazines, or reassembling the entrees listed in a menu to read like a sonnet: it's what you bring to the table as a writer and artist that turns the mundane into a work of art. Rather than transcribing a handful of found words from junk mail and shopping lists onto a blank page, try gluing your finds onto an interesting background, one you've painted, or in the same way as your text, rescued from the trash.
  

• Explore nature. There's nothing like being outside to clear the mind and get the ideas rolling. Creative activities can span the range from planting a garden to starting a nature journal. Try sketching or writing outdoors more than you usually do; visit a botanic reserve or park; sew an apron for yard-work. Buy some cheap terra cotta planters and decorate them with paint or collage you varnish onto the surface. Glue on some seashells or glass tiles.
  

• Leap out of your comfort zone. Yes, leap! And don't overlook stretching, bending, walking, dancing and moving in any direction you can. One of the greatest dangers of modern creative life is the tendency to sit still for hours and hours at a time while your brain is moving at lightning speed. If you've ever stood up from a lengthy computer session and groaned from the kink in your back, you'll know exactly what I mean. Not only will moving at regular intervals help to improve and maintain your physical health, it's important for your emotional well-being, too. Writers and artists can be hard on themselves and a quick walk around the block has the power to change everything. 
  

Tip of the Day: Creative exploration should be fun--and easy. If you're a writer who's never picked up so much as a pink pastel, don't pass up an attractive paint-by-number kit or an adult coloring book. It's the same for artists; your local bookstore or library has shelves and shelves of inspiring how-to books for beginners wishing to take their first steps into poetry or memoir. Go for the basics and see what you like. It might be the start of something big!

Old Books for New Art

This week I've been tearing up books. Lots of them. Not because I have anything against books (no!), or have a particular fondness for the sound of tearing paper, but because sometimes the best thing to do with a dog-eared, multi-read, falling-apart old paperback is to turn it into, you guessed it: collage! Or, better yet, an altered book of its own.

My love of using books as the basis for collage or as backgrounds for artwork started several years ago when I tried using a second-hand volume of architectural renderings as an art journal. At the time, I was so new to the process I thought you had to gesso, paint, and alter every single page of a book to have it qualify as an "altered book." I hadn't yet learned that the established technique most book-altering artists use is to glue or gesso several pages of an old book together in such a way that you end up with about a dozen or so very stiff, very solid "boards" to work on. Instead, I water colored, drew, pasted, and wrote on every single page of my altered journal, back and front. It took months (years) to complete and I still see room on the pages for more I can do. The end result was a monstrosity so thick it has to be held together with the kind of rubber band used to bind a bundle of asparagus or broccoli crowns.

Despite the enormity of my task, or maybe because of it, I learned an enormous amount from that first effort, mainly that one of the best collage materials available were the pages of other old books. Torn or cut up, the pages yielded all sorts of treasures, from weird illustrations to bizarre snippets of text just right for the type of mood or atmosphere I was trying to evoke. And I haven't stopped.

My method for  choosing which books to tear up is most often related to the age of the book, e.g.:

• The book is at least 50 years old, but is in no way a collector's edition. This especially applies to books printed on acidic paper and that (unfortunately) are disintegrating on their own with no help from me.
• If I do use a newer book, such as a mass-market paperback from the '90s, it's amazing how even a 20-year-old book can age to the point of having a broken spine, dog-eared and brittle pages, and the entire thing has yellowed to an unattractive yuck-color. No one could possibly enjoy reading the book in its current state of decay, and that's why it's on the "please take me away" free shelf at the library or similar.
• Sometimes, just sometimes, a brand new book can also be a total disaster due to an accident of some kind: the cover is missing as are several key sections or pages, the remaining pages are beverage-stained, mud-smeared, and/or water-logged,  and the whole thing is destined for the trash.
• Mass-produced nonfiction books, regardless of age, often have amazing illustrations and photographs, but contain very little informative text, especially if the research or covered topics are hopelessly out-of-date, or the quality of the writing is below par. Ho-hum cookbooks, history texts, and how-to books you find on bookstore bargain shelves are all good examples.
• Finally, magazines of all ages are always a good stand-by if you just can't bring yourself to tear up a beloved book, no matter how bad the condition.

Next step: what to do with all this paper madness. How about: 

1. Pasting the torn strips and pieces of text into a random pattern on top of another kind of support, e.g., a journal page, a Masonite board, or Bristol board, etc. 
2. Turning chapter titles, lines of text, and individual words into found poetry.
3. Covering the text with thinned gesso, acrylic paint, clear gel medium, or even watercolors. I like to vary the thickness of this coating, sometimes like it to be completely clear, or quite heavy to just leave the faintest amount of ghost text in the background.
4. Drawing on complete pages that have been torn from the binding, but not cut up in any way.
5. Cutting, folding, and gluing the pages into decorative shapes or small envelopes to paste throughout my journal.
6. Photocopying the various pages to create different sizes, distortions, or stronger backgrounds to then color or paint upon.
7. Label or title an existing collage or mixed-media piece.

The best part of tearing up books for me has been discovering the perfect piece of text through the happy accidents of randomness. For example, I might find in my pile of shreds a passage about the beauty of gardening. Matching and pasting these lines on to a scene of urban decay creates a tension that I don't think I could express any other way. It's magic!

Tip of the Day:  Book lovers, please don't despair. I realize how painful the idea of tearing up books can be for some of you, but look at it this way: when you tear up an old book, you're actually saving it (or at least the best parts). What would normally end up in the trash can now be a serious creative tool.

Spring Get-Away: Corpus Christi, TX

I've just come back from a week's holiday in Corpus Christi, Texas, a place I've wanted to see for many years after taking a workshop from poet Denise Brennan Watson. In the workshop, Denise often referred to her childhood in Corpus Christi and how it influenced her found poetry and food writing, as well as her love of cooking and Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor's Vibration Cooking: or, Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl (which in many ways inspired my own WIP Ghazal). When I read The Undertow of Hunger, Denise's first full poetry collection, I was completely hooked. I just had to go to Corpus Christi one day.

Now that I've been there, I realize there was a lot I didn't know: mainly that the wind blows every single day and night, as in every single second of every day and night; the seagulls are small and cute but even noisier than the howling wind; the seawater is warm but posted signs warning of currents and jellyfish kept me from doing much more than wading; and the town itself can be rather empty. For an entire week my husband and I rattled around the quite lovely downtown all on our own, wondering where the other people were. I'm still wondering. However, it was nice to never have trouble finding a parking spot, the store owners and restaurant servers were polite and glad to see us, and the only panhandler we encountered asked for a dollar and then changed his mind, saying he "didn't really want it."

Despite the blustery weather, heavy thunderstorms, and getting my thumb smashed in our hotel room door when the wind whistled through the hall one particularly wild afternoon, we saw some impressive sights. Our room was right on the beach, and we could see the USS Lexington, now a museum, from our balcony. I loved how it was lit up at night recalling its nickname the "Blue Ghost", creating a ghostly and haunting image indeed. Going on board in the morning was even more intriguing. A trip that I thought would take half an hour at most turned into a four-hour exploration of decks, captain's and crew quarters, galleys, sick bay, chapel, engine room, bridge, and all thoroughly re-constructed to depict how life would have been on board during WWII. I was fascinated and frequently moved by the well-presented exhibits, and took the elevator only once at the end of the tour. After climbing and descending dozens of ladders placed throughout the ship I was grateful for the chance to simply push a button and ascend into daylight again. Well worth the visit and I do highly recommend going there if you're in the area one day (and feeling fit).

Another great place next to our hotel was this beach store that carried every kind of towel, flipper, swimsuit, T-shirt, and souvenir any tourist could possibly want. We bought a wind chime (what else??).

The Art Center was yet another good venue, complete with a restaurant where we had morning tea and cake while a local Irish band fiddled away:

Foggy, mysterious, yet pleasantly warm:

This (scary) (in the wind) bridge connected our hotel to downtown. I think we crossed it 500 times, but my husband claims it was only 499:

More views from our room. A beach of our own!

I wasn't able to sketch in the wind, but I did take some photos specifically for a future series of "Urban Sketching-style" drawings:

On our last day we visited the Aquarium. Although we were indoors, I couldn't sketch there either because it was apparently Kindergarten Day: hundreds of tiny tots in matching T-shirts to identify themselves as five-year-olds (just so there was no confusion with the few adults in attendance). I don't know which was louder: the wind, the gulls, or the children, but coming home to Albuquerque I'm still in awe of the silence.

Final shot of the docks. I think this would make a good painting, too:

Between wind gusts we went to some excellent restaurants (the Vietnamese one being my favorite. Breakfast with a city view upstairs at the Omni Hotel was also spectacular.), saw several movies, including "King Kong, Skull Island" (perfect escapism) and "Gold" which we soon recognized as having been filmed in Albuquerque! Other highlights were finding a bead store where I bought new beads for new jewelry projects, and going to Barnes and Noble where I purchased a book I'm still reading: Elizabeth Kostova's The Swan Thieves. I love it, and will forever pair it in my mind with a beautiful old city I'm glad I got the chance to see. Thank you, Corpus Christi, for an unforgettable time!

National Poetry Month and "30 Days of Kimono"

April is National Poetry Month, and this year I'm celebrating the season with a small poetry/art journal project with a Japanese-inspired theme I'm calling "30 Days of Kimono." The idea came to me when I visited the Albuquerque Art and History Museum with my writer's group several weeks ago. The museum was hosting a special exhibition on Japanese Art Deco, and because I've always been a huge fan of Japanese style, culture, and literature, it seemed like a good time to do something with all that inspiration!

Rather than restricting myself to just poetry, I'm using a variety of methods, mediums, and digital sites where I made the kimono pictured above, as well as a Pinterest board. To keep all my ideas in one place, I've chosen to use a Moleskine Cahier Kraft blank notebook, which means I can decorate the cover too (still a bit of a work-in-progress...):

On the inside I'm writing down my poetry thoughts,  found poetry snippets, and sketch ideas for larger paintings:

I'm also pasting in drawings made on other types of paper. For instance, the sketch below is made on a Japanese paper I can't describe very well other than to say it's slick on one side, rough on the other (I don't know if it's rice paper--sorry!). I used a pen cut from a piece of bamboo, Black Magic ink, and a little watercolor, then cut it into a kimono-ish shape. The pattern was based on my recent visit to New York and Central Park.

One of the most enjoyable parts of this project has been my research; any excuse to go to the library and immerse myself in good books is fine with me. Besides losing myself in several gardening books covering Zen gardens and tea houses, my favorite find was a classic, The Book of Kimono by Norio Yamanaka. Everything you'd ever want to know about the history, making, and wearing of kimono is in this comprehensive little book. And believe me, there is a lot to know about wearing a kimono--about 36 actions just to get into "the thing," (which is all the word "kimono" really means: "a thing to wear") and half of those include hand-sewing, my most detested task on earth. Then of course there's the good behavior required to not crush or ruin the kimono, including never letting your back touch the back of a chair or car seat. Reminds me of when my mother forced me to wear scratchy nylon dotted Swiss on Sundays--don't move! Don't eat! Don't breathe! Which was perfectly expressed in this bit of found poetry I took from various lines of my magazine cut-outs:



Starched linen,

quiet wealth.

Piety, memory, cleanliness,

beauty

and stories.

Tip of the Day: Whether it's National Poetry Month or National Novel Writing Month, why not choose a theme or subject you've always wanted to know more about but never really had the time to explore? Not only could it start an entire new direction for your creativity, but it could also help give you that special edge to stand out from the crowd.

Finding Poetry, Part II

My last post promised to share some excerpts from my found poetry pages "next week."  Next week has turned into this week, thanks to an overly hectic work schedule and a much-needed, short vacation up to Taos, New Mexico.  Despite having lived in New Mexico for exactly seven years this summer, I had never been to Taos before so I was thrilled to finally get there.  Everything--from galleries to shopping to scenery-- was even better than I imagined it would be, and I highly recommend a visit if you're ever in that part of the country.   

Before I start though, I just want to mention a quick side trip.  On our last day I particularly wanted to see the Mabel Dodge Lujan house not just for its lovely Pueblo-style architecture but also for its many D.H. Lawrence associations.  My husband was a good sport driving me up and down a few wrong roads until we finally found the place, listening all the while to me raving about "D.H. this and D.H. that..."  Even as we parked and stepped out onto the crushed gravel walkway leading to the main house I was still talking about D.H. and Frieda, rather loudly, too, and when we opened the door:  a poetry class was in full swing.  Ooops.  I think they were having some kind of "silent session," very quiet, very Zen, very un-D.H. Lawrence.  I apologized for interrupting (all the while wishing they could have put up a sign...) and settled instead for a walk through the grounds before deciding to head back to Albuquerque. 

Halfway through our walk my husband said something about T.E. Lawrence--like, when exactly had he been to Taos.  It was one of those surreal moments when you realize you've been so wrapped up in your own little world you haven't given a single thought to whether or not you're being understood.  Here I was thinking of fierce literary arguments and thrown plates, and my husband had been thinking of sand dunes, the first World War, and Lawrence of the Pueblo.  And that to me is what found poetry is all about: taking fresh meaning from unexpected sources.  So in that wonderful spirit of chaos, here we go, starting with:

1.  Music poetry.  Several years ago I kept a journal solely on music and sound.  I wanted to write only poetry, essays, and short stories on the theme of music.  Using my X-acto knife to cut through magazine columns I found:

A harmony of

        wind trails

                   your spirit.

Softly open to

  the song of

      how old you are and

         travel happy.

Another small piece reads:

In the mirror

  I learned

    music making.

Deafening, whomping

drowning out the song.

Burnt sacrifice.

No miracles, but

  some kind of knowledge.

In a third piece I went to my word pool of cut out words and phrases all relating to music and sound that I kept in a basket.  Taking them out at random I came up with:

Conversations with

Dancing goats

   Learning to fly

They fall to earth.

They are surrounded by

operas in the dark

Voices and visions,

hushed tones.

Animals as normal people

No more ox tongue performance

The first call

It just screams.

Makes you think.

2.  In my last post I mentioned how I like to concentrate on the theme of food and using food magazines as my resources.  Here is an example where I used food magazines to find words and phrases as I did in the sample above.  Because I spread the cut out words across a larger journal page, I've included slashes to represent where I joined phrases on the same line:

I remember/the robust tanginess

of chilling buttermilk

cooking barefoot,/when I was young,/in search of

miraculous/baskets/bowls, and

a paper heart.

Pruning roses/freighted with winter

encumbrances

snowflakes and hearts --

a place where/chaos is/luxury,

maybe even peace.

How do you discover/other worlds

secluded/doorways

the secret

glimpses of the past?

Lately, I have begun to suffer

from a nineteenth-century/serenity

a permanent

daydreaming.

Good things emerge,

connected by design.

3.  Lastly, here is a small example, again using my X-acto knife, that I think sums up my feelings of what it's like to work with found poetry:

The secret

life of

writing

grace.

Less than a

game,

a spirited quest.

Tip of the Day:  Try making your own found poetry.  Don't worry about making sense--just make yourself happy.  That's all creativity should be about anyway.  Have fun--and if you'd like to share your work, please let me know!  I'd be more than happy to put up a link to your own blog in my next and future posts.