e a m harris

Semi-found poetry

My last post was about found poems and their sources. Another springboard for verse I’ve discovered is in part-overheard part-sentences on trains and buses or other public spaces.

I’m not talking about listening in to other people’s talk, but hearing snatches as someone walks by or calls out to a friend.

Often the words are jumbled and unclear, but this is poetry and I can take what’s given or change it depending on how the Muse is that day and hour. In fact, if it was clear I would change it to become unrecognisable; I wouldn’t feel right reporting, in any way, exactly what someone said.

The result may be humorous and is usually surreal.

I’ve lost my bone,
On the lower deck.
I’ll buy a louse,
With twenty of them blackberries.

Keep on fishing the well.
A day of clear water.
He told a lie.
What’s in his cider?

So this is what I call semi-found poetry – it starts with the found, but gets edited, sometimes quite a lot.