Section One: What is Life?
It’s not always easyTo tell whether something is
Alive. Your teacher will give you
A wind-up toy. Observe.
Bring a slice of lemon
To your mouth. Describe.
The mildew in your bathroom
Will grow. Experiment.
Flies do not arise from
Rotting meat. Consider barnacles.
Obtain your teacher’s permission.
© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved
Last week Laura’s posts and original poetry at Author Amok inspired me to look at found poetry again. http://authoramok.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-friday-celebrity-found-poems.html This time with a lot more interest. I started looking around the internet and discovered some amazing found poetry written by students all over the country in response to the New York Times Found Poetry Challenge. http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/reflections-on-our-found-poem-challenge/ Of course I had to try. My first attempts were awful. Finding a poem is a lot harder than it might seem. Then I got out my son’s eight grade biology text book. Aha. I think I found something.
What fun! “Consider barnacles.”
I also have an 8th grade son; maybe I should check out his textbooks!
I’ve tried fooling around with this form…but it takes practice, and patience.
i’m with tabatha on “consider barnacles,” but also “obtain your teacher’s permission” strikes me as oddly… protective?
found poems, so many riches…
How fun!
Is there truly life without your teacher’s permission?!?!
🙂