Sunday, January 3, 2021

Found Poetry Created Since Prior Post

It's 2021 and Biden won the election! I haven't posted since September, partly because I have learned of other writers who cover the issues better than I can -- Teri Kanefield, Jay Kuo, Heather Cox Richardson, Dave Roberts. For self entertainment, I have continued to compose found poetry. In September of 2020 I learned what a "found poem" is. You "appropriate" other people's words and phrases that you find in newspapers, books, billboards, signs, ads, whatever, and mix them up into a poem. It's literary collage, and like artistic collage, it is a lot of fun.  But I'm behind in posting them, so here are found poems created since the last post.


2021 Begins


by Judy Todd, a poem found in the comics section of 1/3/21 LA Times



It’s 2021 and Earth is still here

No one’s moving or saying anything

Keep going, don’t give up, keep going

It’s like they know we’re coming


Catch on to the deeper implications

A new year is not enough

We need to ring in a new mind

And good fortune on the river



Just in case you're curious, here's where they were found:


It’s 2021 and Earth is still here  (Jump Start)

No one’s moving or saying anything  (Fox Trot)

Keep going, don’t give up, keep going  (Non Sequitur)

It’s like they know we’re coming  (In the Bleachers)


Catch on to the deeper implications  (my horoscope, Taurus)

A new year is not enough   (Mutts)

We need to ring in a new mind   (Mutts)

And good fortune on the river  (Poker)


Winning Is an Inside Joke


by Judy Todd 

poem found in headlines of 12/14/20 LA Times sports section



Women dominate

The lesser of two evils

Steal the show

Turn the tables

Overcome themselves


Danger being

The outside noise

The uncertainty

A fierce battle

Sidelined because of virus


Vaccine Ambivalence


by Judy Todd 

poem found in the 12/13/20 LA Times comics section



Everyone is feeling positive and optimistic

So it would be crazy to

Hold this pose

Or call from the hijack seat


I’ll gladly take your words out of context

You do this every year 

After the turn and river blank

We’re all breaking

 

It’s worth all the effort

Pulling a boy out of a war zone

Despite their heroic efforts as children

They cannot fix it


Blue is a calm tranquil color

True blue true

Red signals anger, fear and danger

Let’s destroy it


I changed my mind

I want to get out of this nightmare

I want my life back

Let’s escape


Two poems by Judy Todd, found in the Sunday comics of the 10/18/20 L.A. Times:



Pandemic Anxiety


Stay still, here it comes

Boogie shark that box of hope

Our new monster companion

An infectious disease


The few at the top of power

Roll to the right, noses out

Make those at the bottom fear

And step up their game




In the End


Life review is done

You’re good enough

How beautiful it is

To let things go


Internal Dialog


by Judy Todd

poem found in an article, “High on a Mood,” by Mikael Wood in the 10/15/20 L.A. Times Calendar section



Conversation perches at

A yelping moment

An argument to be made 

Streams the span

Built in the beginning

Fighting the impulse to please


Harem pants with retainer

Hipped by the typical boogie

Transitioned from random

Struggled to lay the foundation

Fused fuzzy guitars and hot rocks

Before anything blows up


A Relaxing Walk Around the Neighborhood


by Judy Todd

poem found in my surroundings while visiting Sherman Oaks on 10/8/2020



Leaf blowers roaring

Lawn mowers growling

Edgers shrieking

Jackhammer pounding

Helicopter thrumping

Cars motoring

Birds chirping

Crows cawing

Ravens chortling

Planes rumbling

Dogs barking

Skunks stinking

Squirrels scolding

Garbage trucks grinding

Recyclables crashing

Green trucks polluting




See What Happens When


by Judy Todd 

poem found in the comics section of 10/4/20 L.A. Times



Humans loud and excited

Dropped out of nature

Floated with a gutshot

Released anger in the river


Opposing forces rained money

And made a polarized range

Pandemic purged hope

A golden age for melancholy



Had a harder time finding a poem in the comic strips this Sunday, so I also searched the Poker Column and the Horoscopes, which are in the comics section. The poker column had the most picturesque language of all, none of which I understood.




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