Blackout Poetry

Have you ever heard of blackout poetry? It is a form of "found" poetry, where you select words from a written text to create something new. Once the students got over the shock of me letting them write in books and rip out pages (don't worry, these were weeded books nobody had read in more than 10 years), they came up with the following:

Blaze had pretended

his mother flew off the porch.

- M.B., "Words of Stone"

The voice of Jones

raised the flower border

and keeps notes for reports.

As for private boys,

their cases track down a thief.

- S.S, "The Mystery of the Smashing Glass"

Sarah swallowed,

getting stubborn.

Reading, 

couldn't believe her ears.

Squeal!

If only played tomorrow, 

found everything eggbeater.

- K.C., "The Bread Winner"

The days grew longer.

Life grew terrible.

Don't you see?

He couldn't help his disappointment.

He'd looked to an orphan boy.

I have me a lunch pail.

Good, Sheldon, half-growed boy.

Sheldon, careful quarry sobbed.

- A.M., "Jip: His Story"

Sadness

difficult traumatic depression

unmotivated

worthless

emotionally.

- J.F. - "Sad poetry web page"

The sky

rays of pale

Clay watched a drinking fountain

In the park, Buddy appeared to have an old pink carpet.

Buddy had left to find Church.

Calvin had gone for Thanksgiving.

Is your life going to fit inside that notebook?

- G.S., "Monkey Island"

Nellie swung

to the waterway.

Clusters of bows in the sea.

- A.B.

I smiled.

I decided Mr. Thomas G. was murdered.

Had spent all year being in love with Caroline.

Mr. Harding, I motivated you to kill Parnell.

I killed Tom.

- E.G., "Dovey Coe"

The man sighed.

Then he aimed his eyes

on the ball.

"Make a home run."

- K.S.

Hold it, Owl.

Look, I can't win the rug.

- C.W., "Monsters in Cyberspace"

Instead I took strength.

Stone.

I had seen.

I had watched.

I went.

- M.M.

Troy understood.

It was all smoothed 

and apparently 

a half dozen,

one by one,

into disaster

I sat down. 

- A.Y., "River Thunder"

And heading into milk,

Bill Buckle jacknife 

showed us his marks.

His whale was sailing.

- "HITTY: Her First Hundred Years"

Fish was sleeping underwater.

When he woke,

his ankle was struck by a hammer.

- "Fish"

Potato soup was one of his favorite suppers.

Lookee here, if you give whack,

bloody Mooney Repentance Room,

suspiciously wonderful thinking

to sideways glances.

- A.S., "Gib Rides Home"

Lunatic.

A raving lunatic.

Who is fearing this cruel world.

He argued with a fool.

After all, his heroes had ever heard tell of.

She slapped him.

Fool, boy.

You're a lunatic.

Berthie said send him to the asylum.

- M.C., "Jip: His Story"

The tunnel then dipped suddenly down,

not a moment before falling down

very deep,

very slowly.

Had went down

look down

too dark to see anything.

Pictures hung down shelves labelled

disappointment

killing somebody,

such a fall.

Nothing down.

Brave, they'll think, if I fell off the top.

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end!

"I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?"

Four thousand miles down,

this was not her,

"I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth!"

As you're falling through the air.

Little girl she'll think 

never shall see.

Down, down, down.

And the fall was over.

- S.R., "Alice in Wonderland"