{ found poem (2) }

Just for the record, for those of you who do not know what found poems are--they are poems that are created from words literally "found" within the words of another author's work (article, story, etc). Found poems can take on two different styles: (1) following exactly ALL the author's words; the found poem's poet inserts only line breaks and spacing (2) using the author's words selectively, the found poem's poet can insert his/her own punctuation or can rearrange/discard words selected from the original piece. I like this second style (although I use it more rigidly than some other "found poets" do).

* * * * *

MEXICO CITY THEN

(a found poem)

then:

lovely, rose-colored city of

   magnificent Colonial churches

   palaces

   mock-Parisian private mansions

   two-storey buildings

         (with big, painted gates and

         wrought iron balconies)

   sweet, disorganized parks

   (silent lovers)

   broad avenues and

   dark streets.

   And crystalline, unpolluted air.

(found in: Carlos Fuentes' "Introduction"; The Diary of Frida Kahlo (1995), p. 11)