found poems

i've been thinking and seeing a lot of found poems recently- found poems being already written or published words altered- usually by marking the majority out- to create a new meaning.

brendan reposted all his found poems from last year on his wall, and with that idea fresh in my mind, i made one of my handouts into one during an especially boring photo ethics class today. the poem itself didn't say much, but it opened another room in this corridor, and started me thinking more.

there are photos that are much like this- nathan lyon's photos in his book notations of passing are much like this- he uses words on storefronts, bits of trash, and signs, and without moving them, composes them so that they say something completely new and different.

and so i say, if we can do this with pictures, can't we and don't we do this with memories? we cross out much of what we have thought and said and done in life and hold on to enough to read as a life- good or bad or inbetween. we write this poem to fit why we do what we do now- much of which will be crossed out anyways.

what does my life read like?