Verbatim found poetry is an intriguing collection of found poems. Poems found in ordinary, and not so ordinary places. Submit yours.
Brushes the wool smoothly sift,
full is not tightly easy
to fall off wool,
bright, rich, the touch is gentle
may with ease brush the cosmetics
evenly frivolous
naturally has just right.
The color nature easy to stick
to the silt, but sweeps the powder
evenly, lasting durable,
with the flesh close-fitting,
makeup effects on a more refined
and delicate, presents the perfect
tidal current cosmetics.
(Blurb on retractable makeup brush packaging from China. Submitted by Cathy Bryant)
Too few countries
in the world
have chosen
a vegetable
to be their national symbol
but Wales chose the leek
(From something that came from The Sacred Kitchen. Submitted by Melanie Barbato)
There’s a thing about being alone
and
there’s a thing about being lonely
and
they’re two different things.
I was alone
—but—
I was not lonely.
I was very used to being by myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Far from feeling lonely
or abandoned
I feel very much a part of what is taking place
(I don’t mean to deny
a feeling of solitude.)
It is there,
reinforced by the fact … I am alone now
and absolutely isolated
from any (known) life.
If a count were taken,
the score would be:
three billion (plus two)
over on the other side
and
One (plus
God knows what else…)
on this side.
That was the best part of the flight.
(From Al Worden: ‘The loneliest human being’ and Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins. Submitted by Daniel Galef)
We have agreed to let the electric company trim some trees.
If they come when you are there
let them
Ensure they leave the wood behind.
Get them to put the small bits
behind the hazel bush
where the rest of the prunings are.
Try and get a card
from the wood cutter,
we have other trees
we’d like him to look at.
Don’t use the pump in the spring
for more than twenty minutes,
and meanwhile remember
to water everything if God
is not doing his fair share.
(A note left for guests at a holiday cottage in Brittany, 2014. Submitted by Nigel Lawrence)
Straight, upright.
Right, proper, correct.
Exact, standardized, just so.
Primary, chief, main.
First.
Pure, unmixed.
Pretty.
Honest.
Placed or situated in the middle.
Just now, right now.
Straightens.
Puts right, rectifies.
Regular.
Positive.
5.
1040.
Translingual definitions of the character 正 . Submitted by Daniel Galef.
One of life’s greatest certainties
is that the ground is solid
beneath one’s feet
so the sudden appearance
of chasms, however small,
is unsettling.
From British sinkhole spike prompts warning, David Shukman, BBC News. Submitted by Angi Holden.
Scott v Shepherd
A lit squib
was thrown into a crowded market
by Shepherd
and landed
on the table of a gingerbread merchant.
A bystander, to protect himself
and the gingerbread,
threw the squib across the market
where it landed
in the goods of another merchant.
The merchant grabbed the squib
and tossed it away,
accidentally hitting Scott in the face,
putting out one of his eyes.
From Wikipedia’s article on squibs, retrieved 12 September 2014. Submitted by Susan Taylor.
Last year,
I woke up
in a hotel room
in Amsterdam.
There was
a woman
in my bed.
I looked
in the mirror
and saw
that my eyebrows
were gray.
I saw
that I was
forty.
Painter Alexander Melamid, quoted in Forty-One False Starts by Janet Malcolm (Granta Books, 2014). Submitted by Howie Good.
She has very delicate sparkly bright blue eyes
and a red red red red red red dress
That’s why I love her
so much
A small girl talks to her mother. Overheard on the street, 3 September 2014. Submitted by Grace Andreacchi.
I get frustrated with things in my personal life sometimes,
especially her.
I’m missing consideration, and a loved feeling.
My life is being spent in a back seat to others
whom I always take care of with little reciprocation
and even less thanks.
I spend time fantasizing about the feeling of woman,
giving a damn,
and of the random,
uninitiated touch or smile.
Why must I work so, so hard
just to get so, so little?
All I want is someone’s time and consideration
without the feeling that I owe them for it.
From Craigslist Miami, Missed Connections MfW, March 2014. Submitted by Dawn S. Davies.
Verbatim Poetry 
You must be logged in to post a comment.