Readers share search-phrase verses
The brilliant folks behind Google Poetics create found poetry from search terms. When you search on Google, it provides a list of most-frequently-searched-for phrases. The best create poetry like:
She wrote
She wrote
She wrote me a letter
She wrote love on her arms
She wrote lonely on her body
She wrote the book
Recently, I invited you to share your found poetry in a writing contest. Here are some of the best pieces.
Claire Sturgeon, media communications specialist at Institute for Genomic Biology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, submitted this piece:
He studies
He studies at university
He studies how things originated
He studies where morals come from
He studies the impact of human behavior on emotion
He studies her
Claire, I love the way the progressively longer lines build up a rhythm that’s broken by the short last line. That approach really emphasizes the twist in your final line.
Patti Tironi, director of Employee Communications — Climate Solutions Sector at Ingersoll Rand, was our most prolific entrant. She submitted several pieces, including this one:
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me baby
Kill me now
Kill me deadly
Kill me softly
Kill me
Kiss me
Kill me
Tironi also submitted a found poem made of email subject lines:
Compendium of All Things Ridiculous
Compendium of All Things Ridiculous
You can’t always reason with those who make the decisions
Change is rarely as easy as it is necessary
No sense delaying the inevitable
You can feel the tires rubbing against you
It’s just a matter of when they hit drive
And the winner is …
Tironi wins the prize not just for being prolific, but also for this fine found poem:
I am born
I am born
I am born again
I am born in thunder
I am born to win
Congratulations, Patti. Watch your mailbox for a little found poem-related prize.
And thanks to everyone who played!
How can you surprise and delight readers?
Neurologists call it “the pleasure of the text,” the reward readers get from figuring out figurative language. (It can be quite a reward: If your wordplay is funny enough, your readers’ brains even deliver a little dose of dopamine.)
Learn to tap wordplay’s superpowers at Master the Art of Storytelling, our business-storytelling workshop starting May 17.
There, you’ll learn to flip phrases; compress details; sub sound-alikes; list, rhyme and twist — even coin new words with free online tools that do the work for you. You’ll get inspired by some of the world’s most creative headlines. And you’ll polish your skills in a wordplay workout, with recipes from anagram to oxymoron.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.
Leave a Reply