Essay | What Found Poetry Can Teach Us About Life With God
[Originally published by The Clayjar Review on October 18, 2024.
Full essay below or read it here on their Substack]
The Form
I don’t remember the first time I discovered Found Poetry, but the thought of raking through a text that would be otherwise boring to me and potentially digging up a small treasure of a poem immediately appealed to me.
A “found poem” is one that is created using only words, phrases, or quotations that have been selected and rearranged from another text (a literary equivalent of a collage) to create a poem or a piece of text with a new or similar meaning or message.
Once you try it you’ll discover it’s a lot like doing a puzzle. You can’t create words or letters that aren’t already there. It requires creativity, focus, and resourcefulness. Once you erase something, it can’t be undone. But its real beauty lies in looking past a text and finding something hidden within it. The text could be about anything: science, literature, nature, or biographical. It would be the most beautiful written piece of work or something quite dull to you. It doesn’t matter. There’s always something to be found when you're looking for found poetry!
Poem I
I told no one.
I cannot remember why. My heart
beating when I laid hands on a request
to, upon the brain of black ink, burn my secret.
This new hand of that
day was still as a mouse.
He got nothing out of me
to praise. The truth is in silence
My dear.
— Poem by Sophia Conway. Original text: Harriet Martineau’s ‘The Great Social Evil’
For Spiritual Practice
But what does this have to do with God?
In writing found poetry, I have unconsciously been working on new skills in life: seeking the beauty in what is not always that great or exciting, looking deeper than just what is on the surface of something, and believing that there’s always more to discover. And isn’t that one of the many things God does too? To look into a dark void of nothing and see a world bustling with beauty and noise. To look at a lowly prophet rejected by many and see a man who can declare the way to His son. To look at a common cross but see how humankind could be reconciled to him.
And that’s what God calls us to do, too. While suffering, he calls us to see how our circumstances can perfect our faith. In what seems like the end of the road, he wants us to look beyond and see how he can work. Within the pages of a book, we are asked to look beyond the ink on a page and see the revelation of a holy God. The examples are endless, but it all comes down to this: what you do with found poetry can be done with life and faith… to look deeper, find connections, and see beauty that is not immediately obvious. You can do the work of bringing these to the surface with the help of the Holy Spirit.
How to Write Found Poetry
- Pick a body of text to work on. When choosing a text, consider the topic or theme and style of language used. When starting in found poetry, begin with a text from a classical book for an easy starting point. If you’re up for a challenge, try a science paper!
- Read the text twice, circling words or phrases that jump out or inspire you. Circle as many as you can as you can always cross them out later. It’s good to leave your options open for now!
- Look at what you’ve circled and try to find connections between them, such as a theme, message, or narrative. Once you’ve found a connection, try to fill the gaps between words and phrases with unused words or letters.
- Once you’ve found all the words and letters you want to use, white or black out the rest of the text.
How to Apply This Practice to Life
- When faced with an unexpected reality or realization, take a moment to assess the situation (if possible). This can take the form of taking a moment to pray and reading the room. Proverbs 18:13 ESV, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”
- Leave your options open until you know what approach you want to take.
- Listen to what is being said and ask questions to gain more insight. Dig deep to see what may be going on below the surface; perhaps there’s more than meets the eye or the Holy Spirit may be leading you to unexpected places. Try to find the connectors between the situation and what God may be doing in the midst of it (but don’t be discouraged if you can’t find it… he works in mysterious ways! Isaiah 55:8-9)
- Look for the message. Look for the beauty. There’s always more than meets the eye where God is at work. Proverbs 16:20 ESV, “Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good…”
- Take what God has for you and leave the rest. Proverbs 4:13 ESV, “Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.”
Poem II
I am
rare and humble;
clothed in ancient ruins,
at war
with beast and man.
— Poem by Sophia Conway. Original text: Charles Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’
As You Go
In found poetry, you choose the text you want to work on, but in life, God writes our script. Wherever you find yourself, look below the surface and pray that the Holy Spirit will help you find what God has for you in every situation. There is always so much more at work than what we first see.
Finally, remember that when you publicize or share found poetry, it’s important to include the author and name of the original text to give credit to where your new creation came from. The same goes for life: give credit to God, the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2) to whom all credit and glory are owed (Matthew 5:16).