For today's Poetry Train I'm doing the first in what will be a series of found poems. This one is from a diary entry I made on Jan. 12th, 1980 when I was 15.
When He First Appeared at The Bottom of the Stairs
Michelle and I
Watched
Star Trek - it was Charlie X
That's so
Funny too
Because
Every Friday night
Michelle and I
Guess
What episode Star Trek will be
And Michelle had guessed
Charlie X
Mom, Dad
Michelle
Connie and I
Went
To the Rebecca Cohn
This evening
To see
Gone With the Wind
So many people came
At intermission, the
Line-up in the washroom was
A mile long
The movie was astounding
It overwhelmed me
Vivien Leigh
Was
So good
As Scarlett
What an actress
Clark Gable, of course
Was
Terrific
When he first appeared
At
The bottom of the staircase
At Tara
During the barbeque
The whole audience
Sighed
And burst
Into applause
Copyright - Jan. 11, 2009 - Julia Smith
Original diary entry - Jan. 12, 1980
Ah - another Trekkie!!
ReplyDelete"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" Loving me some Clark Gable!
Isn't it fun to go back over old journals and read things you wrote as a teenager? I love doing this!
Great narration. I loved it. You made all so vivid. I want more of such found poems.
ReplyDeleteunconnected
Us Trekkies must stick together, though - no uniforms :-)
ReplyDeleteI like find poems especially ones that are written when we are young, it's nice to relive the moment
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories! I like the way you titled this - good line choice.
ReplyDeleteYou captured a classic movie moment with the most perfect teen wonder...I love that you still have your old journals. Wish I had mine!
ReplyDeleteHow cool that you still have your journals - this is a nifty poem - brings back a few memories to this person, for sure!!
ReplyDeletei love the idea of found poems! very good voice for 15 :)
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna do this! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI really like the end words you chose and the spacing!
Just excellent!
Great find!
ReplyDeleteLive long and prosper, fellow Trekkies!
this is brilliant and you know what's funny? I read the poem first before your introduction / explanation and I thought to myself, "this is so cool, it's like someone just talking to me." (like Frank O'Hara)
ReplyDeleteI am moving my blog over to wordpress from blogspot. It's not officially launched yet (until I spiff it up a bit), but I did challenge folks to try this found poem exercise with their diaries.
The Accidental Novelist (Writes Again)
I'm a Trekkie, too! My favorite is The Next Generation.
ReplyDeleteI love your found poem. And Gone With the Wind is an amazing novel and an amazing movie -- talk about characters who come to life!! :)
This will be even more fascinating in 15 years. :) I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan too.
ReplyDeleteCharlie X is one of my favorite episodes. I love the original series.
ReplyDeleteNot really a GWTW fan though.
I finally wrote my found diary poem. Thanks for the inspiration. :-)
ReplyDeletediary haiku