A couple of weeks ago, Chris, at Calmgrove, introduced me to another variation on the found poem form. I’ve failed to discover when and where this originated, but did see a lot of interesting examples and challenges around the web, stretching all the way back to 2012!
Unable to resist joining in, I’ve cherry-picked a few volumes from my shelves. My version is a prose-poem.
A World of My Own.
Diary of an ordinary woman, in search of Schrodinger’s cat. Along that country road, footsteps. A view of the harbour, the probable future.
No signposts in the sea. True at first light, wild swimming in the sweep of the bay, familiar passions. The waves, a far cry from Kensington..
Coming up for air, in the heart of the sea, a reckoning. The sealwoman’s gift, ways of seeing room at the top, far from the madding crowd. A woman’s life? Travels in the scriptorium..
Cath Humphris 
Your book spine poem turned out well. I did it a few weeks ago. What fun. Paul Auster’s Travels in the Scriptorium is next up in my TBR pile. It’s been on my shelves for far too long!
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Thanks, Darlene, yes, it was fun.
Travels in the Scriptorium sat around on my shelf for quite a while, too. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. It’s a good job it’s a slim volume!
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Now I’m even more excited about reading it. xo
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It was cleverly done and kept my attention!
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That’s pretty much what I thought, too. (Sorry for taking so long to reply)
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Very good Cath. I had never thought of doing anything like that. Were the bòks in that order, or did you have to search them out?
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Thanks, Jane. I picked them out, and had to discard a couple, because they were printed across, rather than along the spine. Ultimately though, I think I prefer the final version.
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Very cool. I too have long been in search of Schrodinger’s cat. I’m starting to wonder if it’s really there.
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Sometimes it’s comforting to take on a different kind of worry, don’t you think?
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Definitely.
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Oh what fun! I should overcome the temptation to try this… maybe?
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I recommend it. I found several TBRs I’d forgotten about, while gathering inspiration.
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Okay! I’ll be in amongst my book shelves if anyone wants me 😉
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What a great idea!
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I do recommend it, if you’ve an hour or so to spare.
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It turned out great! And thank you for reminding me to try.
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Thank you. I’d be intrigued to see where it takes you.
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I’ll definitely share it!
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Firstly thank you for a tour of your library. What a wonderful prose poem it has made, and oh what fun you must have had doing it
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Thank you, Fiona, glad you enjoyed it. It was a really satisfying exercise.
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I’m pretty sure that I’d enjoy just about every book in the photo. My TBR list is an expanding universe.
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I know that feeling. Parts of this poem had been out of sight for a long time.
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Very clever!
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Thank you.
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Oh, a wonderful prose poem, so much more cohesive that the pome wot I wrote. I keep coming back to it. Yours, of course!
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Kind words, Chris. I’m glad you liked it.
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Haha, that’s great, Cath!
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Thanks, Pam. There was something easily satisfying about doing this.
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It’s the little things… 🤓😂
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Great idea Cath, unfortunately, just to emphasise my cultural shortcomings, I have been trying to do it with pop song titles (and spending much more than an hour at it🙂). Even so a strangely satisfying process ~ my TBRs come next.
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I bet the pop-song titles would create a good story.
I found this form of story-building a rewarding way to spend time too, I wonder if it should be offered as a creative therapy…
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This is so clever! I love the poem, Cath, and would happily read or re-read almost every book which creates it!
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Thank you, Sandra. Happily, about half a dozen of these are still on my TBR shelf, promises of some interesting reading to come.
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Great idea Cath! I enjoyed your book-spine poem, most especially your opening lines, “Diary of an ordinary woman, in search of Schrodinger’s cat.” Ha-Ha!
I’ll have a go myself in the next few days. Even better, I think this will encourage me to rediscover long forgotten treasured tomes! Blessings always, Deborah.
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Thanks, Deborah, yes, it was a voyage of rediscovery for me, too. I’ll be fascinated to see which treasures your bookcase holds. Blessings to you, too.
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What a great idea! It might encourage me to get round to sorting out my bookshelves. I rammed the books in when we moved here nearly two years ago and they’ve been like that ever since. Finding things is a nightmare!
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I thought I knew my books, but doing this brought a few surprises to light.
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I can picture this journey! Also: This is one thing it would be difficult to accomplish with an eReader, but I might be tempted to try to pull it off at some point …
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Thanks, James. I’d be interested to see an eReader spine poem. That would be something.
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Lovely!
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Thank you, Arshia.
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Pingback: A book-spine poem – Little Strings of Poetry
Penned down well
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Thank you.
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You are welcome dear
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Beautiful photo!!
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OH MY GOSH THIS IS BRILLIANT! Were they on the shelf like that? Was one stanza on the shelf, and you constructed the others? The stanzas here are perfect! And you have the visual art of the colorful spines, to boot. Wonderful, Cath, truly. xxxxxxx
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Thank you very much, Jean. I’m so glad you like it.
I gathered a heap of titles randomly, then worked out which ones would tell a story. It was quite a useful way to remind myself of books I’d forgotten I owned!
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