A Found Poem in Memory of Someone Special

I created my found poem in memory of my youngest cousin who had passed away recently. I used the song lyrics “Who You’d Be Today” by Kenny Chesney because I can personally relate to them.

Before I started to create my found poem, I printed off the lyrics and began to read them carefully. I crossed out the words and lines that didn’t quite fit with how I felt and kept the words that I could relate to and could tell a story. Like in also every song, verses repeat; so I crossed out the repeating verses as well. Next, I began to cut out one to three words from the lines I wanted to keep. I wanted to create a cross to symbolize healing for my family, but when I arranged the words on paper it didn’t look right. I didn’t place the words in any random order because I believe that the original order of the lyrics demonstrate good meaning. Instead, I just placed the words on the page where I thought would be relevant. With that being said, you will notice that I separated “I still can’t believe you’re gone” and “It ain’t fair you died too young” farther apart than “like a story had just begun”. This is because I feel as if the reader should read those lines slower and let them sink in and get a sense of what my family and myself, as an author, have felt.

Lastly, as a reader, you will notice that I separated “who you’d be today” into single words because I felt like this was the most important part of the poem. As the author of this poem and as a cousin, I am questioning as to who would my cousin be if this tragedy didn’t happen so soon in his life. Again, with the spacing of these words, I believe it will slow the reader down when they are reading this and understand the purpose of the poem. As you will see below my found poem, I have placed my cousin’s name at the bottom of the page as I dedicated this found poem to him. I was inspired by M. NourbeSe Philip with her idea of dedicating pages to others as well.

7 thoughts on “A Found Poem in Memory of Someone Special”

  1. I’ve never heard this song before, but I kinda want to listen to it later now. I also lost my little cousin a couple years ago, so I really liked how you separated the words. I especially like how you “separated “who you’d be today” into single words.” I agree that this is definitely the most important part of the text, and separating those words really makes you think about each word individually and what it truly means when a life is taken so young. You should listen to “Left Behind” from Spring Awakening and “Brendan’s Death Song” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. They’re both beautiful songs about lives taken too soon. You and your family are in my prayers.

  2. Michaela,
    I loved reading your found poem and the meaning you put behind it for your cousin. I think it is beautiful and I am also a huge Kenny Chesney fan so that was an extra plus. The words you chose to use from the song lyrics went together really nicely to give it a sentimental meaning and I thought the way you separated some of the words and put some close together helped a lot with understanding what was most important to you.

    1. Michaela,
      I’m a big Kenny Chesney fan along with you and Morgan! I like how your title explained the topic of what your found poems what revolved around not just a title of a poem. As you said, you’re the last line is may be the most important part of the poem and I agree. I like how you arranged the words to emphasize this. The placement of “Like a story had just begun death tore the pages all away” is very interesting. I was wondering if there was a reason behind this? It could symbolize a falling sensation. Not only are this diagonal, but they’re also closer together than any other words in a phrase or sentence in your poem. I really enjoyed this poem. I’m also very sorry for the tragedy that occurred in your family.

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