This is a "found poem" made from snippets of paragraphs written by my senior literature students last year.
WAR
It’s a mystery
Why people make war
Maybe that’s why they make war movies
So realistic
Feels like you’re in it
Something so inhumane
Absolutely fascinating
You get to be in battle
You get to use the weapons
To take the lives of people
You get to die in battle
It’s just so different from normal life
Because we don’t wake up
With people screaming in pain
Boys or teens that play these games
Want to be called men
This country was made on war’s behalf
Americans love war
Feeling superior
A sort of revenge
For what is yours
Or what you believe
Football practice
Basketball games
Milk chugging competitions
War is a drug
We were built to fight
Engage in combat
Something about guns
And killing people
Appeals to the young
But at the end of the day
you know it’s fake
In a game you can die
and come back to life
War itself is completely different
Especially for a mother
with a dead son or daughter
Human beings thrive off of power
And almost get high
When they see people suffer
You must never lose
I think people enjoy war
The control of it all
People start war
because they want others to know
What it feels like to get walked all over
I don’t think war will ever stop
Animals fight for territory
And so do we
It seems our lives are all about war
The holy crusades, God as justification
Pointless
I have a thought just like everyone else
Why should you fight me for it?
Why should hundreds of people die?
When they could just work it out
Death, separation, pain and sadness
I really like the action but I don’t like the part
When people get hurt
Greed, love, dominance, religion
The government wants us to like it
Honor, family, country, a home for a troubled child
Or it can make a person go mad
The blood of patriots
Good guys and bad guys
But the line between them is very thin
A fundamental part of us
To prove a point
But what point?
Young men, ready to venture into the world
Think themselves invincible
It’s a fantasy
Curiosity gets the best of us
War as a getaway
An adrenaline rush
It makes them look powerful
We think of the glory
Not the gruesome reality
Never start it but finish it
Streaks of blood on the theme of history
War is the center of our world
Easy to interpret easy to act out
But I think we overuse it
Only grudges and hate can be spread by war
Why try to harm someone
Play rock paper scissors
This makes it hurt to say
War takes lives away
What makes the human mind tick
In that strange war-filled way?
If I could I would
STOP ALL THE WAR STUFF
STOP ALL THE WAR STUFF
STOP ALL THE WAR STUFF
This year's seniors wrote about the meaning of life. The "found poem" is a combination of their words, plus a few idle comments from me and from William Shakespeare.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
IS THAT A QUESTION?
OR MORE LIKE AN ALTERNATIVE
I ALWAYS THINK OF ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES WHEN I SAY THAT
OR MAYBE IT’S LIKE A CONTROVERSY OVER AN APARTMENT NUMBER
OR AN ANSWER ON AN SAT TEST
OR MAYBE IT’S NOT LIKE ANYTHING MAYBE IT JUST IS
YOU KNOW LIKE OOOOOOOMMMMMMM, ONE WITH THE UNIVERSE
The biggest challenge in life is fear
I THINK SOMEBODY SAID THAT
ANYWAY I HEAR AN ECHO WHEN I SAY IT
BUT I’M ALWAYS HEARING ECHOES
HAKUNA MATATA JUST DO IT LIFE’S A BITCH MAKE THE BEST OF GOOD TIMES
GO HARD OR GO HOME
ECHOES ECHOES ECHOS ECHOES
AM I HEARINBG THINGS OR AM I NOT HEARING THINGS?
NOW THAT’S A QUESTION
AM I EVEN LISTENING
LIKE THAT SONG OMYGOD THAT SONG REMEMBER THAT SONG
TIS A CONSUMMATION DEVOUTLY TO BE WISHED
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS
BUT I LIKE CONSUMMATION I LOOKED IT UP
DID YOU KNOW IT CAN MEAN LIKE HAVING SEX?
NOW IF EVERYTHING COULD BE LIKE A CONSUMMATION
Life is an everyday challenge
WELL OK MAYBE NOT EVERY DAY
BUT SOME DAYS I JUST FEEL LIKE HANGING MY HEAD
WE BORN WE LIVE WE DIE
SOME DAYS THE CONSUMMATION JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I CONTINUE TO LIVE?
TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
YES HAVING A LIFE AND LIVING IT IS VERY IMPORTANT
WITH OUT IT WE, LIKE, WOULDN’T BE ALIVE
WE WOULD HAVE NOTHING WE WOULD BE NOTHING
IS THAT THE SAME THING?
BEING, HAVING
AND THEN THERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DO A LITTLE OF BOTH
GOOD HOUSE GOOD CAR GOOD PAYING JOB MY DREAMS
MY BRAIN MY HEART PUMPING BLOOD GIVING ME LIFE
JUST THE FACT OF GRADUATION MAKES ME WANT TO SPEED UP TIME
ALL MY PROBLEMS DISAPPEAR
OF COURSE THERE WILL BE SOME DUCK HUNTING
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