Can Poems Up in ShufPoetry

The can poems I wrote about in And Now for Something Completely Different are now up in ShufPoetry. These are quasi-found poems. First, in addition to using existing words on cans, read top to bottom, front to back, I occasionally used parts of words to make new ones. Second, I added some words to “Can #4” to enhance the audio, and some text to “Can #6” to enhance the graphic. Nevertheless, the limited vocabulary of the can texts forced me to associate freely and think of dimensions of the can language that strayed far from the corporate mindset behind their manufacture. A can of chicken flavored cat food led me to the consumption of pornography, a can of tuna led to a dreamy lyric about death and risk, and a can of Pet Pride cat food led to evocations of the Trump campaign. All great fun, for readers as well as me, I hope.

And by the way, just because there happened to be two cans of cat food and a can of tuna in my cupboard when I finished up my can poems, there is no need to assume I am a crazy cat lady. I have no cats right now, but was cat-sitting for a friend.