thepoeming-jaws - Tumblr blog

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 30: Nothing can wait until God or nature had enough

why is an end so important?

an envelope, lights on and motor running

[This is a found poem made of words located on page 291 (title) and pages 294 to 295 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 30 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 29: I know what conscience is

I know what conscience is

it was private life, common knowledge, and witchcraft

make the ship lighter, or you married it

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 79 to 81 (title/first line) and pages 115 to 116 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 29 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 28: The only place

[Content warning: assault]

his right hand had been the hand

what would it take to be the only place a pattern began to take shape

a pattern you can take a look at and think I want to forget about it and go home

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 86 to 87 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 28 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 27: Both delicious and uncomfortable

imagine an apparition twirling slowly in the twilight

the kind of thing that makes you believe in a god or that they make movies about

[This is a found poem made of words located on page 157 (title), page 311 (lines one and two), and pages 255 to 257 (lines three and four) in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 27 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 26: Ladling rhythms into intensity

look away from the eyes; that fever means to make a fight of it like childhood nightmares under the floor how do you disappear unbroken through your own image

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 301 to 302 (title) and pages 302 to 309 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 26 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 25: One time or another

so many words are awake in her stomach a story that ate people from the inside

those stories are familiar, at one time or another

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 108 to 120 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 25 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 24: Just enough

I don’t want to tell a story about once-upon-a-times; I could tell stories that’d set your ears to ringing

some words stand staring and some take up sport and some bent the rules just enough

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 110 to 118 (lines one to four) and pages 261 to 284 (lines five to seven) in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 24 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 23: Hungry for anything between water and deck

fairytales are fury dulled, a story that was so easy to flirt with and looked like your own thoughts, but smarter

a flat, calm voice saying “come on, come on in here”

[This is a found poem made of words located on page 272 (title), page 259 (first line), and pages 271 to 275 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 23 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 22: There’s nothing left to overstep on

there’s nothing left to overstep on and now we’re out here to save God from embarrassment

big fish like that never know it’s luck that keeps it coming

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 243 to 247 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 22 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 21: The reporter decided to interview silence

a notebook and questions feeding off his hand—

now the host animal is making excuses; that isn’t the way you treat regular clients

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 204/205 (title) and pages 207 to 221 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 21 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 20: My ideas

luck registered as a sound, silvery gray

we’re like the history of something we’ll never know, making excuses for the preternatural

my ideas are breaking my heart without an extra pair of hands

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 208 to 222 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 20 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 19: The promised land

the cosmic rhythms spoke with the unmistakable accent of beautiful people; the promised land doesn’t mean anything without excitement

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 198 to 225 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 19 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 18: Regular customers

look around and see what’s been done and what has to be done— you can’t catch an exhausted silence that survives on waiting

my heart’s got regular customers; you’re just a one-shot deal

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 217 to 222 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 18 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 17: Superstition on a thin silver chain

superstition on a thin silver chain; the silver chain specializes in good questions and an interesting job

don’t you worry about me— I thought I was being charming but I don’t see why I should be

like they say in the commercials, that’s the way it’s done, believe me; done like dinner, like the tenderest of sirloins

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 134 to 147 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 17 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 16: Glass kitchen filling with light

the past will need time to breathe, pieces slipped into secrets

it’s all talk and touch, talk and touch but don’t press your luck

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 141 to 149 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 16 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 15: Uneventful

what makes you think stillness is uneventful

like twilight’s own resentment at the intrusion of darkness we feel threatened by the sensation of time

[This is a found poem made of words located on page 127 (line one) and pages 86 to 95 (lines two and three) in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 15 2022.

[thepoeming-jaws]

April 14: I’m rational, just for the weekend

unequipped to obey instincts that touch a nerve and pull

I didn’t want to think I’m someone nobody would ever know

[This is a found poem made of words located on page 100 (title) and pages 98 to 103 in the source text.]

Source text: Benchley, Peter. Jaws. 1974. April 14 2022.