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Here we are in 2023, trailing last year’s words behind us. And today we will be looking back, as far back as last January when our bellies were full of good intentions, and the Muse felt fresh from the holidays. But since we are here and now in the throes of this January, we’ll also be standing astride the whole year, turning over our poetry files and creating something afresh from 2022.

Poets invariably take a retrospective glance at what they have written as Kenneth Koch does in in “To my Old Poems” whereby in this extract, the writings seem to have a life of their own making:

Whilst James Tate turns them into surreal beings in “ Poem to some of my Recent Poems”

“My beloved little billiard balls,
my polite mongrels, edible patriotic plums,
you owe your beauty to your mother, ….
I had to navigate carefully around her brain’s
avalanche lest even a decent finale be forfeited.
And her beauty still evermore. You see,
as she was dying, I led each of you to her side,
one by one she scorched you with her radiance.
And she is ever with us in our acetylene leisure.
But you are beautiful, and I, a slave to a heap of cinders.”

And so for this first MTB prompt of 2023 we’re composing a ‘Found’ poem of

  • very first lines of our own poetry
  • from the first poem of each month posted in  in 2022.

If you have posted less than one poem per month for 2022 then:

  • Take the very first lines from more of your January 2022 poems
  • 12 is the minimal guideline – more is optional

 Further Guidelines:

  • No additions are permitted other than tense, preposition or conjunction
  • Enjambement is allowed if it helps flow and sense
  • Date order is not required

Hint: It’s a good idea to provide links to the poems you are using in your Found poetry. Not only as reference for follow-up but also because internal links help with SEO.

Note: Please read the guidelines carefully and stick to them as this is a joint endeavour that we participate in equally.

Once you have published your poem, add it to the Mr Linky below (by linking up, you are effectively agreeing to abide by the guidelines.) Then go visiting other contributors as that is half the enjoyment of our dVerse gatherings.