The Arrow Finds Its Mark: A Book of Found Poems by Georgia Heard (Module 3; Book 1)

The Arrow Finds Its Mark: A Book of Found Poems Edited by Georgia Heard Review by Elaine Alexander


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Heard, G., & Guilloppé Antoine. (2012). The Arrow Finds Its Mark: a Book of Found Poems. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

SUMMARY
This delightful collection of poems begins with an introduction to explain what a 'found' poem is, as well as the guidelines used by the poets to create their unique selections for this book. Found poems are pieces created from existing text and transformed into a poem through the poet's skill and imagination. Pieces for this anthology were collected from newspapers, dictionaries, calendars, and encyclopedias and given original titles to help shape a new work from language encountered in everyday life.


ANALYSIS
This poetry collection has high appeal for children because the unique idea of a "found" poem challenges youth to seek out something new and exciting in the mundane words we find all around us. The concept opens our eyes to the reality that art really is all around us and if we are willing to open our minds and play with words, we can craft a new poem out of just about anything.

The collection focuses on the concept of the 'found' poem and allows for a variety of styles and poetic forms to be utilized. Because of the nature of hunting for words, topics vary widely here, but familiar experiences like going to the zoo or the stress of school tests are balanced with poems crafted from less familiar texts, such as wild birds or exotic geographical references.

Whimsical pen and ink drawings on each page to support the poems and each selection has a line that tells the reader where the poem was 'found'. The overall format, mixed use of styles and locations where poets located the words for their poems, gives the anthology a scavenger hunt type of feel, which is intriguing and playful. The poems are light-hearted, some working in new twists to the words, such as the acrostic poem 'found' by Kristy Dempsey on the Publisher's Clearing House website that spells out the word "UNLIKELY" down the page. While the content of the poem has the familiar sweepstakes promises that every "Entry could / Become / The Big Winner." (Heard 14), the play on words, combined with the poem's title, Empty Promises successfully demonstrate the poet's intention to expose the long shot of winning such a contest. A clever twist that truly tests the strength of the poet's wordplay.



USE & HIGHLIGHT POEM
There is something so empowering in the idea that we can find poems and art in the mundane. This collection of poems would be great fun in a classroom or library setting to challenge the students to hunt for their own found poems, using text that is available to them. To make it even more challenging, you could set a time limit and allow students to share their 'found' poems with their peers. Or you could wage a friendly classroom contest and have small groups engage in the hunt for 'found' poems and share the results, perhaps voting for their favorite shared examples.


Found by Georgia Heard in The Oxford Thesaurus

FIND A POEM

Find v.
come across
chance upon
stumble on
discover
turn up
bring to light
unearth
locate
encounter
recover
retrieve
regain
get
realize
acquire
find:
find the cheese too strong
find out the truth
the arrow finds its mark