WHAT IS A MASHUP POEM-

A mashup is when you take phrases and or sentences written by other authors and use them to create your own poem. Most times these words are unaltered, but sometimes the mashup poet will change pronouns or add words of their own to help it make sense.

BECAUSE POETRY AND HUMS AREN’T THINGS

This is a mashup poem I created using excepts from two of my favorite stories. One is a childhood favorite, “The House at Pooh Corner, by A.A. Milne. The other is “Wise Blood,” a dark brooding novel by Flannery O’Connor.

In most mashups there is no indication which lines come from which author, but to help you see how I used these two particular authors I put the lines by A. A. Milne in italic and by Flannery O’Connor’s in bold.

Because Poetry and Hums Aren't Things

He just stays here
in this one corner
of the Forest
waiting for the others
to come to him,

feeling that everything…
was a broken-off piece
of some giant blank thing.

He listens to all
the things
he can't hear.

He’s a member
and preacher
to that church where
the blind don't see
and the lame don't walk
and what's dead
stays that way.

So how does he do nothing?
What is he going to do?
What does he say?

He says,
There are all kinds of truth...
but behind all of them
there is only one truth
and that is
that there's no truth.

He begins to squeeze
into the slit.

Later he sees Jesus
move tree to tree
in the back of his mind.

image credit