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Found-Language Poetry


Watch the Gap
A New York found-language poem

The next station is—
Nathan, sit down,
Jingle bells jingle bells,
Jingle all the way,
Mommy, that's my school!
This is perfect sweater weather,
Shop and save, shop and save, 
Fifteen dollars for an omelette?
I’m sitting on a huge pile of equity,
Will you stop? I’m eating,
You get to go to this beautiful place,
It’s not my beautiful place, 
The Rolls Royce of all the islands, 
I’m bored to death,
Likewise. Keep in touch,
Please exit through the rear door.

Susan Thomsen, draft 2025

The Poetry Sisters collective invited everyone to write an "overheard and eavesdropped" poem for this Friday, and this is one I had on ice, waiting for the right time. Voilà! It's composed entirely of things I heard in New York; I live close by and am there often. I write the lines down on paper (using the phone is too clumsy and time-consuming), and eventually transfer these scrawled "verses" onto the computer. When I have a lot, I pick and choose and rearrange them into shape. A while back I wrote a guide for creating these poems.

"Nathan," whoever he may be, was bouncing up and down on a MetroNorth train. Until I started making this kind of poem, I had not thought about how much instruction riders of public transportation receive, usually from the PA system but also from parents, fellow passengers, conductors, and others.

The Poetry Friday roundup for November 30th is at author Buffy Silverman’s blog.

Photos by Susan Thomsen. The mural in the lower photo is by Laura Alvarez, @bigeyesworld on Instagram.

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32 responses to “Found-Language Poetry”

  1. lindabaie Avatar
    lindabaie

    I just read Laura Salas’ “overheard”, Susan, and now yours, too, made me laugh. These take you there immediately, don’t they? Love the “It’s not my beautiful place,”! And I like that you’ve continued to listen and record.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Thanks so much, Linda. I love it when humor pops up with the juxtaposition of the lines. I wondered, of course, what the “beautiful place” was!

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  2. Linda Mitchell Avatar
    Linda Mitchell

    oooooh, that mural illustrates your found poem perfectly. It’s so full of life. I love it. “Rolls Royce of Islands” makes me giggle. There ARE a lot of instructions to listen to. I have one child who has a difficult time with auditory processing. It must be all so much blah, blah, blah to her–but it is interesting to see it in poem form. Happy Thanksgiving! I love that you’re part of my poetry family.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Linda, that’s so sweet, and same! All those dadgum instructions. I sympathize with your child; much of it really is “wah wah wah wah wah,” like the Charlie Brown specials.

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  3. Irene Latham Avatar
    Irene Latham

    Fun! I love this line tucked in: “I’m sitting on a huge pile of equity,”. And I want to know what the Rolls Royce of Islands is! Thanks so much. Happy Poetry Friday.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Me, too, with the Rolls Royce island! I don’t remember hearing the name, but I am guessing a Caribbean island. Maybe St. Barts or Antigua?

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  4. Mona Voelkel Avatar
    Mona Voelkel

    Love this poem, Susan, and love the richness of this found poem and the structure of a train ride to the next station. I loved every line, especially the mournfulness of the “You get to go to this beautiful place,/It’s not my beautiful place,” exchange. Thank you for sharing this poem and for inspiring me to take out my headphones and look and listen on my next Metro-North trip!

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Mona, ironically, a friend who commutes daily and I want MetroNorth to bring back the quiet car! Sometimes collecting lines is making the best of a loud situation.

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  5. patriciafranz Avatar
    patriciafranz

    I love imagining how your lines form a story of their own…maybe Nathan’s story who is growing up between subway stations. 🙂 Thank you Susan!

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      That could be, Patricia! I like your interpretation.

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  6. margaretsmn Avatar
    margaretsmn

    In our family, we have a joke “Get on the train!” It’s said with a bit of sarcasm. I love this idea of collecting snippets and making poems. I am thoroughly enjoying each sisters’ poem. Yours placed me right there watching Nathan with amusement because he is not mine to manage. Ha!

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Margaret, ha! We spent many a train ride during the holidays trying to keep our son entertained. During less busy seasons, the conductors let him sit in the booth for a bit. He loved it.

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  7. Buffy Silverman Avatar
    Buffy Silverman

    I felt like I was eavesdropping on the train with you–so much fun. And I love the way you framed your lines with the voice of the train announcer!

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Buffy, I didn’t even realize I’d framed it that way until you pointed it out. Thank you!

      Liked by 1 person

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  8. cathystenquist Avatar
    cathystenquist

    What a fun post! I never thought of doing something like a street poem. I read your guide and am intrigued to listen more as I go through my day. It’s interesting that quotes from different days can fall into a poem that flows and somehow makes sense. Bravo.

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  9. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
    Susan.Thomsen

    Cathy, I will encourage you to give it a try! Even if it’s just one line that leads to a whole poem. See Liz Garton Scanlon’s today for a splendid example. If anything, listening for lines turns hanging out in town into “research.”

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  10. macrush53 Avatar
    macrush53

    This is a very fun post. I have had fun listening and writing down what I hear.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Jone, you may not be surprised to hear that I was a huge Harriet the Spy fan as a kid!

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  11. Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing Avatar
    Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing

    Your opening and closing lines frame your poem well, and then the feeling of repeating flows from jingle bells 🔔 into other lines. And it feels like the chaos of the car, especially with the speed, fun, thanks Susan!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Yes, chaos! Ultimately these poems are trying to make sense, or at least document the non-sense, of the chaos.

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  12. Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing Avatar
    Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing

    P.S. lovely art, especially the 3rd eye that reminds me of a Buddha’s Urna.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      I love that art, too. She’s a Spanish artist living in NYC.

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  13. Laura Purdie Salas Avatar
    Laura Purdie Salas

    Fabulous! This totally feels like a busy ride on the train!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Thank you! I’d been waiting for the right season to use this Jingle Bells poem.

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  14. maryleehahn Avatar
    maryleehahn

    Thanks for taking us along with you to NYC! Even though I didn’t wind up using overheard snippets of conversation I heard at NCTE, I did find myself eavesdropping more avidly! (lol)

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      I love that, Mary Lee! So funny. Yesterday I was thrilled to hear two young musicians catching up on the subway. I didn’t write anything down but couldn’t help listening.

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  15. tee+d Avatar
    tee+d

    Hahahah – “Nathan, sit down,” and “Will you stop? I’m eating!” are two phrases I’m fairly certain I’ve SAID that at least once on a train. I love the blur of people existing in a public transport space, and while we embrace studied non-observance for the most part, for the rest cannot wholly ignore others.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Tanita! Thank you so much for honoring me with the street-poem shout-out last week. I so enjoyed reading everyone’s contributions. Evidently you overheard the San Francisco version of my husband and me on the street, too! I am always kvetching about routes—unless I choose them. I loved both your haiku (“air-kisses from the bay”) and “Running Late on California Street.” I tried to comment, but I have a feeling I drag around code like toilet paper on my shoe from my old WP blog about the local state park. It complicates some of my log-ins.

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  16. Karen Edmisten Avatar
    Karen Edmisten

    I love this so much! Knowing that you actually overheard all of these lines has me picturing the speakers even harder (if that makes sense) than I normally would.

    Oh, Nathan! Oh, Equity Guy! Oh, Fifteen-dollar omelettes! 😀

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Ha! That’s a hoot, picturing everyone, Karen. In addition to instructions, I hear a lot of I said to her/she said to me sorts of conversations. And lots about real estate. I hope that fifteen-dollar omelette was good. We’ll never know.

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  17. Liz Garton Scanlon Avatar
    Liz Garton Scanlon

    Thanks for inspiring us to try this form, Susan! I cheated and just used one overheard line as a jumping off point but still — I wrote a poem I otherwise wouldn’t have!

    And I LOVE this poem!! Trains are such great places for people watching and eavesdropping!

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Liz, I loved your poem! Using one line and running with it is a-okay. I didn’t even realize I’d framed this with a train ride until Buffy pointed it out. The last line came last, and subconsciously I must known that I needed it. Funny the way that works.

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