Here are 25 examples of poems created with digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self. I did not create these poems 1-2-3 by clicking the “generate new text” button and then copying the text from 25 successive runs. Instead, I took what looked good to me in one run and then combined it with what looked good in subsequent runs until I had a five-stanza poem I thought looked pretty good. Then I went on to collect five more stanzas for the next poem, and so on, until I had 25.
Although I took liberties by selecting stanzas from multiple runs, I did not take liberties with the text. The text is 99% (or more) what digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self actually generated. (I just tweaked it ever so slightly to change a pronoun here, a conjunction there, and so on). I could’ve tried to make the poems better with more extensive revisions, of course–but that I did not do. I wanted these examples to faithfully show the text that digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self generates.
But what I did in these examples does show how I envision that digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self can be used for poetry creation — take what looks good from one or more runs, revise it as needed, and discard the rest. Or take an idea that a digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self suggests and run with it. And the hope is that digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self contains enough good text or suggests enough good ideas to get you to write some really good stuff.
If you are intrigued by these examples, and want to generate digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self on your own, click download digital found poem Songs of my pathetic self.
Examples
song of my pathetic self (1)
i
this is a poem
at the hour of leaving
a poem about our creation and our fall
risking it all
at the next address
ii
what now
now that i’ve invented facts
i’ve trembled all over
in the way
i’ve remarked on the sum of this silence
puzzling over a hellish defeat
iii
it’s all here
the fallout of a few words
trying to work things out
iv
we’re bound by
these unfortunate motives
the phony explanations
this may not mean anything
frailties were never like this
v
these awful ultimatums
to what good
this epic meanness
blind to what was going on
…
song of my pathetic self (2)
i
you ask
can it get any lonelier
what do you want me to say
what was it all good for
ii
i’ve calculated a gloom
that returns
as we trade cold words
our chaos is reliving the past
iii
if everything’s amiss
what’s left over
if there’s nothing left to build upon
why did i let it all unravel
iv
being was never more hurtful
than with the house for sale
with the useless asking for the heartache to stop
v
love you said
love is
i don’t know
a display of life’s lifelessness
on the list of who’s next
…
song of my pathetic self (3)
i
what do i know of
yesterday’s hurt
the writer’s wicked hopes
with love come to nothing
ii
our love was this inescapable suffering
our love was cheaper emotions
you and i were creating this fiction
on 538th way
in this country town
iii
who was it that withdrew
reaching beyond the way of the dead
who endured
facing the wages of every day
the same as ever
iv
while others are going to work
i’m exposed to this script
i’ve been cursed by my feeling broken
trapped in time
i’ve focused on eyes full of tears
pointing out a biblical nonsense
afterwards too
v
as always
it’s
the parts of us
we failed to fix
as always
it’s
these unfortunate artifices
most revealingly
having lost control of the situation
…
song of my pathetic self (4)
i
there are evenings when
a callous sky has closed in
and
agony pervades
with no poetry
no music
ii
from things so delicious
to this irrevocable pain
from evening kisses
to this worthless unhappiness
how did we get here
iii
we’re walking on j highway
in carlisle in the evening
where drunkards are mistreating everyone they encounter
and junkies have no shame
why did everything go so wrong you ask
and i say who isn’t tired of the bickering
we’re misjudging everything
still pretending
getting back to the same old madness
truth be told
iv
maybe i am waiting to be seen
maybe i am battling
as i’m eyed by the incorrigible characters on this stage
this isn’t me
v
how it will be
is moment by moment
standing six feet apart
…
song of my pathetic self (5)
i
of what use
these ready-made impulses
the dark possibilities
living like this
ii
a sunflower in a vase
these desperate excuses
more twisted figures
as a bus leaves for san gabriel
the enemy can’t be seen
iii
who is it that’s trying to earn a living
who is it that disagrees with everything
in the crucial passage
you are missing something
again
imagining the hurt of twilight
iv
on a day just like this
chagall might’ve stressed a dark aching
as the sun slipped behind the mountains
he might’ve faltered
as of old
getting back to the relics of a horrible humor
in strange basements
v
we teach each other
thursday’s gloominess
trying to live with the anguish of heaven
near the docks
crossing new london square northwest
running against the clock
on the way to the grave
…
song of my pathetic self (6)
i
so be alone at a table for two if you want
and be that woman on the bus
you are yearning for oblivion
at a loss about us
ii
look how entirely irritable we are
we who’ve spoiled everything
repeating the same things over and over
we who’ve felt sorry
as predictable as this obscene chaos
iii
a piece of a worthless misconception
has continued
a surplus of absence
touches me
that’s the nature of things
there’s always hell to pay
iv
it’s not a question of waging war on all fronts
nor a question of trying to measure up
a rotten equivocation doesn’t care
v
i’m hurting myself
as clouds drift to the north
fear is all that’s left
…
song of my pathetic self (7)
i
so what if hades gasps
so what if the shops close
the craziness lies in wait
taking up space
down in the underworld
ii
who knows the truth of
these unfortunate epiphanies
a god-awful doom
the weight of the inescapable suffering
doesn’t matter much
iii
mine is an intense melancholy
going through the motions
in my emerald imagination
iv
i’m finding myself screwing things up
provoked by this savage gloom
i’m seeking what will suffice
v
this madness
does what it can
in any case
to the sound of a closing door
…
song of my pathetic self (8)
i
anyway
the ending never mattered
anyway
it’s all happened a million times before
i’ve stood in a doorway
in a big way
i’ve been unsure of what should’ve gone where
out of necessity
in a rabbit hole
ii
just like us
the dead have screwed up
mentioning rehashed neuroses
seeing past iciest propositions
as the crimson leaves begin to fall
they consider their rehashed provocations
faced with the facts of what went wrong
iii
everything i’ve dealt with
begs to differ
as words stream by
fear is cruel
iv
why am i understanding nothing
why am i living on empty
v
what it’s worth
has gone on forever
grappling with a catalogue of a painful isolation
surrounded by red forget-me-nots
…
song of my pathetic self (9)
i
here we are
roaming the streets alone
turn after turn
in any case
we’re pointing out matters of religion
asking a thousand questions
ii
you may think
i’m kind of blue
awake to this endless trouble
without all the pleasures of the evening
without the sweetness of love
and that’s okay
but know i’m just taking aim
connecting the dots
in unsettling basements
iii
who doesn’t make do with this looking-glass oblivion
who doesn’t underscore these worn out odds and ends
iv
did we expect to be this sad
is this really what we expected
nobody’s here anymore
v
it is agony that is raising hell
everybody knows it
at intervals
i don’t recognize myself anymore
as black holes feed on distant stars
it’s all happened a million times before
…
song of my pathetic self (10)
i
it’s always like this
it’s all a blur
this is nothing
that hasn’t been said before
the failure laughs at us
asking nothing anymore
sure enough
ii
isn’t it always like this
who’s to blame
the absurdity is urged on
iii
this is about the hell we live in
this is about a broken belief
i’ve been cursed by what we did and did not do
unsure of what’s about to happen
iv
so it never ends
friendship by itself is seldom enough
life will go on
it all seems so crazy
v
remnants of everything
at a table for three
your ifs and buts
waiting for better days
…
song of my pathetic self (11)
i
when the wounded die
it’s unbelievable
the world we knew is gone
ii
maybe i’m in danger
maybe i’m entangled in dead ends
going beyond this new-made loneliness
by trial and error
iii
someone’s phone is ringing
who knows what’ll happen
did i say that i loved you
where’s the little girl with her american doll
i’m hiding away
i’m losing everybody
iv
what was it you said
a car backfires
the graceless gypsy kings laugh at us
it’s no lie
v
running off
by the old church
in this discernable grief
the sequence of things
as it continues to rain
…
song of my pathetic self (12)
i
i tell myself not to care
as everything becomes more pointless
sicklier performances
as the sun sets over the violet sea
ii
i am myself
faced with nothing but uncertainty
i am rethinking the stop signs
second-guessing everything
iii
by stir crazy
i see you talking to francisco
are we the fools who did this
who knows what i am dreaming
iv
repeat after me
there is no second chance
there is no second chance
with a worthless accent
before the whole world
reality has gotten the better of me
navigating these biblical hang-ups
as people come home from work
v
botching life up
living like this
there’s always failure to account for
no one seems to understand
…
song of my pathetic self (13)
i
there might have been too
for no particular purpose
in the company of the snowman
these childish vices
these dual identities
as i’m forced to take vicodin for tmj
they swear that it’s so
ii
what it all meant
who knows
the entrepreneur of intent sits down to dinner
burdened with all those little white lies
iii
you’re the amorist they say
and i’m
the dimensions of loneliness
lying awake
iv
the making of grief
perchance
won’t let it lie
for no cause
in a house full of
beggars
v
the melancholy
of living
for the most part
it wasn’t supposed to come to this
…
song of my pathetic self (14)
i
i longed for you again today
i found myself at war with myself
imagining the infinite excesses
i was
discouraged by what happened yesterday
far from the limelight
in this tiresome stillness
ii
here i am
a world apart
here i am
just scraping by
as time stands still
i am charting these patterns repeating themselves
iii
how exhausting it all is
this violent agony
these nasty details
so never-ending
iv
why didn’t i see this coming
and
how did i end up here again
…
song of my pathetic self (15)
i
i’ve learn to see through
the whole of being
the despair
of all that is
in fragments
the anatomy of the craziness of the night
it doesn’t matter
it is often so
ii
between the art of misery
and the grief of these ill winds
frustration is dreadful
twisting and turning
like so many other things
iii
tonight i too can write the saddest lines
i too have detailed the failure of existence
aging poorly
iv
as the radio plays starsailor
i’ve served my time
an uncensored fiction
on the heels of these sadder headlines
i gather
v
lavender
and slow
the disappointment slips in unseen
mixing water with the wine
falling into the gutter
…
song of my pathetic self (16)
i
there will be someone
starring in barefoot in the park
and there will be someone
stepping on toes
making do with darker messages
taking measure of these unkind suggestions
in the ghostly light
ii
i’m stuck in the past
i’m beyond understanding
struck by the narrative of what’s left to come
iii
these ghostly imaginings
the way you’re supposed to be
giving voice to the chaos of the night
with this cosmic crying
under this yellowish light
the whole world is in trouble
iv
i think of each of our days together
dearie
i’ve survived things beyond my understanding
i am with half a heart
acting on imperfect evidence
dearie
confirming these unfortunate choices
v
is it always this confusing
what story should i tell
…
song of my pathetic self (17)
i
it’s the darkness of the sky
it’s the child inside
as the agony resumes
time sits quite still
ii
i’ve been dragged along by the dissolution of a deadly jealousy
the unfathomable
without self-worth
in the last light
iii
out on the town with friends
we are the cause of this drama
we sit without speaking
in this part of the play
you are lights out
and i’m wishing not to hurt anymore
iv
tell me
what led us to this point my sweets
what led us to this point
i’m trying to keep from breaking
on the drive back to brunswick
pondering the specifics of what this all adds up to
v
evidence of human existence
outlined in chalk
the relics of the moon
in a whisper
as you turn up scouting for girls
on the radio
…
song of my pathetic self (18)
i
tell me
did i say that i loved you my pretty boy
did i say that i loved you
i’m crossing a line
i’m saying goodbye
without conclusion
by the light of day
ii
oh to be the best at breaking down
to harp on
the despair
of nothing
the stinging of longing
for other people
iii
that detached wanderer deceit
did laugh at amour through doors not meant for us
i’ve disclosed the way there
in no small measure
i’ve described our creation and our fall
the same as ever
bit by bit
iv
what it feels like is
these old-world improprieties
stuck here
crying and carrying on
v
the dailiness of our disintegration
on an altered course
earlier nightmares
in every act
as jackhammers shake the earth around us
…
song of my pathetic self (19)
i
is this what you wanted
the earth’s mad existence
the misery
of this place
slouching against a wall
in an insane drama
on the plains of waterloo
ii
i’ve been confronted by these awful complications
the ingredients of meaning
carlisle’s wicked necessities
in a catalogue of bedeviling impossibility
exactly as before
iii
i’m in jeopardy
in light of substantial intrigues
the making of afternoon
sounding out these ongoing inconsistencies
iv
these are the days of
blowing up
the days of all-consuming fear
as a shrill siren wails
the destitute poets laugh at us
v
the parts of the alternatives
in this plot
these strange choices
without fail
as the actors take their places
…
song of my pathetic self (20)
i
why do we do this
turning away from the goings-on of world
we are all asleep
on i-48
good grief
ii
i’m not sure of what the point is
puzzling over these iciest fears
panicking about everything
iii
what caused
these defective parts
in one way or another
it’s best not to think about this too much
iv
as the audience looks on
as forests are burning all around us
nobody cares
v
just another word
for the time being
ugliest emotions
with no one understanding
as a guy decides to drop dead
across the street from the doctor’s office
…
song of my pathetic self (21)
i
inbox full of
these shameful decrees
the gloomiest outcome
as we forget how it was
everything is as it was
ii
poets in search of anguish
review separation
musing about the randomness of every day
iii
these outworn digressions
maybe
the moody dialogues
with a new storm brewing
as uncertainty waits and watches
iv
cold shoulders
line after line
a thought of what’s about to happen
v
the toxic flaws
now and then
a colorless chaos
in shady backrooms
it’s not lost on anyone
…
song of my pathetic self (22)
i
i know how it feels to be
itemized
know what it’s like to be
sold short
i’ve been dispirited by a lonely routine
i’ve been forever null and void
ii
all day
a rehash of what life didn’t offer
unceasing sentences
a little at a time
iii
in the dead of autumn
the memory of what awaits
the outlines of this day
at midnight in the garden
with nothing more that could be done
iv
it was raining again today
i was grappling with the otherness of this absurdity
and you
you were running for cover
under a moon so fatal
v
and am i darker than this seraph
am i unprepared for the disappointment of sunrise
heartache
in a primrose hat
can’t be bothered
hiding under a stone bridge
where doom perpetuates itself
…
song of my pathetic self (23)
i
these careless quarrels
blow by blow
these useless limitations
on cue
ii
everything judged
everything jerked around
hereabouts
everything at intervals
everything never the same
just as before
as the flood waters refuse to recede
there is no certainty
iii
how painful everything is
hurt has gotten no easier
and
it’s all just because
iv
this is the frustration
that has set in
unflaggingly
with impunity
v
the grief of the dark
out of the blue
nastier provocations
across so many distances
it never made sense
…
song of my pathetic self (24)
i
stepping on toes
with a craftsman’s care
taking off the mask
at the wrong time of day
ii
it’s a woman’s lonely heart
it’s the perpetual misunderstanding
as history repeats itself
this is what it’s like
iii
i’m not sure of
what will happen
i’m not sure of
how i imagined it
each day is the same
this grief has spoiled the game
iv
as our love slips away
the world’s gone crazy
that’s what we get
v
you get tired of it
the madness the world over
the nasty goodbyes
in the company of swallows and foxes
reciting fatal nursery rhymes
…
song of my pathetic self (25)
i
if i were to be treading carefully in this gaping emptiness
if i were to be unsure of how all this happened
would it matter
i am drawing wrong conclusions
trapped in deeper differences
ii
what ails us
who knows
as the sunrise sneaks up on people sleeping in the alley
we’re pierced by the very thing that hurt so much
iii
it all comes down to this
the pretense
the failure of everything
as i carry the groceries inside
you see how people suffer
iv
why am i telling you this
how did we get here
v
the anguish of the morning sun
on this parched earth
too many things at once
have come undone
…
