Reading about flarf and conceptual writing in Poetry Magazine I went back to my own experiments in this area, at the turn of the century. This poem, written in 1999, which took my unpublished 80,000 word novel and continually re-used Microsoft Word’s summary tool until it just became a short lyric poem, was published in the Rialto.
Being a summation of the novel ‘High Wire’ using Microsoft® tools
Adam asked:
Adam cut short the call.
Adam smiled, mouthed a greeting.
Adam sighed.
Adam laughed.
‘Naughty, Adam.’
Adam walked on, unsteady.
Adam became an enemy.
Adam hesitated.
Adam smiled.
Adam smiled again.
‘Okay,’ agreed Adam.
Adam sighed.
Adam asked.
Adam fell silent.
Adam waited.
Adam answered truthfully.
Adam nodded.
Adam waited.
Adam shook his head.
Adam waited.
‘Hello,’ Adam said.
Adam waited, parked up on a yellow.
Adam walked in.
Adam insisted, speaking louder, moving closer.
‘I don’t understand,’ Adam said.
Adam asked, finally.
Adam was silent.
Adam laughed, shrugged.
Adam looked confused.
Adam emptied his glass.
Adam shook his head.
Adam turned.
‘Christ, Adam.’
Adam shook his head.
Adam felt angry.
Adam looked over.
‘Nobody’s interested Adam.’
Adam paused.
Adam laughed.
Adam snorted.
‘Hello, Adam, it’s about time.’
Adam walked, now in front.
‘How much, Adam?’
Adam felt a serene contentment.
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