thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs

[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 30: The fever

like day and night calling to each other, you plead it down to convention; chance will live right behind your eyes where it’s cold enough to steam

keep the watch and when the watch is over then there is only the fever troubling to credit memory

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 67 to 82 (and last line is from the 'afterword') in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 30 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 29: Rational blessings, closed with a quote

for j.

hope was the only thing she saved, a copy of nothing

I’d like to be surprised but I expect some of our stars are the same

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 340 to 351 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 29 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 28: In this slack moment

a small movement of a saint’s ethereal smile; scraps of rites of a type she understood, heir to each other, with a kind of recognition

she took a breath, overriding the body, expanding between evidence for and evidence against

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 85 (title) and 77 to 82 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 28 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 27: Like a new silence in the bellowing dark

in our common squalor of expression the sun splintered like a headache, a scattering of dots as mute and crooked as Orion

you live right behind your eyes— you have to get along with them, so they won’t hold out on you

tumble out of thin air into long distance time, the phone was filling with an audience; her first direct evidence of courage

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 67 to 78 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 27 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 26: It’s not too late

steal anything bright with no time to think why

time’ll temper you three-quarters of the way, but it’s not too late to like attention

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 181 to 188 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 26 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 25: Like it were possible

old memories breathed on her; recent memories, a panic in the throat

memories of something durable, like it were possible for him to touch her across the silence of the bones

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 118 to 120 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 25 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 24: A curious favorite

any music but sounds that bore the slightest resemblance to English

any color but the brass of the constellations, imposing zodiac signs on relationships of convenience

any conventions other than coveting what we see every day, early the belief that first to mind was first to heart

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 266 to 284 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 24 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 23: Gaps in time we can relate to

elaborately casual tension each shiver a thin papercut

a body designed for long stakeouts

his breathing was regular as daylight but you ease out before sunrise

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 317 to 339 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 23 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 22: The Young and the Restless meets the extremely tedious

just about everything can be an idea, a place better than this

my word processor was tantalizing

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 318 to 320 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 22 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 21: Like music out of sync with sound

with much experimentation is much heartbreak

youth is a true challenge

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 267 to 273 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 21 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 20: After the lights were out

separate from the person he had held upon the bed and he held now in his mind

she was just empty air converted to electricity

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 264 to 274 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 20 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 19: She recognized many of the labels

[Content warning: assault]

most young women had been searched, even without the traces of fingerprints.

smooth surfaces grabbed in the parking lot; a crude imitation of valuable

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 201 to 202 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 19 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 18: I’m just here for the microwave popcorn

incoming and outgoing, searchers with big hands intent as a lizard, or a privileged kid

register anomalies in every room, the best things in the refrigerator

look old in the daylight, those cheap rummagers

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 200 to 207 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 18 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 17: Problem-solving is hunting

courage earned things and longings helped themselves

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 307 to 315 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 17 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 16: Break the fourth wall

aware of the space she filled, she would roll over just to feel his heart beat against her back

every place has a moment of the day in which it looks best you learn that time and you look forward to it

to our last memory of peace

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 272 to 338 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 16 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 15: There was a catch

a creative fever does not prepare you for work

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 266 to 273 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 15 2021.

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[thepoeming-stanzaofthelambs]

April 14: What do your disciplines tell you

I’m not sure you get wiser as you get older but you do learn to fight with nails as well as fists

to need more than resolution, to be the keenest instrument

[This is a found poem made of words located on pages 140 (title), and 125 to 136 in the source text.]

Source text: Harris, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. 1988. April 14 2021.

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