I’ve seen a few ‘page poems’ recently, where people take a page from a book and pick out words to make a poem/phrase.

It seemed like a fun challenge, so I grabbed three random books off the shelf, opened them to no particular page, took a photo, and had a go at finding myself some Page Poetry.

I was going to pick books I thought would make my life easier, but then decided there was no fun in that, so I chose a shelf and picked out the 3rd, 8th, and 14th books on it.

The first book was Scythe by Neal Shusterman, and this was the Page Poem I managed to glean from my random page… (yes, for anyone who has read it, that word choice was deliberate. You know I can’t resist word play.)

He scowled, before wishing he was cared for enough to earn her dreams

The second book was Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch…

Pale light rose hopefully outside.

I hurtle over the stunning silvery ocean, completely lost.

and, finally, I gave up.

The last book was Burial Rites by Hannah Kent and when I saw that I’d got this one, I knew I was in for a challenge, and that whatever this poem ended up being, it wasn’t going to be cheerful. But I tried my best!

The woman started shivering,

Coughed and tasted blood.

Reluctant.

Crying.

Coughed again. Blood.

Watching.

Dreaming.

Dying.

I decided using colours to depict ‘verses’ was easier than scrawling lines all over the page for that last one!

I quite enjoyed this as an activity, but if I do it again, I think I might choose my books more deliberately, if not the specific pages.

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