Poetry: “Massacre”

David — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 04:03:08 +0000

I think I might have a poetic thing that might be my speed and pretty “me.” But I’ll get to that later. We have poetry to read, damn it.

Here is a new blackout poem I managed to pull together during a little mental break at work.

“Massacre”

Who will survive 
real-life horror
what will be left

grave robbing and cannabalism
a reign of terror
an insane family

animal and human bones
a mask worn
molded from human flesh

massacre
bizarre and brutal
massacre

brutally real original crimes
what happened is true
now that's just as real

I had to fudge some elements of the stanzas below, but this is generally how I see it. For the most part, the structure is simply reading from top to bottom. I also chose three line stanzas for a relative sense of pace and a slight sense of unity.

And I did keep the spelling of “cannabalism” from the original ad copy.

I like it. The spelling, not the eating people.

A Thing, Perhaps?

I work a couple of jobs and finished my time today in one role, the writing center, only to head upstairs to my office for my office hours. However, I felt like I needed a break, so I searched archive.org and stumbled on a 1974 newspaper ad for the theatrical release of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I felt that spark and spent about 15 minutes or so finding my words and blacking them out. It felt good, I am pretty pleased with the result, and it provided a little mental break.

I also saw there is a nice collection of these kind of clippings and ads, so I think I might dive into more. It feels like it could be a fun little project that allows me some poetic practice while being a little crafty. Plus, it leans into my love of horror.

Win-win-win, I think.

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Poetry: “Water Budget”

David — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 02:04:28 +0000

I swear I do want to write poetry more regularly, but also, I am quite shy about it. But, I know the irony here is hilarious. I have no issue slinging prose, but the poetic form has me nervous about sharing.

It’s even more hilarious given the fact I am currently teaching poetry, right now, to eager creative writing students looking to explore different genres.

So here is a poem carved from a newspaper this Monday. My students tried there hands at blackout poetry and I could help doing the same myself.

“Water Budget”

Poem carved from a 1/26/26 LA Times article by Ian James.

Translated from my rather sloppy blackout work, the poem follows as such:

70% of water 
exhausted

3 billion people
are in decline 

excessive pumping of
major aquifers

worsens the
risk

water bankruptcy is
like financial bankruptcy

manage your
budget

Again, with regards to Ian James of the LA Times.

Blackout Poetry and Influences

Blackout poetry is very fun because as long as you can scribble and have a pool of words from a sheet of paper, you can create a blackout poem. It can emerge from a newspaper, a page from a book, or an office memo, for example.

When I think of blackout poetry I think of two people.

First is Austin Kleon, who did a TEDx Talk that I use in my English C1000 classes to introduce the concept of stealing like an artist. It is a valuable lesson for my students and they seem to largely enjoy the video.

The other person I think of is my former professor at CSUSM, Francesco Levato. He was newly hired to CSUSM when I approached him to serve as my thesis chair for my M.A., but he took to the task readily and I learned a lot from working with him.

One of the kindnesses he did for me after I had graduated was provide me with an opportunity to review his book Arsenal/Sin Documentos for a literary mag that sadly has vanished off the web. It was quite a great experience, and I wish I had saved a copy of the webpage.

In any case, Levato’s book is a fantastic work of blackout poetry with particular relevance to today:

Arsenal/Sin Documentos is a documentary poetics project that examines the criminalization of Latin American bodies through U.S. policy. It consists of a series of linked documentary poems composed of appropriated language from U.S. government documents, such as: the Immigration and Nationality Act; the U.S. patent for Taser hand-held stun guns; materials from the Office of English Language Programs designed to instruct immigrants on assimilation into U.S. culture; and the U.S. Customs and Border

From the CLASH Books publication listing for Arsenal/Sin Documentos

So I guess in a small way this little blackout poem reflects the kind of work he was doing in his collection, just not nearly as skillfully. Please check out his work over at his website while you’re here.