This poem is an erasure. I leafed through the Madison Chronicle’s front section, chose four stories (hence the four stanzas), and picked words out in order but at random to form a prose poem (free form). There is another site, Erasures, which offers many paragraphs from famous authors, inviting you to click around and erase (or replace) words to create your own poem. I felt the topics in this particular paper calling to me. Peace, Amy
Monday, March 28 News
Man dumped still bleeding from car
at hospital died, believe stabbed at intersection.
Officials put two plus two together,
the fight nearby minutes before.
Gov. Walker’s budget would cripple network,
force police to close connections,
connect the dots.
“It would be like, you got a horse,
next week a mule,” said the chief. “It
could hurt the network Google.”
Japan’s nuclear plant dismissed,
an associated show. Confidence prompted
overly optimistic Earth,
the level of fury pushing to multiple meltdowns.
Ample waves before and again, clear
important network plates strongly coupled,
storing extra stress.
Weakened minor still around her apartment
but sometimes on her own fell to emergency.
The organ couldn’t matter; that can be
common among the residents,
a service to spring through.
Suffer in silence, afraid, falsely advancing, inevitable.
“It’s fun to hit a waitress as she lay on the floor.”
Help her. Step right up.
© 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
Joyce Cianciosi
Hi Amy-thanks for your last email. I have struggled with depression for most of my life. I am almost certain I have SAD even though it is undiagnosed. I have tried to fight it in the past but it shows up every year after Xmas and stays for the rest of the winter. I have given up trying to fight it. Any way that’s not really why I’m writing you. How do I get my hands on your chapbook. I know you aren’t in Attica anymore. I would also love to get my hands on a gospel cd of yours if it ever happens. The song I remember most is Jesus Said Love. It’s a great song! I hope you are doing well. Love, Joyce
Sharp Little Pencil
Joyce, Lex and I used to offer a worship service called “Blue Christmas,” also known as “The Longest Night,” which was for folks who get those Christmas depressions that last into the New Year. Just a chance to all get together and share our not-so-holly-jollies. Half the reason folks over-spend at Christmas is because they are trying to cheer themselves up… then the credit card bills come in and kerflooey… I have written you a sep. email about the SAD thing and Jesus Said Love. I may post the lyrics as a poem, so thanks so much for remembering! Bless you, Amy
Debbie
Thank you for the ministry/love to Joyce, that blesses me. Just because. 🙂 And for the poem. That was a great idea and definitely worked.
Sharp Little Pencil
Debbie, you are so thoughtful of others. Most of us have some sort of depression… we either try to pass it off as “a bad day,” paste a smile on, or simply avoid talking about it. I’m blessed to know that manic-depression runs in my family, because my mom was not too ashamed to talk about it, especially about her mom Blanche’s “Snake Pit” confines in the 30s. We have progressed a long way. Used to try to pray it away, but I could pray til my knees are raw from the kneeling and still be bipolar.
Bless you. Amy
vivinfrance
An eclictic mix that really works. The Japan story particularly moved me, though I’m not so sure about the line about storing extra stress. It seems this time that they unleashed extra stress, physically and metaphorically.
Sharp Little Pencil
Viv, thanks so much for pointing the “stress” line out to me. I meant is as a commentary on the Japanese tradition of keep your feelings to yourself, not showing the negative emotions, especially in front of strangers. Good call, Viv, because the erasure words available may not have been sufficient, so perhaps I would leave the line out if I submitted it. Thanks for the critique, sincerely! Amy
ladynimue
I liked what you did here !
The last para was most touching ..
Sharp Little Pencil
It was a new form for me, so I appreciate this comment. Thanks, Nimue! peace, A
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Nimue. It was the first newspaper erasure I did. Sitting in a coffee shop – a wild hair, you know how it is. Peace, Amy