Found Poem: Lost in woods on subzero night (#SOL15, Day 8)

2.18.15 newspaper from Portland, Maine

A few weeks ago I was in Maine and as I was sipping some coffee in a local place, the headline from a newspaper someone had left behind caught my eye: "Lost in woods on subzero night, two teens
survive on smarts."

I quickly read the story about the two teenagers, Tyler and Jonah. At the time I was uncertain as to why I was snapping pictures of the story--but it felt like a potential poem--a found poem. I wrote the poem from Jonah's point of view.

Lost in Woods On Subzero Night

9 p.m.
below zero
lost in the Maine woods
after the Arctic Cat quit.

Stay calm
keep moving.


Me & Tyler walked through knee-deep snow,

Scared.

Lost in Woods (Reilly, 2015)

    I'd have gone a little crazy
             out there
             in the middle of the woods
             without him:
                 (I trust this kid
                 with my life
                             my life).


            Show me a sign.

            Come on.

            Show me a sign.



Find shelter
build a fire.




Tyler says:

A shooting star
goes down
and that's where the storage shed is.
We tore boards off, 

broke the lock 

to get inside--used a fire starter:

                             Gasoline & a broken sign.


We spent the night

           huddled

and
                                          waited

               waited

                          waited.



At dawn
we walked out.

We walked
                     across the ice
found that road
that led us here
now

                           alive.