A Biting of Words

world summit to bring you weapons

a big fan not just of peace

these women never die grubby

once upon a future true heroes

finding joy in the gathering

curious love splash

blood and conservation make a bright ballet

seasonal monotone delights

poetic train giving tourists new voice

hand in hand a biting of words

This piece is from the 'shreadline' series 2005. Headlines from newspapers are cut up and placed in a bag - they can be from a particular paper on a particular day or a mixture. Five fragments are picked out at random. The player has to create a new line using at least three of the fragments. This series were all ten line poems. Each line is a 'shreadline'. Another action is to take each 'shreadline' and use it as the 'headline' for a new story.

The process is one of physical literary detournement.

I have run intervention pieces using the 'shreadline' process both on the street and other settings - passers-by being encouraged to pick out fragments and make a shreadline sticking it directly on to a sheet of cardboard to make a collaborative piece that works both visually and as a piece of text - a poem.

paul conneally