OULIPOST #15: serious case

serious case

science errors overrun
our neurons as memories
worsen in a serious
arms race never worn out since
we are now aware our cars
run on arms and our moon race
increases minor murmurs


I added the constraint of seven lines of seven syllables to "the prisoner's constraint," since I was feeling pretty challenged to make sense of the words themselves. You might call this "the prisoner's constraint squared."

Except for "moon," the words for this poem were sourced from "Why We Keep Losing Our Keys: Everyday Memory Lapses Hit at Any Age; Training to Find Things Faster" by Sumathi Reddy in the Health and Wellness section of the WSJ, April 15, 2014, D1-2.

The Prisoner's Constraint:
Imagine a prisoner whose supply of paper is restricted. To put it to fullest use, he will maximize his space by avoiding any letter extending above or below the line (b, d,f,g,h,j,k,l,p,q,t and y) and use only a,c,e,m,n,o,r,s,u,v,w,x and z. Compose a poem using only words that can be made from these letters AND which you source from your newspaper text. (The Found Poetry Review)