Dead Dream

Gatsby and Daisy in a Nutshell, basically. A Found Poem from when I was a tenth grader - every line is a quote from the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

A single green light, minute and far away;

  the orgastic future that recedes before us.

Gatsby put his hands in his pockets -

I left him standing there in the moonlight,

  in a block of delicate pale light.

He had committed himself to the following of a grail;

Of Daisy, gleaming like silver,

  whose disembodied voice floated along in the dark.

Her voice was like a wild tonic in the rain.

He began to talk, defending his name

Standing tragically, pale as death,

   but with every word she was drawing further and further into herself.

The clock smashed to pieces on the floor.

"You can't repeat the past."

And the dead dream slipped away

With little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves,

Borne back ceaselessly into the past

   to the last and greatest of all human dreams.

So I walked away and left him standing there,

Watching over nothing.

Author's Note

This is being submitted for the Poem A Quote contest. I'm not sure if this is quite what you had in mind - this poem is made entirely of quotes from a single source - but I figured I'd give it a shot!

Reviews

[Oblivion]

I like the way you pulled it all together, nice job and exceptional for tenth grade

[Arthur Crow]

This has a very unique and ethereal feel to it... the word play and emotion makes for a fascinating read. The lines are silky smooth yet sharply provoking. A lot of thought went into this, that is obvious, well crafted!

[Clockwork]

I agree that it is worth the shot. You capture the essence of the novel right here for all to sea. I think that this is the best found poem I have seen on wc. Well done.

[-Adam-]

I love what you have done with this poem. To tell you the truth it is not what I had in mind, but I did not specify to well. I almost like the way you have done it better, but anyways good write and thanks for entering my contest.