W i n d o w / S u n s h i n e

found/erasure poems by Timothy Dailey-Valdés, using Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews as a source text (a project for The Poeming / National Poetry Writing Month, April 2019)

[windowsunshine]

April 15, 2019: he found himself

having caught sight of seeing,

it seems

he saved his life.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 16-17, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 14, 2019: EXTRAORDINARY strange

O, terrifying America

of the CAPTURED MILLIONS,

THIS IS passion and peril

locked away

following the lives of the innocent

and the devoted;

a selfish, immediate career.

Found poem/erasure/remix. Source text: Back cover, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 13, 2019: this book is unauthorized

you should be aware.

This is work,

actual persons living

by Parternship

or portions thereof.

please contact .

Found poem/erasure. Source text: copyright page, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 12, 2019: glad, sinful, or not [🏳️‍🌈]

I belonged to Dorothy

the rainbow

never noticed without hesitation.

I left

I knew

I came out

and felt strange ease.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 325-327, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 11, 2019: what are we?

skip that part

for the cutting room later

Tomorrow’s another forgotten

super-abundance

wild crackling

or torn on the way to the fire,

a matter turned underfoot,

and I in a dim room

waiting to depart.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 111-113, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 10, 2019: [Untitled, or Sic Transit Gloria Mundi]

beloved nothing,

you are not yourself,

radiant pity

turned sideways

waiting for forgetting.

the best,

They’ll bear your name

heavily and fancy

just like God

regally high

today or tomorrow.

too much

like Christmas Day wrapped in satin.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 293-299, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.) Note: “Sic transit gloria mundi” (not from source text) - Ecclesiastical Latin, literally “Thus passes the glory of the world,” or “Thus passes earthly glory.” More info here.

[windowsunshine]

April 09, 2019: [untitled hagiography of a saint tossed overboard]

a martyr drowning

unable to take it all back

whirled about

in the purple.

some idiot.

Then, again, suppose.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 301-303, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.) Note: Original pseudo-title, not from source text.

[windowsunshine]

April 08, 2019: Secretly flat

scarlet hours

gold static

brown chrysanthemums

red hopes

black pajamas

bright blue paradise

wide open eyes

Found poem/erasure/???. Source text: p. 179-182, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 07, 2019: Safe sleep

Now hear it break

quiet

b u t

severely alive.

your wind-rumpled whispers

keep away those days of gnashed teeth

the wing of tears

the train crying in the night.

For the first time

the situation won’t be so bad.

dreams

sweet prayer

and

     y

     o

     u

against my chest.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 46-51, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 06, 2019: I won’t embarrass you

Let it suffice

Perhaps

this ‘good enough’ love.

we had to change everything

to get to who we are.

Listen

and see.

I am here,

You and I,

here.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 99-100, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 05, 2019: A day came

when little games seemed

haunted and daily and wrong.

It moved,

the truth, the pain.

My eyes wouldn’t see.

It’s the reason

You want to

Name it.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 173-175, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 04, 2019: We want the garden

Take us to the rosebud star,

grand tigress, lap-dog, silent twin,

to a diamond mountain where siren howls mumble

buttercup quiet

Without an audience.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 85-88, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 03, 2019: what I’ve found

I was drawn to names,

wanted the windows opened wide

or to burn in amber yellow delight

and laugh not caring what swarmed

There.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 70-73, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 02, 2019: survive

survive

    you have to

Life

    is not as terrible as you think.

Found poem/erasure. Source text: p. 23, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)

[windowsunshine]

April 01, 2019: Prologue

A Goodbye, At Last, to Endings

To The Wrath of Our Daddy The Road God

And My Stepfather The Blue Winter Rain,

and of Momma Christmas, Momma Riches, Mother Heaven

Grandmother’s Garden     The  House     Its Repercussions

Find a Friend One Afternoon

     Escape, Grow Up Wiser

Make a Story

Like One Long Summer Holiday

Taste The Minutes Growing To Hours

     Exploration and Color For All Days

Found poem/remix. Source text: Chapter titles, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (New York: Pocket, 1979. Print.)