David Armano has just posted about changing his perception of some spam e-mails from ‘nonsensical gibberish’ to ‘poetry’. It reminded me of the time I used a series of spam e-mails to create a piece for a poetry class assignment.
I’m usually unconvinced by ‘found’ poetry (it feels a bit like cheating) but this was good fun, and the spammer/computer was a pretty good poet. S/he (or it) stuck to three-line stanzas with some beautifully fractured recurring phrases. I’ve never been so disappointed when someone stopped spamming me!
Here’s the poem:
Re: \/1CODDIN, CODEI1NE. V1AAGRRA, XANAA; C1AAL1S, \/ALLIUM & MORE MEDS AT CHEEAP shining end off
leader light beautiful out wife
similar promised
here find or
companion yours supposedto similar
fascinate allow edge or out added
teach very wife sandwich
halogen phipps toastmaster coincident refractory
ellipse myrrh inn oaf incommensurable
lignite apiece
anything edge am
a evening again studied reference suddenly
the raise happened goes
benefit why side out different
how being wrong yours
human young respect servants
teach my promised why is corner
purpose next explain
off tying companion letters companion different
letters latter beautiful find
immediate here supposedto
make why companion whom fly supposedto