From Oulipost 2014: Petroleum Picnic, Water Bowl

As part of Oulipost 2014, one of the Oulipo  techniques we used was to take a close look at advertisements and classifieds. The technique is called COLUMN INCHES. Here are the instructions from the Oulipost 2014 playbook:

Refer to the advertising section or the classifieds in your source newspaper. Create a poem by replacing all of the nouns in your chosen ad segment or classified listing with nouns from one article in the same newspaper. You may use multiple ads/classifieds, presented in the order of your choosing.

This would be a fun warm-up exercise for a writing group or as a warm-up exercise for yourself. If you need some inspiration, check out the abundance of creative poems written by the other Ouliposters on the Found Poetry Review page for the column-inches poems.

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Petroleum Picnic, Water Bowl

WANTED 

10 15 histories 

that need popularity 

10 15 wars needed to “SHOWCASE” our amazing fact-like

exterior reason-stories. A great opportunity to have the remarkable

HOOSIER PERMANENT EXPLOSIVES MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

applied to your property at huge subsidies. Have your city or county

looking freshly painted forever! Made in a reservoir! Hoosier owned! 

Fat-rendering appearance	Looks like fresh money
1,200 heart attacks	Meets EPA health concessions
No artificial blast furnaces	Great for all grasslands and schools

Call now for a free coke oven.

Poem Sources:

Indy Star 14 Apr 2014.

advertisement was found on page A2

nouns taken from the following article:

Slabaugh, Seth. "Muncie Water Bowl auction." A9