Necessary Poisons is the perfect found poetry collection to lose yourself in while cooped up this winter. The origin story of Andrea Blythe’s new book begins with the inherently deconstructive nature necessary for found poetry. For those unfamiliar with the term, it involves an author choosing words on the pages of an already existing manuscript to create original work. The existing manuscript Blythe used for Necessary Poisons was Stephen King’s incomplete novel The Plant. There are also many varieties within the genus of found poetry. In the notes, Blythe explains that she scanned the pages of The Plant for words that stood out to her, then rearranged only these “found” words to create the individual poems that make up the collection.
Like the best found poetry collections, Blythe manages to create a story arc that weaves its way through the “red” of skin and flesh and bone and page. We’re witness to the evolution (and expansion) of a protagonist as the corporeal intertwines with the botanical, and the surreal oozes in the shadows alongside the philosophical. Amidst the junked novel subbasements and lyrical tendrils, the text remains hauntingly tangible and emotionally relatable. Plus, there are a ton of tasty lines in here. A passage in “This Unforeseen Country” reads: You shifted / like water, / smoke, or breath. You lost / surface tension. In the opening lines to “Never the Last Letter” we read: We live in an America / of Motel Six parking lots, / the ordinary zenith of hell—. Towards the end of “Sudden Botany” Blythe delivers the lines: You overturned my soil, / handled / my broad, dark green leaves / and tendrils. My growth / was extraordinary, and I / produced / a cold little flower.
There are so many gems here. It’s a quick, fun, and slightly disturbing read. But Necessary Poisons really shines when dipping back in for a second or third time, mulling over all the turns of phrase and upturned soil, and truly appreciating what can be created when you strip something down, loving tear it apart, and meticulously put it back together misshapen. A worthy read for longtime fans of found poetry and newcomers alike.
