Flarf

Coincidentally, we talked about Flarf in my creative writing class today. I had never heard of this genre of writing until this past week, and now I’m on Flarf overload. As stated in the reading, Gary Sullivan devised this style of writing more of a joke than a creative outlet. He intentionally tried to make the worst, most nonsensical poem, and, well, he succeeded. While I do find it mostly hilarious that he actually submitted his satirical poem, I find it really hard to wrap my head around the idea of people’s dedication to the creation of this work. I’ll admit, it’s funny and pretty enjoyable to concoct my own Flarf poetry. But I don’t know what purpose it really serves other than this self-serving one. The irony of the whole thing is probably what impedes me from digging too far into it: making something “creative” out of someone else’s creation. Nonetheless, they can be fun to read. During my creative writing class, we made a list of 10 different Google search phrases and then wrote down a couple lines of the results. The following is the Flarf poem I came up with that is devised of about 85% direct quotes from the list of search terms and results. Enjoy.

Mama says don’t drink the Kool-Aid
when I stop and go for a drive
With your pants on the ground
and your head held high,
you will go to sleep or I
will put you to sleep.
Mama says don’t drag your butt on the ground
with your shirt of nails and your potty pants.
Mama says just say no to their rainbow of flavors
an overloaded scolding.
Mama says have a glass of shut up.