Found Poem

Destruction

Maybe he ain’t bright

He damn near killed his partner;

Bucking barley.

“You said I was your cousin, George”.

“Well, that was a lie,

An’ I’m damn glad it was,

If I was a relative of your,

I’d shoot myself”.

Poor bastard

“You gonna give me that mouse,

Or do I have to sock you”.

Crazy fool;

Blubbering like a baby,

Ain’t to be trusted;

Can’t keep a job,

Lost ever’ job [George] ever got.

Gets in trouble,

Does bad things and,

George bails him out.

Ain’t got no money

Nor any money to call his own.

Nowhere to go,

Ain’t that bright,

Jus’ a big guy,

And he lay there,

Quivering.

            For my found poem, I chose the word destruction. In the story “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, the only thing being destroyed is the self esteem of Lennie Small, by his friend George Milton. Throughout the story, George becomes increasingly hostile toward Lennie because he is not that bright and screws up every chance they get a real job. “You can’t even keep a job” (pg. 12). This shows that George doesn’t really believe in George and want to help him overcome his clumsiness. Georges anger and irritably toward Lennie comes to a climax at the end of the story when he becomes so frustrated that he kills Lennie. You hadda do it, George, you hadda…I know, I hadda do it” (pg. 107). This shows that George’s friends think that he was really helping Lennie when he killed him, but George felt remorse for his action and regretted his decision. He felt kind of sorry for Lennie, as he was tasked with taking care of him and he failed him. That is what the last quote of the poem is saying. The image connects to the story because it is like Lennie’s mind, destroyed by all of the abusive bombardment through out his life.