What are the rules for found poems?

[milo]

Can you switch out little words like 'and, 'the'? Or does it have to be an exact quote? Can you mix in thoughts and images of your own, a half-and-half approach?

My immediate problem is that I have a person selected who has intriguing views and philosophies, but doesn't use much imagery/simile/metaphor in her speech. She's doing interviews and such, so she's factual -- answering questions and the like. So.....I've reached an impasse.

How do YOU approach found poems?

What's the proper way to cite the quote-ee?

I agree with Ray in that they should be called "read-mades" in the spirit of Duchamp and the dadaists.  THere is a full discussion of this concept somewhere on this site.

In my opinion (which isn't necessarily worth much) any changes to the original source should be noted.  My favourite technique for ready-mades is to take an existing text and change the meaning entirely by using a title that juxtaposes it.

Here are a few of mine:

http://www.pigpenpoetry.com/thread-13960.html

http://www.pigpenpoetry.com/thread-13976.html

http://www.pigpenpoetry.com/thread-13959.html