<p>Part of our revived "Poetry Pamphlet" series, <em>Two American Scenes</em> features two masters of the essay discussing "found material."</p><p>Excerpts: </p><p><em>It was given to me, in the nineteenth century,<br />to spend a lifetime on this earth. Along with a few of the sorrows<br />that are appointed unto men, I have had innumerable enjoyments;<br />and the world has been to me, even from childhood,a great museum.</em></p><p>— Lydia Davis</p><p><em>Bad rapids. Bradley is knocked over the side; his foot catches<br />under the seat and he is dragged, head under water. Camped on<br />a sand beach, the wind blows a hurricane. Sand piles over us like<br />a snow-drift.</em></p><p>— Eliot Weinberge </p>