Recycled poetry

I came across an exhibit where an artist, with restraint
had composed entire pieces using only discarded paint
a record of old projects, given life anew
and so it got me thinking, is that something I can do? 

But the words that I cut off from the end of lines
do not simply lay discarded in the corner of my mind
the feelings that don't fit into a poem I'm trying to tell
will always bubble up into another work as well

There is not a poem that I've written, except perhaps the very start
where the poem did not build upon the oeuvre in my heart
it's good for the environment to not let such words go to waste
so for the sake of such ideals let me write again with haste 

But to not add something new, from who I am today?
I'll admit I would find it a challenge to write in such a way
let me build upon the past, but maybe with a test
to make sure those old ideas never truly lay to rest

***

With thanks to Eric Butcher, whose art inspired this work