Tag Archives: micropoetry

Zentangle #3

Posted on August 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

An evening spent with Jostein Gaarder’s “Through A Glass Darkly” (where the previous two zentagle poems have come from) brought about this piece.

invisible words
float between
each voice

you can lie with
a single word

what delicate instruments
when the window is shut

I can sometimes
see with my ears

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Reflection

Unlike other zentangle examples, I cannot doodle. I find it difficult. Shapes, patterns, scribbles, images do not figure in my thinking.

I see the page for the words and the meaning contained therein.

If I had the foresight I could have used the space within the speech balloons as a canvas for doodling but I preferred the blackness; the negative space to draw attention to the words.

Making art because art. No other reason. And that’s the thing. You art. You experiment. You play. As Neil Gaiman says, “Make good art.” Not sure this is good art but I’m making art.

I hope you’re making art, too.

Zentangle Poetry #2

Posted on August 8, 2016 | 2 comments

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I realise I am better at blackout/erasure poetry than I am at doodling for zentangle poetry. Not that I am going to give up creating zentangle poems; it’s admitting a limitation to a skill set I do not have mastery of.

I also realised I made this poem harder to read due to the division of the sections. It looks like a comic book format which makes the reading more complex as it divides the words in a way that I had not planned. It’s an error of planning on my part.

To read it, read across from left to right as you normally would and ignore the arbitrary divisions. Hope that makes sense.

Still learning. Still having fun creating.

2 Comments

Posted in Ars Poetica, Creativity

Tagged creativity, experimental, micropoetry, poetry, writing, zentangle poem

Zentangle Poetry #1

Posted on August 1, 2016 | 3 comments

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This is my first attempt at zentangle poetry. I have dabbled with blackout and erasure poetry in the past but zentangle poetry was unfamiliar.

Zentangle poetry is a combination form of blackout/erasure and found poetry where the author/artist adds an illustrative aspect to the poem. Think of an illuminated manuscript. But more scribbly. Google it for some quite stunning examples.

But why do it?

It’s another way of being creative; a short activity that can be done in between other tasks or in some down time, or a way to relax. There are colouring in books for adults so think of this as another form of colouring in.

The down side is the defacing of a book.

In this case it’s Jostein Gaarder’s Through A Glass Darkly. Might make a thematic approach as I work through this one or let the page decide what it wants to speak.

I love the tactile sensation of handwriting. My sister-in-law has a custom chalk wall in the foyer of her house. When I get the chance to play with chalk I do. Here are a couple of my initial experiments.

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Mixed typography but I’m happy with this.

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With additions from one of my nephews – this was done on Christmas Day. A little bit better than my first attempt after some research on my phone for typography.

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My very first attempt; the family was watching Carols on the television so I utilised the time for some creative play. Not very good for a first attempt but giving something a try.

I have plans in my head for new designs next time the wall is cleared from her boys having fun all over it. As you can see I’m still developing my calligraphy skills but that’s the joy of creativity.

Start small, make mistakes, continue to practice and improve.

All the while I need to sort out my Major Projects list and get back to them but these are good, fun activities to continue creative play.

Go and have some creative play.

3 Comments

Posted in Creativity

Tagged calligraphy, creativity, experimental, handwritten, micropoetry, poetry, writing, zentangle

Experimenting With Storybird Part 3

Posted on June 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

Here is a collated gallery of poems I’ve written using Storybird. I’ve blogged previous examples in Part 1 and Part 2. It’s magnetic poetry on the web.

I like the simplicity of the interface and the limitations of words you can use although sometimes I will refresh the words if there is nothing there but dross.

When I feel the need to be creative and only have limited time, it’s fun to pop in and play with words for a few minutes.

Enjoy wandering through the gallery.

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Hopes and Fears – A Poem and Deconstruction

Posted on June 22, 2015 | 2 comments

As I am wont to do, I write poetry on twitter to explore, experiment and elucidate.

This is today’s poem

Hopes and Fears

we are scared of our dreams;
not that our worst fears
will come to life
but the fulfilment of our hopes
will be the end of who we are

But I also have a good group of writing friends who are happy to pile on critique and feedback. Rob C suggested this: “This is great: simple-yet-complex, hugely poignant, heavily true. If you’ll allow a suggestion – ‘afraid’ instead of ‘scared’, for the softer sound, the more thoughtful intonation to match the philosophical backbone of the poem, and to match the ‘f’ sounds that run throughout.”

My response was this: It’s a little more philosophical than I am used to writing; there is no concrete imagery to ground the idea (my writing modus operandi), relying more on the intellectual to make it function.

Rob felt he may have overstepped the mark. He hadn’t. I said to him, “Nope; I like the feedback. Helps to see new things. It was written on the spur of the moment, as is most of my twitter poetry so refinement is not a part of the process. Some editing is involved but without depth. Comments help refine and edit, with the hope of putting it into an anthology in the near future.”

Writing is never a solitary act; it’s collaborative. I may write in isolation but my writing tribe helps me refine and improve my work.

So a simple suggestion, the replacement of a single word, has made the poem stronger.

we are afraid of our dreams;
not that our worst fears
will come to life
but the fulfilment of our hopes
will be the end of who we are

Finally, there is the reader who is involved in the construction of meaning. That’s you. What meaning do you make?

2 Comments

Posted in Ars Poetica, The Writer's Life

Tagged creativity, experimental, micropoetry, poetry, reflection, writers, writing, writing tips

Things To Throw Away – A Poem And Its Deconstruction

Posted on June 16, 2015 | 3 comments

This started as a poem on twitter and I thought I wanted to expand on the idea a little as a practice exercise.

Things to Throw Away:
the shaggy toothbrush
the unworn shirt
the leftovers
the poetry I wrote as a child
the fear I cannot do this

When I came to expand it, I saw the completeness of it; adding to it would be padding out the original idea, hastily written as it was.

Instead, let me explain why I chose the images and the final line. As an English teacher, this is what I get my students to do: deconstruct a text to see how the components fit together. Therefore it behoves me to do it to my own work, to understand what I am doing and why; to make conscious the unconscious.

I chose the images as concrete ones, specific items the reader would recognise, an item they could visualise in their own house. Each item contains the principle that they have been held on to for too long, or has outlived its usefulness.

I am known to hang on to toothbrushes for longer than is recommended, and it’s not a big effort to get a new one, but there’s a comfort in what is known. I could replace the shaggy toothbrush image with that of holey underpants for more of a giggle.

The image of the unworn shirt suggests an item that we hold on to because it was a gift, or it was something we want to fit into, but it’s another delusion of ourselves.

Leftovers in my fridge are either consumed immediately or linger like a lost soul, discovered when there is a culture of organisms breeding. Why do we do it? Neglect? Forgetfulness? Apathy?

Bad emo poetry; we all have to start somewhere as writers. I still have notebooks I wrote in as a teenager and I recognise the child that I was. Nostalgia holds very tightly onto objects of significance and is afraid to relinquish them.

The final line was always designed to be a twist, a shift from the concrete to the metaphysical and emotional. For me, a poem about emotions needs to be grounded in physical objects, a concrete image. It can also be done with clever similes or metaphors but I prefer physical descriptions (perhaps a weakness to strengthen – to think more poetically).

It’s about letting go, releasing yourself and being free of objects, memories or emotions that restrict your development. Would it help you to know it’s autobiographical?

There you have it. A poem and its deconstruction. If you disagree, have at it in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

3 Comments

Posted in Ars Poetica, The Writer's Life

Tagged analysis, creativity, deconstruction, experimental, micropoetry, poetry, writers, writing, writing tips

Absence – A Poem

Posted on June 6, 2015 | 2 comments

It’s been a week of rediscovering micropoetry, using the boundaries and confines of 140 characters on Twitter.

This poem was inspired by a comment from Australian author, James Bradley, on depression. His comment also inspired an idea for a short story I have written down and filed away for further development. Right now it’s on the compost heap, fed with scraps of thought until I see what sprouts.

Absence

Absence grows like a shadow
lengthening with the sun
and turns light to darkness
to fill the space
retreating at its turn
never disappearing

On reflection on the type of poetry I write, focused on the little things of the everyday, I resist the urge to use simile. Metaphor, or sustained metaphor, feels less jarring than the input of a simile. However for this one the imagery required the simile to set up the remainder of the poem and the final line.

Looking at it now, I could replace the first line with a metaphor, “Absence is a shadow,” and I feel it works better, making the link to the imagery cleaner and less like a teacher demonstration.

The other issue is the use of “its” (line 5) as it is unclear what is the subject of the preposition. I know “its” refers to the sun but that may be unclear to the reader and you want the imagery and lines to stand for itself, not require the reader to unpack the grammar to find out what is truly meant.

So, an edited version.

Absence is a shadow
lengthening with the sun
turns light to darkness
to fill the space
retreating at the turn
never disappearing

2 Comments

Posted in Ars Poetica, The Writer's Life

Tagged creativity, experimental, just because of thoughtfulness, micropoetry, poetry, writers, writing, writing tips

Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 4 – The End

Posted on February 28, 2015 | 1 comment

Welcome to the end of the official month of Post It Note Poetry (don’t stop writing Post It Note Poetry; I won’t be stopping, only slowing down the production) but its time has come to an end for this year.

28 days of poetry. 28 poems. 1099 words (of questionable merit). In reviewing the poems I wrote, I am proud of many of them. Others have the potential to be developed or refined further. Some should be consigned to the rubbish bin. However, the point of this month was to simply write, and with permission to write badly, so I wrote.

And now we have come to the last weekly recap. You can find the other weekly recaps here:

Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 1
Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 2
Post It Note Poetry Recap Week 3

At the end of last week’s recap I set myself a challenge to remix my own poems for the final week of Post It Note Poetry. I would take a single line from the poem and use it as the opening line of a new poem. Perhaps not so much a remix as an inspiration. Consequently it has opened up new ideas for next year with found poetry, other remixes and collaborations.

I found myself censoring lines, or thinking which lines might be good for the next day. It was a distraction from the poem at hand but I found the “OFF” switch to allow me to finish the poem. It may be easier to take the line from someone else’s poem because there is not the built in expectation of having to write something worthwhile. Maybe next year I’ll have another remix week where I borrow from other participants’ poems.

The poems are presented here in chronological order so you can see the progression, unlike previous weeks where they have been posted in reverse chronological order.

Thanks for coming along for the ride of Post It Note Poetry. It will be back again next year. I will be writing more Post It Notes poems from time to time. Be sure to check my tumblr, Post It Notes and Poetry, for posts and poetry updates.

Do you have any favourites? Leave yours in the comments.

1 Comment

Posted in Ars Poetica, Post It Note Poetry, The Writer's Life

Tagged creativity, experimental, microfiction, micropoetry, poetry, post it note, post it note poetry, reflection, slice of life, writers, writing, writing tips

Post It Note Poetry 2015 Recap Week 3

Posted on February 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

How have you been going this week? Have you had a chance to write something?

Here is this week’s recap of my Post It Note Poetry. You can also see the recaps for Week 1 and Week 2.

They are posted in reverse order (Sunday 22 Feb – Monday 9 Feb) and I’ve added in the inspiration behind each poem.

This week involved a lot of trawling through my notebook and pilfering half written ideas.

This poem was sparked by a random song lyric on the radio this morning on my way to playing drums at church this morning.

This poem came out of a line in my notebook about ourselves being a minotaur, a hybrid of the things we have created, and putting ourselves in a maze we created.

Another line from my notebook, sparked by one time when I was filling the ice cube tray. Sometimes I fill it cube by cube; other times I cascade the water until it is full. What does that say about my character?

No one remembers milk bars anymore; they are a relic of the past. I love watching the patterns made my shadows. Notebooks for the win for ideas.

Getting my wordy geek on. Finishing off a poem I was going to write last year (at about this time) as a longer exploration. Instead, the brevity worked better.

Another notebook find. I’m not happy with the end section of this poem; it is inconsistent with the first part.

I do not remember how this one came about as it was not an idea I took from my notebook. A photograph is, for me, a snapshot of one moment, one experience. It serves as a reminder of what was, but doesn’t speak of what will be.

Final Note

For the last week of the official Post It Note Poetry season, I thought I’d go for a remix week. I will take a line from the previous day’s poem as the basis for the next poem. Starting Monday I will write a new poem, and Tuesday will be the first remix.

Post It Note Poetry 2015 Recap Week 2

Posted on February 15, 2015 | 4 comments

This week I did not follow a theme for titles or content; I let the ideas sprout where they were sown. I might do a week of another theme or a week of found poetry. Haven’t decided yet. Or I might scatter some more seeds and see what comes out of the compost heap.

You can catch up on Week 1 here.

They are posted in reverse order (Sunday 15 – Sunday 8 February)