Thursday, April 24

Posted by Laurel Garver on Thursday, April 24, 2014 8 comments
a concrete poem
by KD
This poem is proof that shape poems can be sophisticated, not simply clunky, childish strings of words fancied up using gimmicky typography. (There are plenty of examples of the latter online, however).

True confession: I don't exactly know who wrote this untitled piece and would love to give better attribution. I found it on someone's Tumblr page. I'd happily backlink the author if I could get an identity. My only clue is that this is someone from the Midwest or northern US or possibly Canada, where they use "anyways" rather than "anyway."

My favorite phrase here is "softer than the velvety chocolate inside of your vendor croissant."

What lines or images strike you?

8 comments:

  1. I have to admit that concrete poetry is one of my least favourite things in poetry. It seems to be about shape and form, rather than the language.

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    1. Well, yeah, there's a lot more clunky, amateurish pieces out there than genuinely poetic concrete pieces. But I think it's taught a lot in the elementary years. "Concrete poetry" is the #1 most popular Google search term that brings traffic to my blog, because of a post I did years ago. So clearly there's lots of interest in the topic.

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  2. I find it interesting, but I doubt I'd have the patience to do it. I'd want to say one thing, but I'd never be able to fit it into the shape I wanted…
    I am your newest A to Z follower, and it's nice to 'meet' you.
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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    1. Nice to meet you, too! I think this would be loads easier to attempt in longhand first, then figure out how to type it.

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  3. It's funny you should say that about anyways, because I do that, and didn't realize I was until my editor pointed it out. :)

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    1. My sister says it, something I think she picked up living for a period in Minneapolis and Chicago. I think of it as a Midwest thing, but apparently it's a dialect choice for a wider area than that.

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  4. That is a lovely poem, and quite sophisticated. Hope you can find out who the author is. That would be something to locate the author through your blog post. :) Writer’s Mark

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    1. That would be quite cool, wouldn't it? I'm hoping he does a Google image search, sees it here, and lets us know who he is!

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