The Shape Of Poetry

Introduction

When I read poems, while I love words, rhythm and flow, I also sometimes enjoy the form of the poem which sometimes reminds me of an icicle, a knife or flowing water, without actually looking at the words in the poem.

In this article, I am going to show you three of my poems (one with Melissa Ingoldsby) that use shape and position as well as words.

One of the problems with the Vocal editor is that it strips out spaces between words and leaves you with a left-justified poem which is usually fine because that is how we usually write.

Words are meant to stimulate the mind, and, especially in the Vocal editor are not a visual stimulation except ......

..... when you want your poem to look a certain way for some reason.

This is going to be a short article and as it is about poetry I will submit it as a poem and will include a poem.

So here we go into a little visual writing.

The Butterfly Cinquain

I use this form quite a lot because you do not have to rhyme it and you make it descriptive, but I have only just realised that the line syllable count of 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2 should make it look like a butterfly, and I have never done that, so below is a butterfly cinquain about a butterfly cinquain with a screenshot of what it should look like (from the editor) but the published version is the normal poetic left justification.

🦋

This Is

A Butterfly

Cinquain Visual Rhyme

That Should Look Like A Butterfly

Two Wings

On A Tiny Insect Body

Ready To Take Flight For You

A Word Picture

Now Read

🦋

It's not perfect but it does give you an idea of what you can do with a little thought and formatting.

The Side By Side Poem

For the "After The Parade" Vocal Challenge Melissa and I wrote two poems each one At The Show and one At Home which we wanted to display side by side, my recollection of events and Melissa's.

You can see and read the entry here.

The Poetry Of Shapes

My friend Lena inspired me to try and create shaped poetry. Here, there is a square and a diamond, though the diamond is made up of two reversed triangles which you can see in this story.

Some Visually Swirling Words

This was my last attempt and I wanted my words to simulate smoke swirling up from a campfire, and you can see and read it here.

Conclusion

While this might seem a bit like me pushing myself on you it is just to show that we don't need to be limited, we can always go a little further with the tools at our disposal.

I would love to know what your thoughts are.