seven poems
seven poems written in my phone notes this winter
the medium through which we write poetry powerfully informs the shape that a poem will take. for example, when i write poems on my iphone notes app, those poems tend to be written in all lowercase— the true gen-z aesthetic.
furthermore, the poem’s line length is determined more or less by the width of the phone screen. this forces concise expression with more frequent line breaks than I might use in a notebook. form influences function.
lastly, phone poems tend to have a certain spontaneity to them, because i often dash them off precisely when i do not expect to be writing a poem, when i’m not carrying a notebook on a hike in expectation of an inspiring view. sometimes, i’m just living life, and all of a sudden inspiration strikes; luckily, i can grab my phone right out of my pocket to capture the fragile shape of the moment.
here are seven(!) phone poems written between october and march— from the inyo national forest outside yosemite to the pacific coast of point reyes, and from portland maine to a drum-circle in the desert. let me know your favorite :)
flash
a flash of inspiration is an already
tattered thing, noiseless,
this giving of sun into sea—
remember, if you can, the shape
of the void around the burning
paper, the crisp of your fingertips,
the sliding of this moment through
a moving ocean, an integrity of time
the remaining six poems are worth becoming a paid subscriber to read :) if you’re not already a patron of the arts, maybe today is the day!