Blackout Poetry Series: Introduction

Blackout poetry is an intriguing form of expression which feels a lot like word search puzzles but is a more complex and rewarding exercise, well fit for a quiet hour at home.

I haven’t done a blackout poem before today, but have been fascinated by the visual poetic creations I’ve seen and even found a blog here via WordPress Reader that regularly publishes blackout poetry. They get such interesting results and continue to inspire the interest.

Finally, this morning I couldn’t wait any longer. I picked a paperback fiction book from one of our shelves here at home and sat down with a sharpie for my first blackout poetry activity.

Afterward, I am hooked. I can’t believe I waited so long to go from interest to experiment.

My First Blackout Poem

It seems interesting to keep going in the same book used for this post, but impossible yet to tell. I suppose themes need not match, so seems feasible.

*Mobile users: Thank you for patience with scrolling the image: to decrease its size would have made text nearly impossible to read. The best visual option here would be to download image to device. Maybe I’ll figure out a better way for the next one.

If you’d like a regular dose of this kind of work, I’d suggest Molly Shea’s Hen House as the best starting point. It’s always nice to see what they’ve done.

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you give it a try.

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