Perilously

I am happy March has arrived, and I can put my adventure with the Aquarian metered poetry behind me. I’ve decided to move into new territory. In the past, I have devoted myself to writing a single style of poetry for the month. Writing in the same style for thirty days can get tiring, so I will lunch a new way of attacking my poetic journey. I will explore three new types of poetry in March, and I plan to write Breccbairdne, Blackout, and Brady’s Touch poems. This poetic adventure will teach me many important lessons about meter and rhythm.  Let’s get started. This poem is a Black Out Poem titled Perilously.

Blank Out Poem and Perilously

Poet takes a black marker and redacts words until a poem is formed. It is important to note the text and redacted words form a visual poem.

Method to use

!. Identify source text. The source can be a newspaper, a page from a book, or any written text.

2. Draw a box around keywords or phrases.

3. Make Connections between boxes. (This is optional.)

4. Color the rest in with a marker. You can use any color. The most common color used is black.

I found this style of creating a poem unique from anything I’ve ever tried before. The words are already provided, and the challenge is to make something poetic out of the text. I decided to use Mr. Chartwell, Rebecca Hunt, to create these poems. This example uses a squiggly line to mark out unwanted text. I prefer the total blackout method.

Perilously
On the edge 
Nuged footsteps outside the door.
A pot of fresh coffee.
“It’s nearly time. Should I?”
“Very good. Thank you.’

With a graceful bounce, the cat landed,
Rubbing its head.
Jacked up its back and spat.
“My sentiments exactly.”
The cat, a small orange warrior.
His thrashing claws encouragingly. 

‘I was talking to Jock,
But I know how empty that statement is.
His face is a ghost,
Twisted back.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!