a nest in the
adjacent woods
tenderly nursing
hollow bird bones
the struggling breath
of raw emotion
doula for passing spirits
topographically grounded
in the final breaths
of burial —
animal souls
housed in the
woods of my childhood
stewards of memory
release it to the wild
after:
Writers.com explains the process of writing Blackout Poetry in 4 steps and provides historical context and examples. This type of poetry dates back to Benjamin Franklin, the Beat Poets, and most recently Austin Kleon.
Funny or poignant, carefree or politically charged, any text can be turned into a blackout poem. You might see artsy and colorful blackout poetry examples on Pinterest, but all you need for blackout poetry is a marker.
Armed with your writing utensil of choice, you can make blackout poetry pages in four steps:
Identify the text you want to blackout. (What words/phrases jump out at you?)
Draw boxes over meaningful words, images, phrases, and ideas.
Draw an image outline or arrows for reading the text, if necessary.
Color it in!
I found Blackout Poetry to be both freeing and absorbing. The process has given new life to old writings. As it provides an element of getting messy with art supplies, I found myself completely enamored with the undertaking. You can blackout your own work or others, just be sure to give a nod to the original piece.
I invite you to give it a try - you never know what golden gems might unearth in your own pieces of work!
Be Bendy,
Barb 🌀
Terrific! Thanks so much for sharing Blackout Poetry, too … really cool. I’m definitely trying this.
This is a great poem! Thank you