My First Visual Erasure Poem
I teach visual erasure poems.
I also write reviews on visual erasure poetry books in journals and magazines.
Examples of Visual Erasure Poets:
I learn their visual poetry approaches:
I learned so many things about visual erasure poems; however, I have NEVER MADE ONE!
(I thought that erasure poetry needed advanced English skills, and I had never thought that I qualify.)
I know, I KNOW that it is a dangerous thought.
When Francesca Preston sent me the following poem, I thought,
IT IS TIME TO CREATE MY OWN ERASURE POEM!
I also write reviews on visual erasure poetry books in journals and magazines.
Examples of Visual Erasure Poets:
I learn their visual poetry approaches:
- Following their Instagram feeds
- Interviewing them
- Writing essays and articles
I learned so many things about visual erasure poems; however, I have NEVER MADE ONE!
(I thought that erasure poetry needed advanced English skills, and I had never thought that I qualify.)
I know, I KNOW that it is a dangerous thought.
When Francesca Preston sent me the following poem, I thought,
IT IS TIME TO CREATE MY OWN ERASURE POEM!
LEFT: Original Text by Francesca Preston. RIGHT: My Erasure Poem (Feb 2022)
I used origami paper strips because I wanted to keep the original "glitter" idea as a colorful background. I also thought that it might be interesting to create an origami doll from this paper after erasing words.
Why did I make the erasure poem into an origami doll?
In January 2022, I was obsessed with creating origami dolls, and I started shipping these paper girls to my closest friends and family.
Why did I make the erasure poem into an origami doll?
In January 2022, I was obsessed with creating origami dolls, and I started shipping these paper girls to my closest friends and family.
My mother said,
"Are you sending out trash!?
I replied, "It can go anywhere with one stamp!"
"Are you sending out trash!?
I replied, "It can go anywhere with one stamp!"
So, the idea of "Litter" came from our conversation. This February, I started receiving thank-you gifts from people who received "Litter".
This time my mother proclaimed, "You are a Warashibe Choja!"
(This in reference to a Japanese folk tale about a man who becomes a millionaire through a series of successive trades, starting with a single piece of straw.)
Indeed, I received quite good gifts (Naoko's evil laugh).
Final product of my visual erasure, "[G]Litter"
When I showed my first erasure poem to Francesca Preston, she replied with the following slideshow.
Here is another Warashibe Choja moment: She used my full-length book "Where I Was Born" (2019, Willow Books) to create an erasure poem.
I like several of her photos; especially 'Process 2' and 'Final Product' due to their unique adaptations. This is the part of the erasure process I most enjoy.
Here is another Warashibe Choja moment: She used my full-length book "Where I Was Born" (2019, Willow Books) to create an erasure poem.
I like several of her photos; especially 'Process 2' and 'Final Product' due to their unique adaptations. This is the part of the erasure process I most enjoy.
Francesca Preston's process note:
When I figure out which words I'm going to use I just do it in my mind first - I see what pulls me. It takes me a few read-throughs, but generally it's very fast.
The hardest moment was actually the title - I ended up choosing "A PART" for its two meanings, "apart" and "a part." But in my heart I want to call the piece "Us Yellow Cabs"
It was very important to me that the words retain the spatial awareness/location from [Naoko's] poem.
In the end, I saved the cut-out words, and those can be used for endless new arrangements and poems. (Using John Cage sort of chance, for instance).
Just seeing where they fall on the floor...
Origami Dolls