Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian Baruch on May 24, 2012 at 12:00pm

I feel that in this day and age, evocative imagery will draw the casual reader in to discover poetic prose they would not otherwise have had the predisposition or time to consider.
 

Permalink Reply by Joe Frey on May 25, 2012 at 9:42am

What Brian said is true, however, a Poet is a someone who paints with words. Shouldn't the reader be able to draw their own images based on the words they read in the poem? Or is that too much expectation on the reader? Too much reliability?

Then again, we put pictures in poetry books for children, but that is more like a hook to keep them interested, keep them going - a jump start for their brains to learn how to paint pictures with words as they read.

Good question Jeff.

Permalink Reply by jeff herman on May 25, 2012 at 11:04am

Research suggests that the mind thinks in pictures, and converts information into pictures, like we do when were dreaming. Maybe it's BS, but then again a picture paints a 1000 words.

Permalink Reply by Darren Brown on May 25, 2012 at 9:53am

Great question! I'm currently working on a collection of poetry that will include some of my own artwork.   I believe that a poem should stand on its own but SHOULD they include graphics?  No.  CAN they?  Yes!  It all depends on the style and context of your work.  In children's poetry, it helps the young reader to be exposed to visual creativity as well and lyrical creativity.  If your poetry invokes a mood or ambiance maybe like artwork or design work can enhance the experience (not necessarily the individual poetry).  I'm curious to hear others' take on this.

Permalink Reply by jeff herman on May 25, 2012 at 11:06am

For me, a picture doesn't ask my intellect to do anything. When I face words, I can feel the pressure in my forehead tightening. 

Permalink Reply by Brian Baruch on May 25, 2012 at 12:09pm

I think it is more that there is a lot of mediocrity out there, and also an abundance of good prose. Individuals have a limited amount of time, and are generally very selective of how much time they will dedicate to reading prose.  I think visuals are added to draw the eye in and draw someone into reading something that they would have ordinarily overlooked. This is especially the case within the digital medium where eyes are trained to process through icons and respond to pictures, rather than serially through the written word.

Computers are changing the way individuals relate to reading and individuals are bombarded with so much information and that they are constantly filtering; often the quality along with the mediocre. Images are just one way of attempting to penetrate through all the flux to garner an opportunity for consideration.
 

Permalink Reply by jeff herman on May 25, 2012 at 1:21pm

Hmm. The "ringer" or whatever it's called, looks like both a musical note and a sperm. Maybe a ladle. An upside down Meercat. That thing in the throat. golf club. Periscope. 

Permalink Reply by Brian Baruch on May 25, 2012 at 1:56pm

lol

Permalink Reply by Joe Frey on May 30, 2012 at 9:57pm

Yes, exactly....lol!

Permalink Reply by Marshall Barnes on June 19, 2012 at 7:36pm

Many of the poems that influenced me when I was younger had great photography that went along with them. A good poem stands on its own, but good images with it can help sell a book. 

It's funny about how so many greeting card poems suck, to the point that I wrote a poem about a guy who is complaining about how he can't find a greeting card that has verses that express how he feels and in the process of complaining, he's demonstrating that he doesn't need to rely on a greeting card verse, he can write better himself. But in the end, we also learn that that doesn't matter, because he has no one to give a card to in the first place - he just wishes that he did...