Talented Form

According to The Poetry Archive, “Form, in poetry, can be understood as the physical structure of the poem: the length of the lines, their rhythms, their system of rhymes and repetition. In this sense, it is normally reserved for the type of poem where these features have been shaped into a pattern, especially a familiar pattern.”

I believe at this point in our writing careers, it is safe to assume that we all know what “Form” is. We often subconsciously write in specific forms and sometimes we consciously write in specific forms. I often find myself writing in very similar forms, usually poems with short line stanzas consisting no more of 4 or 5 lines. 

In the book, Gephyromania by TC. Tolbert, it contains various poems that play with form. He often plays with blank space as well as repetition. One poem that stood out to me was the piece on page 10. In this piece there is an excessive amount of blank space. In the middle of the page you see a giant “NO” bold and in caps surrounded by the words “e” and “ugh” essentially spelling the word “enough”. The “no” has a powerful impact in this piece because it distracts the reader from noticing any other word on the page. There are also words on the page that fall vertically also adding another factor to its form. Not only is this piece a reflection on the abundant white space and challenging form, the entire book demonstrates  the skill TC. Tolbert contains as a writer. 

One Reply to “Talented Form”

  1. Bri, I have recently started to play with form. I, too, always feel to write in the same sort of stanzas, line length, etc. But, I have been experimenting with my pieces–and I recommend it to anyone trying to do something new! It is so weird how much the poem can change just by altering line breaks, line lengths, or using prose overall. I recently tried to harness my inner Grace Gilbert, and write a poem all over the page that can be read in any column. If you’d like, check out my exercise 10! I have been playing with some of my pieces overall, trying new things, and I do not regret it!

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