concrete poetry

[wildsweetone]

any ideas how we can get concrete poetry to show up exactly as we want it, in a thread/post here?

 

[My Erotic Trail]

any ideas how we can get concrete poetry to show up exactly as we want it, in a thread/post here?

wheel-barrel grind
sitting still as a brick
shovel in a pebble mix

boil, toil and trouble
pouring the liquid in
measured scientifically
with a paint bucket

cracking a bag
and dust rose like smoke
churning the cauldron
a low tire wheel-barrel

and when the time comes
that which you make
will be concrete
as poetry

 

[wildsweetone]

i should have seen that coming.

Art, i'm talking about the getting the spacing between and around words... the airbubbles in the cement before it's mixed if you like.

 

[Tzara]

any ideas how we can get concrete poetry to show up exactly as we want it, in a thread/post here?

It depends on what degree of control you need over the text. There is a font command in BBS script that you can use to change to a fixed pitch font (like Courier), which would allow you to control columnar presentation of text. A problem with this, though, is that it is assuming the font you specify is available on all viewers' systems. This is unlikely to be a valid assumption.

For example, look at the following, first in the default font:

shift
hifts
iftsh
ftshi
tshif
shift​

On my system, this gets rendered in, I think, Verdana font. Verdana is a proportionally spaced font, so while the total length of the lines remains the same, the horizontal line effect of shifting the letters doesn't give an evenly "striped" look, as "i" does not take up as much space as "s".

Changing the font to MS Courier New, though (assuming your system supports this), gives this effect:

shift
hifts
iftsh
ftshi
tshif
shift​

which, I think, more clearly shows the intended effect.

Probably the best answer is that if you really want to control how something is viewed, you should probably create the text in an image editing program like Photoshop and link in the resulting jpg.

 

[The_Fool]

Damn....I thought this was going to be a mortar poetry thread....

 

[wildsweetone]

Tzara, i think i'll have to do the last thing you suggested, or maybe even set it out on a word document and then attach it to the post. geez, talk about fluffing around. (i get the feeling i've asked about this before, or read about it somewhere here...)


Mr Fool, what on earth is mortar poetry? got an example handy?

 

[My Erotic Trail]

Tzara, i think i'll have to do the last thing you suggested, or maybe even set it out on a word document and then attach it to the post. geez, talk about fluffing around. (i get the feeling i've asked about this before, or read about it somewhere here...)


Mr Fool, what on earth is mortar poetry? got an example handy?

you mix mortar like concrete <grin... mortar is the substance that is used to cement BRICKS together. (between the bricks on a brick wall.)

 

[annaswirls]

No one taught me how to lay concrete

damn, talk about formatting problems! I will re-post my concrete problem if and when I fix it eek!

 

[wildsweetone]

let's see if it works as an attachment... hmm well it doesn't take word docs. rats.

okay i guess i'll have to figure out one of these bmp gif jpe jpeg jpg png hmm

 

[Remec]

you mix mortar like concrete <grin... mortar is the substance that is used to cement BRICKS together. (between the bricks on a brick wall.)

He'll be here soon,
just as promised,
and I wonder if I
should bother thinking on
what to say.

red sky morning

Was I out of line to
have spoken to her like
that? To have raised my
voice--but not my hand--
until she shied like she
feared me?

speaks up, warning

And fled to the next level
in order to bring me down,
show me how it feels to
have that dread come
creepin'--no surprise in the
outcome, just the time
it comes to pass.

I do not hold faith in omens

 

[EriAliSaa]

I never really understood the appeal of concrete poetry.

Wild could you explain what it does for you? I am not meaning to be daft, I am just hoping you might have an outlook I might relate to.

 

[flyguy69]

I never really understood the appeal of concrete poetry.

Wild could you explain what it does for you? I am not meaning to be daft, I am just hoping you might have an outlook I might relate to.

Durablilty. Concrete poetry will significantly outlast poetry written of, say, sticks or hay.



I wish there was a piggy icon!

 

[wildsweetone]

Durablilty. Concrete poetry will significantly outlast poetry written of, say, sticks or hay.



I wish there was a piggy icon!

nice to see you fly!




hi EriAliSaa and welcome to the poetry forum

it's a visual form of poetry, i am a visual person. it's pretty much that simple.

i think concrete poetry either appeals, or it doesn't.

 

[My Erotic Trail]

nice to see you fly!




hi EriAliSaa and welcome to the poetry forum

it's a visual form of poetry, i am a visual person. it's pretty much that simple.

i think concrete poetry either appeals, or it doesn't.

I made the mix
and stirred it thrice
poured it in
and smoothed it out
as it set
I wrote my poem
in the drying concrete

 

[EriAliSaa]

Hmm I should put that in my profile. Either Erin or Ali is fine. I am called both and answer to either, if I answer at all.

I do not find concrete poetry unappealing, I was just not sure I had seen anything where either placement or stylized words that really added significately to the message. That being said, I save and print in different font, and colors for my poems all the time, so maybe I do see it after all

As for the stick and straw, I am relieved that I have been so informed of this durability issue. I was under the false pretense that stick and straw was would the extra work. But if concrete is easier and gets harder than it is clearly the choice for me.

Oh wildsweetone, I read your first time story, I totally enjoyed the stark realistic tenor you give it. I wanted to hate the awkwardness, but loved the reality. I wish I didn't have this need to smooth out the rough edges and get as stark as you managed. I really felt transported there. Thank you for that.

 

[flyguy69]

Hmm I should put that in my profile. Either Erin or Ali is fine. I am called both and answer to either, if I answer at all.

I do not find concrete poetry unappealing, I was just not sure I had seen anything where either placement or stylized words that really added significately to the message. That being said, I save and print in different font, and colors for my poems all the time, so maybe I do see it after all

As for the stick and straw, I am relieved that I have been so informed of this durability issue. I was under the false pretense that stick and straw was would the extra work. But if concrete is easier and gets harder than it is clearly the choice for me.

Oh wildsweetone, I read your first time story, I totally enjoyed the stark realistic tenor you give it. I wanted to hate the awkwardness, but loved the reality. I wish I didn't have this need to smooth out the rough edges and get as stark as you managed. I really felt transported there. Thank you for that.

Don't make me huff and puff your house in, girl!




But I'm with you on the oddly-formatted poetry. Rarely does it add something meaningful to the poem. I have seen it used effectively when the visual experience of leaping from word to word reinforced the trope of the poem, but generally it seems gimicky to me.

 

[HotKittySpank]

so seaking of concrete...

hard stuff that
heating up
burning skin
as it
stiffens up

cracking molds
revealing
my work of
art encased

forged in
heat and sweat.


seriously though. my first impression was that this would be a new form of poetry - as in concrete jungle - spoken word - with a rap beat behind it.

? anyone interested in this? I would love to try it - have one in the works already after listening to Natalie Portman rap on SNL.

Ya Heard! (the above little diddy is not an example of this)

 

[champagne1982]

Hi WSO, If you write your visual poem in html code you can wrap the complete text in

 tags. A good place to view how it will look is in the submit window preview of your control panel. I'm not sure of all the codes but   is a space, I think. 

Good luck and I look forward to seeing how it all turns out.

 

[The_Fool]

Rybka was always the best at this stuff.

 

[Tzara]

Hi WSO, If you write your visual poem in html code you can wrap the complete text in

 tags. A good place to view how it will look is in the submit window preview of your control panel. I'm not sure of all the codes but   is a space, I think. 

Good luck and I look forward to seeing how it all turns out.[/QUOTE]I think vBulletin is configured here with the HTML code option turned off.

 

[Liar]

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/7226/justmakeoneti8.gif


Oh, and hi everybody. Been away for two weeks. this place hasn't burned to the groud without me, it seems.

(At least I think it hasn't, I haven't read any of the threads yes.)

 

[champagne1982]

I think vBulletin is configured here with the HTML code option turned off.

You're right, it doesn't work as I suspected it may. I wish it would work Oh well, as the Liar showed off... you'll have to attach a jpg file or something.