I submitted some poems with audio to the Studio Cannon poetry “audio zine” and got all three of my poems accepted for the latest issue. The poems, which I had written as part of my morning writing routine, were Crane, Guitar and Storm. The online journal focuses primarily on audio voice, so each poet narrates their verse. I like that focus on speaking and listening, and online audio.
Peace (and Sound),
Kevin
I am not sure how to even categorize this but I found this interesting prose/poem tool from an online journal called ‘the html review’ and went into the platform, wanting to try to figure out how I could use it. The tool — Prose/Play by Katherine Yang — allows you to layer words and then when you hover, the words appear. But the randomizer tool randomizes the selections across the piece, creating a rather interesting effect you click click click. There’s no save or share button at the site, so I did a screencast video to capture the motion.
On the left of the screen, you can see my “coded” words, and then right is the poem itself in motion.
Peace (Layered in Wonder),
Kevin
Prompt: https://www.ethicalela.com/rest-resist-composing-a-haibun-poem/
Added later: a blackout found poem from within that haibun poem
Peace (and poems),
Kevin
This poem caused me a lot of writing headaches throughout the day, starting with the one word that was the prompt to build a poem off of: keel. I went metaphorical and nautical, but my earlier draft versions were so, eh, off, that I kept returning to the poem throughout the day, tinkering and revising, removing and adding, until I landed on something vaguely acceptable.
It’s a love poem, as it should be.
Peace (and Partners),
Kevin
Each morning, I write a poem (see my collection, if curious), mostly from one word prompts over at Mastodon. This morning, the word was “quill” and I wrote a short piece of three stanzas, and then moved on to other things. But something didn’t feel right and that disquiet kept pulling my mind back to the poem. I had added a single word at the last line of the poem, and as I ruminated on it, it didn’t work. And it bothered me. A lot.
These mornings poems are quick writing exercises so I usually don’t worry too much about them, but something about this one, and that one word, bugged me. I had to go back, edit and revise, and remove, the word, and when I did, I had that feeling of, yep, that’s better.
The word was “crazy” had been before “world” in the above poem (but crazy is now removed), and I had added it late at first to give alliteration to “quill” (the one word prompt) and “quiet” but the rhythm was off for me. The removal of the “crazy” (interpret that move metaphorically, if you want) put my mind at ease.
Weird, the way the writing brain works, right?
Peace (and Poems),
Kevin
My CLMOOC friend, Wendy T, shared the basic outline of an idea for using ChatGPT for a creative writing workshop, in which participants would use the AI to generate some text response, and then the participants would turn that text into found poetry through a blackout poem format. Intrigued, I decided to give it a go myself.
I had recently been listening to a podcast (On Being with Krista Tippett) about biomimicry, so the concept of turning to nature for solving problems or finding new ways to be creative was on my mind.
I asked ChatGPT about how musician use biomimicry to create music, and it responded:
Biomimicry is the practice of using nature as a source of inspiration to solve human problems and create sustainable solutions. In recent years, some musicians have turned to biomimicry as a way to generate new sounds and compositions.
One example of a musician who uses biomimicry is Bernie Krause, a bioacoustician and musician who has spent decades recording the sounds of nature. Krause has used these recordings as the basis for his music, creating compositions that blend natural sounds with electronic and acoustic instruments.
Another example is the French musician and composer Grégoire Lorieux, who has developed a technique called “biomimetic music” that uses algorithms to analyze natural sounds and transform them into musical notes and rhythms. Lorieux’s compositions include pieces inspired by the sounds of bird calls, insect chirps, and even the movements of plants.
Other musicians have used biomimicry to design instruments that mimic the sounds of nature. For example, the “bioacoustic” guitar created by luthier Paul Vo features a resonant chamber made from a gourd, which produces a sound similar to that of an insect’s wings.
Overall, biomimicry offers musicians a way to tap into the vast and diverse soundscape of nature, and to explore new sonic possibilities by taking inspiration from the natural world.
I found that information fascinating — particularly the examples in the field — but for a blackout poem (using a Glitch tool), the text was too long, so I asked Chat if it could shorten its response:
Yes, some musicians use biomimicry as a source of inspiration to create new sounds and compositions. For example, Bernie Krause has blended natural sounds with electronic and acoustic instruments, while Grégoire Lorieux has developed a technique that uses algorithms to transform natural sounds into musical notes and rhythms. Other musicians have designed instruments that mimic the sounds of nature. Biomimicry allows musicians to tap into the diverse soundscape of nature and explore new sonic possibilities.
Perfect. I put that text into the Blackout Poem tool and got to work, finding some threads and connections that might be more poetic than the Chat response. This is what emerged (as well as the image above):
Musicians use biomimicry
to create new compositionsBlended natural sounds:
electronic acoustic instruments
that transform natural sounds
into musical notes and rhythmsInstruments mimic nature
Musicians tap into the diverse landscape
of nature and sonic possibilities
Not bad! And one more step — I took that poem and moved it into a nature-themed background, and I think it came out quite nicely.
And one more experiment — this time with the full, long ChatGPT text but using a different poem mixer on Github that Wendy shared that “poemifies” text, although I am not sure how the site determines which words can be revealed and which can’t. This one is a variation but the creation seemed not as interesting, in my opinion. It is interesting that an entirely new poem emerges when you use a difficult platform, though.
This poem:
The nature turned new
compositions
Creating algorithms and
notes
Other instruments mimic
resonant wings
Musicians tap the vast
soundscape
This mix of human question, computer response, and then human intervention in the text gives the activity an interesting element, I found.
Peace (and Sound),
Kevin
Yesterday, I was inspired by some CLMOOC friends to write poems — first, with Terry E., whose post about turning his daily notes into poem led me to riff off his words for my own collection and then Wendy T., whose tweet about workshop using ChatGPT to generate text for a found/blackout poem had me thinking.
(I will write more about this tomorrow)
Peace (and Poems),
Kevin
