Concrete

Concrete poetry writers pay attention to the shape that words make on a page. Most commonly, writers modify and experiment with content and internal story structure.  Writers of shape poetry take a special pleasure in the arrangement of words for visual aesthetic. Many concrete poems have distinguishable shapes and very direct meaning, but the ideas behind the use of design elements and visual art are more substantial than writing a poem about your lost dog in the shape of a dog.

There is a light-hearted feel to shape poetry, as if the genre was created for those who wish to play around, rather than desire to build meaning though complex design elements. When concrete poetry was first created, artists wrote with the most abstract ideals. As the form became popular,  a feeling of fun was instilled in the idea of composing a poem in the shape of its theme. Check out the collection of visual poetry at UbuWeb.

Like a lot of other forms of experimental writing, it may be that the most important element of concrete poetry is its focus on form. Despite the inherent importance of the message therein contained within a poem, writers of concrete poetry want to remind the reader to enjoy the act of reading in different ways, other than just in a way which analyzes meaning, plot, or symbols. It’s like breathing without thinking that you’re breathing and missing the joy of your own breath.

For a quick mental image, here is a page from “House of Leaves”.

“House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski, is one of the novel-length concrete works which incorporates many different style elements and experiments with different types of non-traditional writing techniques.

Although it is a longer book and somewhat daunting in style, I recommend this work for anyone interested in deviating from the norms.