My Blackout Poems

This post is inspired by Austin Kleon and his blackout poems. I started reading Kleon way back in 2012 beginning with his book, Steal Like An Artist.

I decided to give blackout poems a shot too. Here is what happened. I had plans to donate the book, Innovation but because of the coronavirus situation, the public library is closed until the circuit breaker is over. What I did instead, was painting the book black (literally).

These are the two creations: today (#2) and two days ago (#1):

#2

I am a person
very smart
disruptive
I’ve seen excitement
learnt and practised
stop

There are many ways to interpret I am a person and I did think to include my thoughts here, but I shall refrain from doing so. You can perceive this person as either a narcissist, or positive and self-assured. But, what does the “stop” mean? Why “stop”?

#1
you call a bank
and then hang up the phone.
hang up the phone
too soon.

For you call a bank, I actually made a little music with my ukulele. It was lame but it was—at that time—a moment of inspiration.