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Table of Contents
Prose
Night
at the River-Quinn Tyler Jackson
Before the Law-Paul Nachbar
Deciphering the Consequences of Babel-by
Quinn Tyler Jackson
Poetry
A Poem of
Thanksgiving-by Barry Howard
Advanced Obits-by Quinn Tyler Jackson
Senseless Murder-by Paul Max Payton
Advice for
Aspiring Muses-by Quinn Tyler Jackson
Puzzles
The Project-by Tommy
Smith
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The Amnesty
International Candle-by Paul Max Payton |
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(Click on the
picture above for a larger view) |
You are looking at a calligramme,
a shaped work of writing intended to resemble a letter, an object,
an icon or glyph, or an image. Calligrammes have been written for
over a thousand years; they were known to the ancient Greeks as 'technopaegnia'.
The most famous modern example of a calligramme is George Herbert's
"Easter Wings". An admirable contemporary collection of
works demonstrating this demanding art form can be found in John
Hollander's "Types of Shape" (ISBN 0-300-04925).
The style of calligramme you see above, however, is unlike any other
style of poetry known to exist.
In addition to the shaped nature of the poem, there are hidden
patterns meshed in with the raw letter mosaic to impart meaning
and theme beyond that expressed in the verse. This meshing
raises the difficulty of writing a meaningful and symbolic (not to
mention intelligible) calligramme to an almost-impossible level.
Three months were needed to construct this creation.
The software to create the poem exists in both C and Java. The image
above is the end result. It is possible to create 'interactive
calligrammes', poems which themselves are hypermedia. Using
Internet/Web/Java technology, the possibilities of new forms of
poetry are endless.
The creation above consists of two separate poems, one forming the
flame and the other forming the wick.
The poem forming the flame, Dum Tacent Clamant
(their silence cries out aloud) is intended to represent the words
of a prisoner seeking amnesty. Buried inside the poem is the one
thing which often keeps oppressed individuals alive and determined
to survive - 'hope'.
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