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Simplicity, Lightness, Insight

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Simplicity, Lightness, Insight

National Poetry Month, Week Two

Grant Snider
Apr 15, 2023
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Simplicity, Lightness, Insight

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Good morning! National Poetry Month continues with another week of poetry comics. For an introduction to the poetry comics art form, visit the Incidental Comics substack: https://incidentalcomics.substack.com/p/an-intro-to-poetry-comics

Simplicity, lightness, and insight. The qualities I value in a poetry comic are the hardest to achieve.

You can’t force insight. Usually a great idea occurs to me right after I’ve given up wracking my brain for the day at the drawing table. I lie down on the couch to take a nap, and the great idea I’d failed to force into being pops into my head.

My creative instinct is to overwork and overthink: the opposite of simplicity and lightness. How many words and lines can be subtracted while still achieving an emotional effect? Usually, more than I’m willing to take out.

Messy Room

For some excellent minimalist poetry, check out THE REALLY SHORT POEMS of A.R. AMMONS. I also love the book FIREFLY JULY: A YEAR OF VERY SHORT POEMS, edited by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by the remarkable Melissa Sweet.

Creativity is messy. But when the clutter is cleared away, the work shines. Sometimes, it flies. Lightness is achieved.

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Simplicity, Lightness, Insight

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2 Comments
Alisa Kennedy Jones
Writes gotham girl
Apr 15

OMG, so the Messy Room comic is a THEORY OF EVERYTHING universal truth if you are ever the mom of a kid who identifies as autistic & proud... and you, as the mom, are also a bit autistic-ish & OCD or you've worked for Martha Stewart (nothing against Martha, she's lovely). Just saying this should be in the handbook somewhere :)

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