untitled
by Noe Gaumont

 

 

apropos something
by Jade Riordan

print the newspapers
as novels and no one will
tell fact from fiction

 

 

#Hashtag
by L Zwau

The concern is not that we are
genuinely happy, but that we
can take a snapshot of ourselves
that appears to be
genuinely happy.

 

 

–

Noe Gaumont lives in Hawaiʻi where she recently earned her B.A. at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa: Visual poetry is a fun medium to work in because, for the most part, there are no rules to abide by. You’re not restricted to writing in horizontal lines, thinking of where to put the next line break. You can incorporate all sorts of media—whether it’s in photoshop, with ink, paint, magazine clippings, or puzzle pieces—pretty much everything is at your disposal. For me, I try to let the visual aspect reflect the mood of the poem, or what I imagine in my head when I read the words. Other times, I might come up with a form that I want to use, (such as the puzzle pieces) then wait until I think of something to go along with it. I think visual poetry is something that everyone can do, and I find it less stressful than other poetry because you can be as weird and crazy as you like. I enjoy working in this medium for that reason and because it can be meditative to sit and put together a piece.

Jade Riordan lives in northern Canada; she’s probably cold right now. Find more of her poetry in Bywords, The Fib Review, Maudlin House, Right Hand Pointing, and elsewhere.

L Zwau’s work explores the liminality of realness and the realness of liminality. L divides their time between the kitchen/living room and the bedroom/office.