Response to E-poetry

E-Poetry is poetry that arises from an engagement with the possibilities offered by digital media. E-poetry is not your regular form of poetry, it takes time and some understanding to decipher what the piece is really about. Most pieces of E-poetry have a deeper meaning or you need to have a understanding for the piece itself. For example, in class we looked at a variety of pieces and no two were the same. We interacted with My Body a Wunderkammer, Tailspin, and Public Secrets just to name a few. After reviewing these pieces, you start to get a better understanding of the meanings behind e-poetry as a whole. All the pieces we have covered in class, have had some type of message to convey to the reader. In Public Secrets by Sharon Daniel and Erik Loyer, the author takes us inside a massive women's prison called the CCWF or Central California Women's Facility. While interacting with Public Secrets, you are able to listen to testimonies of women from inside the facility. In these testimonies, the women tell you about their experience from inside the prison. As you progress through the piece, you can listen and follow along with each testimony from the women. What this piece does is bring to the attention of the reader of all the wrong that is being done. It is titled with the name, “Public Secrets” because the public is aware of all the wrongdoing that is going on, but they just choose to do nothing about it.

Not all e-poetry has a deeper meaning like Public Secrets, but most do make you think. Two other examples, with not such a deep meaning, would be “Puddle” and “Paddle” by Neil Hennesy. Neil uses words in a way that represents the formation of a puddle, but the animation is so minimal. To best see how this piece is demonstrate visit the following hyperlink Puddle. Finally, Paddle, is along the same principle Puddle follows. Where by the changing simple letters the words will take on a entirely new meaning. Best represented in this hyperlink Paddle. In all, E-poetry can have an interesting impact to catch the eye of a lot of people. It takes some time to get used to how to interpret e-poetry, but once you get the hang of it they are pretty interesting to read.