E-Poetry

E-poetry, also known as electronic poetry, is digital content of poetry that arises from interaction with the poem. Electronic poetry is possible thanks to digital media and technologies. There are many examples of e-poetry such as a poem entitled “Puddle” by Neil Hennessy. The poem begins with the word ‘drip’ falling from the top of the page and then stopping. That happens once again, and now we see the word ‘drip’ stacking on top of the word ‘drip’. Next, the world ‘dribble’ falls down in the same path and fashion that the word ‘drip’ fell in, but this time the word ‘dribble’ replaces the two drips that were seen stacked previously. Now, the only word seen is dribble. As the word dribble sits at the bottom of the page, the word drip appears to fall one more time, only this time it causes the word dribble to transform into the word ripple, as it moves in a rippling way. Finally, the last thing the poem reads is there word ripple. Then, the poem restarts and does the same thing all over again. Though the poem is simple, if you printed it out to a psychical copy on paper you would not be able to read the poem the same way, if you are even able to read it at all.

Electronic poetry could be mistaken for poem that was just typed and published to print or on a website. However, e-poetry depends on some sort of interaction or digital effect to allow the poem to be read. It can not simply be read on a paper. E-poetry is a genre of e-literature (electronic literature) and a poetic practice that utilizes the effects provided by the rapidly evolving technologies that shape digital media.