"Faith" and "London Eye"- A Response to E-Poetry

In the poem “Faith,” by Robert Kendall, the concept of faith is explored through a progression of five stages in which faith tries to refuse logic; in each stage, words and phrases from previous stages are incorporated in order to give a deeper meaning to the conclusion of the poem. As each user interacts with this piece of digital poetry, he or she will be able to help the poem progress. The poem begins with the word “faith” in a large font positioned at the top of the screen. Slowly, in a much smaller font, the word “logic” begins to fall around the word “faith,” perhaps in an attempt to shake or disturb it. As this occurs, the reader hears music that gives the impression of “logic” raining down on “faith.” After “logic” rains down on “faith,” other words bounce into the screen until the phrase “logic can’t bend this” appears below “faith.”


Then, the text, “So…” appears at the bottom of the screen; here, a reader must click on the arrow beside “So…” in order to move on to the next screen. After clicking, readers will watch as the words “I… edge… out” move into view on the screen. From here, readers only need to keep watching, and remember how each screen looked before new words were added, in order to understand how the author’s beliefs about faith are being transformed by logic. Eventually, the author appears to be asking readers a question about faith and logic: “Can’t the mind press on around the bend to consummate this vision of the deep “or”? The answer “Maybe. But…” appears, and readers must again click an arrow beside the text in order to move on to the next stage of thought within the poem. As readers watch the text unfold itself, they see the inner thought processes of not only the author, but mankind as a whole, questioning faith and trying to determine if the darker revelations logic may bring are truly better than the brighter, happier thoughts that accompany faith.


As the poem progresses, readers see the author determine that he is not able to “press the black button” and “think around the bend of theory” so that he can choose faith or logic; readers click the arrow that appears next to the words “And yet…” and then, the author decides that in spite of that notion of inability, he begins to gingerly step towards “the idea edge” of faith to logic, and moves “beyond the brink, around the bend of theory.” Readers watch on screen as the author takes a metaphorical leap of faith through the text, and ultimately all that remains physically (on the screen) and metaphorically is “faith.”


Some argue that digital poetry has the ability to cause thinking in the minds of readers, and this piece is a perfect example; because readers can only click arrows to help the poem progress, they have to think carefully about the text before them as it moves and new words are added. In the article "Beyond Taxonomy: Digital Poetics and the Problem of Reading," author Talan Memmott mentions that "the ability to cause thinking is an essential part of digital poetics and rhetoric" (Memmott 303). When readers think about this poem in relation to the concept of “mise-en-écru” Memmott refers to as a sort of parallel to the concept of "mise-en-scene," it must be noted that without the sound effects, different colored texts, and movement on screen, this piece would convey a completely different message, one that would not require any thinking on the part of the reader (303). Because readers have to follow along with the quickly-changing text as the addition of words change each phrase and their meaning, they begin to think about their own thought processes regarding faith and logic and how each concept interacts with the other. If this were simply text on a page, readers would not be able to think about these concepts of faith and logic in relation to the author and themselves, they would simply be reading the author’s thoughts on faith and logic.

In the poem “London Eye” by Diane Greco, readers are able to experience the life of a person, presumably a woman, who becomes infatuated while spending some time in London. To begin, a reader is presented a black screen on which four small boxes are centered with a quote by John Berger above that reads: “When there is more than one figure, it is hard to be sure whether each is real, or only the dream-projection of the other.”

Eventually, the reader will realize that each box clicked opens the same new, smaller window that they will be further interacting with. This new window appears to be a series of tiny black boxes with lavendar colored screens (it may remind one of an older television set), surrounding a larger box positioned in the center/lower right hand side of the window. As the reader clicks each box, different snippets of text will appear on the larger screen.


Readers can click in any desired order, though proceeding left to right across the window seems to keep the poem on a more linear path; as the author thinks and writes about her experiences, a reader can see the development of infatuation with another character, who appears to already be in a relationship with another woman, and has a child. The thoughts readers may encounter are interesting, at times quite funny, and also troubling. The main character allows readers to see what she is thinking when she is and is not with the man she desires. One can see her indulging in her fantasy, wishing to reenact scenes from a favorite movie with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, though her version of Cary Grant never fully plays his part.

Clicking from box to box, a slight sense of desparation begins to manifest through the author’s writings and actions; from virtually stalking via webcams found on the internet, to the sad realization that she “[doesn’t] consume him the way he consumes [her],” readers see a young woman infatuated with an unattainable man, slowly losing herself (quite literally) as she attempts to connect with him similar to how she feels he connects with her.


Towards the end of the poem, a reader sees a woman who tries to become a different person, realizes that she does not even know herself, and eventually reaches a different stage in her crisis.

As readers progress through this poem, they will reach a point in which they begin to recognize certain behaviors typically representing depression. It could be said then, that the author perhaps intends to display these behaviors within the poem in order to bring attention to the subject of her poem, causing readers to think about how and why depression occurs, and perhaps try to determine what would be considered the best choice of action after recognizing what is happening, if not in their lives, in the lives of others. By making the readers move the text (that is, click each individual tiny box to make the poem continue) the author is able to effectively keep the attention of the reader, as well as ensure that each reader will be following the story closely, in an effort to make sense of each snippet of text. If this were simply a written text, readers might not grasp the subject matter; additionally, readers might not be able to recognize what the author is trying to do in having her text read box by box. Clicking from box to box is an effective way to make readers pay attention to the story and its characters, so that they can recognize actions and behaviors, and distinguish how the main character feels about the experiences being related within the text.

Memmott, Talan. "Beyond Taxonomy: Digital Poetics and the Problem of Reading".New Media Poetics: Contexts, Technotexts, and Theories. ed. Adalaide Morris and Thomas Swiss. MIT PRess: Cambridge, Mass. 293- 306.

http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/kendall__faith.html

http://www.heelstone.com/meridian/greco4.html

An Initial Response to E-Poetry

My initial response to e-poetry based on the pieces assigned so far is one that is highly in favor. I had no idea reading a text through an electronic medium could so drastically change the way I understood it or read it previously. After watching the action-poetry version of “The Best Cigarette” I find I better understand the meaning of the poem, and the reverence Collins holds for what he considers the best cigarette; the cigarette ever-present when he feels most inspired to type is the best kind of cigarette he can have. Through this action poetry, I see what the author imagines as he writes this piece, and how each line connects to the next, how each thought relates to the other within the text. He describes and presents an image of other kinds of cigarettes he has an enjoyed, which occasions are most memorable to him, such as one after dinner or after a good swim. He then goes into detail, however, describing the kind of cigarette he regards the highest, which is one when he feels most pleased with himself, working diligently to express his thoughts and feelings on paper.

Though I find the flash poem, “Nine,” to be a little difficult to read (mainly because I am not good at nine-tile puzzles), I still enjoy what the author has given to readers by creating such an interactive text. Lewis uses the nine-tile puzzle to show readers his interpretation of the lives he presents through the text. I also find it interesting that he uses the number nine, perhaps suggesting humans have nine lives, similar to the notion that cats have nine lives. It fascinates me because as he describes on the main page of the puzzle, we as humans go through life at a dizzying pace, but in retrospect it seems different times and places in our lifetime seem to belong to completely different people, as if we have lived different lives (something I can totally agree with).

To be honest, the interactive version of “The Mermaid” is not my first choice for an e-poetry selection. I really enjoy the text version of the poem, as it is short and concise; it contains a simple plot with a rather sad turning point, and pleases with an ABCBDB rhyme scheme. I personally enjoy mermaid stories, though happy endings can become pretty bland, so one that has a more realistic (though unfortunate) ending is much appreciated.