An emoji ‘free verse’
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In a moment, 🧗♂️ it would be over again and he'd 🧗♂️ have to start over in the next... no, not this time. Grunting, 🤏 hand over hand, he scaled the 🧗♂️ uneven face of 🤏 the dream cliff, fingers 🤏 aching with the weight of his body 🧗♂️ as the first rays 🌄 of sunlight... oh no ✋ no... no... ... ... 🖐️ 🤸♂️ 🤸♂️ 🤸♂️💦 🌊🌊🏊♂️🌊🌊 Far below the water's surface he swam effortlessly, breathing through the dream gills on the sides of his neck... 😮💨 here we go again... kicking 🦵 with his powerful 🦵 legs, frog style, 🦵 he propelled himself towards 🦵 the mouth of 🦵 the cave ahead. Maybe... 🦵 this time 🦵 ... There! Wait... What was that 🕳️ dark... no... please! not... 🕳️ 🤸♂️ 🕳️ 🤸♂️ 🦶💥 He landed 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 🦶 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 barefoot 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 and 📚 tiptoed over 🦶 📚 📚 📚 the 🦶 📚 enormous 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 bookstacks, 📚 👁️👁️ looking carefully for 📚 the... 📚 🦶 📚 📚 📚 wait... 📚 was that it? 📚 📚 📚 yes! 📚 finally! he saw it lying 🖋️ behind some 📚 📚 bookstacks; 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 quickly - before this new dream ended, he made a grab 🤜 for the 📚 Pen ✒️ of Poetry... 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 he'd done it! ✒️ 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 finally... ✒️ his poems ✍ 📚 📚 📚 would truly be his own! 📓
d’Verse Open Link Night
For today’s Open Link Night at d’Verse, I’d like to share one of the more experimental poems that I’ve attempted, which I first published back in January of this year.
I think a lot about what is/n’t poetry; and in this piece I was exploring the idea that emojis are essentially modern day hieroglyphics. In many ways, they’re used like letters and even convey certain kinds of information that individual letters do not.
Of course, I understand that this is not everybody’s cup of tea; and some may even consider this a bastardization of poetry. That’s okay – I totally get it.
Still, for me, this was a lot of fun to write 😃
You are very clever, and I admire your creativity with forms, David. I can tell you had a lot of fun with this!
🧡 Merril 🧡
Poetry is about creativity.
Yes, I think so too, Ken, but… I can well imagine the potential criticism!
-David
Sounds like a scary scenario, David. 🙂
😀 Cheryl 😀
But it had a good ending, right?
Right! ❤
Your fun is infectious, David. 😁
I take that as a high compliment, Punam ❤
Just as it was meant to be, David. ❤️
Well I for one enjoyed this immensely! Love your idea that emojis are today’s hieroglyphics! When my grand daughter first got her phone, she delighted in ending messages with a bazillion emojis! 🙂
I especially liked these words and the wave/swimming emoji you put with it:
“Far below the water’s surface
he swam effortlessly, breathing
through the dream gills on
the sides of his neck…”
I’m all for poetic license in the creative mode 🙂
Lillian,
Thanks 🙂 – I think I got that idea from Kerfe…
My daughter likes doing that too, but I’ve weaned her off of it, and my mother (the recipient) also encourages her to write to her (in words) and/or record her voice… so many fewer emojis have been sent from my phone in the last year 😉
-David
Creative as always! I think there is no form you cannot conquer.
(I am sometimes worried I will offend by using the wrong emoji 😨😬😱 !)
heeheheeheehehehee
I just pick whatever seems most natural to me – I don’t really know how other people use them!
❤
David
You’re having fun. This is so cool. Keep going.
Thanks, Selma ❤ – I've only tried this one time… it's actually not so easy for me to find emojis that fit neatly into my ideas 😉
-David
You rock, kind Sir. Keep going. Here’s looking at you.
Aside: I attended online Japan Writers Conference where the first presenter was from Israel. Her work has appeared in various Jewish Mags. I thought of YOU then.
Blessings to you. xo
do you happen know her name and/or what mags, Selma?
❤
David
Liane Wakabayashi: author of The Wagamama Bride. A journalist with 40 yrs experience. > The Jewish Forward; Tablet; Asian Jewish Life Mag, The Japan Times, The Jerusalem Post Mag. And Chabad. org
Wow!
Website goshenbooks. com
loved it David!! it must have been a bit hard to insert emojis and that too at the right places!!!
well done! Loved it
🥰😍 Kunjal 😍🥰
[…] ‘ben’ Alexander of The Skeptic’s Kaddish has invented a new form: the emoji poem. Convinced this is going to become a new craze, I wanted to get my offering in […]
Awesome 😎