Ars Poetica
The Art of Poetry: Earthly and Divine
If language was developed for human communication, then poetry was created for divine connection.
Language helps us name and define, creating the structure and contours of our lives. Prose speaks to our intellect – a horizontal process of scanning and widening our understanding.
Poetry, on the other hand, blurs boundaries and expands our sense of existence. It is the dialect of the soul, which communicates vertically: rooted in our deepest humanity and reaching towards greater Mystery.
As Wallace Stevens wrote: “The poet is the priest of the invisible.”
Due to its form or its function, poetry can often feel intimidating: cryptic, pompous, or elitist. But that reputation may be the cause of institutions, rather than poets. Just like the “art world” and its cubes of white walls, poetry’s literary landscape can feel like a guarded edifice of caged pages.
Despite its seemingly strict rules, poetry is the subversive language of the unspoken –– meant to disrupt, defy, and distend expectations.
Walt Whitman turned to poetry to both express and conceal his sexuality; Mary Oliver channeled it as reverence for the natural world; and Audre Lorde infused it with activism.
Those poets, and countless others, have shaped and transformed me. I don’t recall my first poem, but I can’t remember a time without poetry. From the lullabies I heard as an infant; to the rhymes memorized in school; to my teenage love for Sylvia Plath and hip-hop music –– poetry was always written into my life. It offered me a secret doorway, grounded in our earthly dimension yet leading me to other realms.
In recent years, I’ve been increasingly interested in exploring ways in which poetry can take shape beyond words on a page. It’s come up through my practice of Erasure Poems, Poetry Textile, Jumbled Mantras, and Video Poems.
In April 2022, I curated a series of poetry experiences at NeueHouse to celebrate Poetry Month. I hand-wrote a selection of my favorite poems, and made them available as gift notes for guests and members of Neuehouse. My goal was to imbue poetry into our daily lives and interactions.
To showcase how poetry can also take form through film, music and visual art, I invited Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman for a special screening of their film ‘Neptune Frost.’ Filmed in Rwanda, it tells the story of a cosmic romance between an intersex hacker and a coltan miner that seeds revolution.
The conversation that followed – centered around technology, ancestry, poetry – was a deeply thought-provoking and fascinating exchange. You can watch video snippets of the conversation HERE.
To me, this is the power of poetry: using beauty to expose, amplify and transcend our reality.
This full moon edition is an invitation to explore poetry through all your 7 senses: SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH , BALANCE, and ENVISION.
My latest video poem Land of Poetry was created in collaboration with
who composed original music.In Joy,
Sabrina
SEE
Women in Concrete Poetry: 1959 - 1979 | book edited by Alex Balgiu & Mónica de la Torre
Available online
As an artist-writer who often blends visuals and words, I tend to gravitate towards similar art forms. I’ve been creating “concrete poetry” before I knew there was a name for it. Concrete poetry is a visually-driven form of poetry, where the design, layout and typography become central to the poem’s meaning.
This beautiful book covers a particularly booming period of the concrete poetry movement, and highlights the leading women artists working in this form. Each one ranges widely in her approach: using the body as alphabet forms; composing the sound of silence on music staffs; and writing newspapers as glyphs.
HEAR
A Sound Poetry Mixtape | Sound Poets
Listen online
I recently learned about sound poetry, which uses “verse without words” by blending literature, music and performance. While the roots may derive from ancient oral traditions, the practice took shape during the The Futurist and Dadaist movements.
One of the earliest sound poems, ‘Karawane’, was performed by Hugo Ball at Cabaret Voltaire in 1916. In Karawane, language is completely broken down, stripped of grammar and meaning. The poem’s effect was powerful both on the performer and audience. As he recited the poem, Ball entered a trance-like state, with a captivated audience. He almost collapsed from exhaustion when he reached the end of the poem and had to be carried off, as the audience was climbing up the stage.
Sound poetry has since evolved to take many forms, and influenced other movements such as visual poetry and concrete poetry. In recent decades, a number of female sound artists have risen to prominence, including Tracie Morris, Yoko Ono, Joan La Barbara, and Laurie Anderson.
The featured Sound Poetry mixtape highlights excerpts by over thirty female sound poets.
SMELL
Aromapoetry | art by Eduardo Kac
Learn more on artist site
The first book entirely written in scent was created by artist and poet Eduardo Kac in 2011. The reflective silver book contains 12 pages, each composed of a different “aromapoem.”
To create each poem, Kac blended various sets of molecules and set various “olfactory zones” on the page. By binding very thin porous glass and employing nanotechnology, the scent molecules are trapped into the page only released when the book is opened.
The limited edition book has been exhibited worldwide, including at the 2016 exhibit Volatile!, curated by design historian Debra Riley Parr in Chicago. Along with Eduardo Kac’s Aromapoetry, the exhibit showcased 5 artworks that center on scent and poetry.
TASTE
Kushajim | Poet & Chef
Kushajim was a 10th century polymath, poet, and chef. His verses can be found in the earliest known Arabic cookbook, Kitab al-Tabikh. The book contains 615 recipes, interwoven with 24 poems by Kushajim.
“His gastronomic poems are vivid with hyper-sensory details. He not only names the dishes, their ingredients and cooking methods, but also all the scents and flavors, and how they influence banquet-goers once they see the serving platters coming their way,” explains Salma Harland, a literary translator and scholar, currently translating Kushajim’s work.
Kushajim’s gastronomic poems ranged from cultural etiquette to culinary odes – offering us insight into the custom and cuisine during the Islamic Golden Age. Here’s one of Kushajim’s verses, as translated by Nawal Nasrallah:
I have for friends when hunger strikes, qata’if, like piles of books stacked.
They resemble honeycombs—with holes and white—when closely seen.
Swimming in almond oil, disgorged after they had their fill of it.
With glistening bubbles, back and forth, rose water sways.
Rolled and aligned like purest of arrows, their sight the smitten-hearted rejoice.
More delicious than they are is seeing them plundered, for man’s joy lies in what is most hankered.
TOUCH
Poem-Object | André Breton and Joan Brossa
“The poem-object is a composition that aims to combine resources from poetry and the visual arts, and to contemplate their capacity for mutual exaltation.” — André Breton
In the 1930’s, Breton created a dozen assemblage pieces, inspired by objects he saw in his dreams. The artworks were named 'Poème-Objets' (poem-object), created from collected objects such as a seashell, a piece of wood, a feather, along with text inscribed on an egg, parchment, and other materials.
Breton was not the only one to experiment with physical objects as poetry. Spanish artist, Joan Bossa’s definition of poetry was broad, encompassing cinema, visual poetry, theatrical work, automatic writing and installations. He started turning everyday items into objects of poetry in 1943. His approach was ironic, humorous, and often consisted of removing the function of an everyday item. He explained that: "Poetry and magic are the same thing. Art is a metamorphosis, basically, and magic too."
BALANCE
Spiral Tote & Poem
Available on my site
One of the ways in which I’ve been exploring poetry is through textile: can poems be worn? I created a spiral poem (an example of Concrete Poetry) which reads:
We’re not going in circles, we’re expanding.
The message was printed on canvas totes and the buttons were engraved. With each tote, I mail a unique hand-written mini-poem (no two poems are the same). They’re available on my site – a great way to wear and share poetry everyday.
ENVISION
Land of Poetry | Video Poem with music by
The video poem ‘Land of Poetry’ was inspired by this month’s full moon theme, a way to celebrate Poetry Month (April). I wanted to give homage to the poetry’s deep impact, not just as a creative influence but as a new way of sensing the world. It was a pleasure to collaborate again with
who composed the delicate musical accompaniment.
A Poem-Object..?!! How is this the first I've heard of them! Oh, what a thing! I am so excited to learn of these, and so grateful for your sharing them. I plan to make many. Thank you, Sabrina. Such a beautiful collaboration between you and FC, too 🤍
I’ve been a bit remiss…but catching up. Truly lovely, as always💖