How to Write an Erasure Poem (2024)

March 14, 2016March 18, 2016 Lidy

How to Write an Erasure Poem (1)

Happy Monday! Well not really, it’ll only be a happy Monday if Monday never came. Oh well.

Anyways, I thought and thought about what today’s blog post would be about. I had many ideas but they weren’t fleshed out enough. And so they’re temporarily on hold for a later post date. So for today’s post, I thought I’d show how to write an erasure poem.

Last May, I shared an erasure poem I did as an assignment for an online poetry class I took. You can read the poem, Responsibility, here. And today, I’m taking you on a step by step process on how to write one. And don’t worry if you’re a horrible poet or never wrote a poem before. Because it’s easier than you’d think. Ready?

Step 1. Find a text. It can be an article from a newspaper or a magazine, a scene in a book, etc.

Step 2. Take any text. As you read through the text take from any words you’d like to use. You can choose them because they jump at you or because you like it. It’s up to you what those words are.

Step 3. Create your poem. Rearrange all the words you’ve chosen and form it into a poem.

Here’s the words taken from a flyer my son brought home that I used tocreate an erasure poem:

to are proper steps harvest submit your choose winner name hole a spot mix in premium quality remove the gently the roots hands stem fill press down and use a and of pockets water regularly using or a according to instructions you can your to and to win

Untitled

To choose your winner

according to instructions

gently fill in a hole

press down and harvest

the roots, remove the stem,

regularly using a premium quality mix

and pockets of water are proper steps.

Or you can use your hands to

submit your name for a spot to win.

© March 14, 2016

Well, there you have an erasure poem written from the words of a student growing cabbage flyer guide. It can use some tweaking but still it proves the potent magic of words. And how truly poetry is everywhere and found in everything.

Ever tried to write an erasure poem before? Want to give it a try now? Share in the comments below!

PS I have two guest blog posts as part of the Can You Catch My Flow? Blog tour today! Write from the Inside Out and Stephanie Faris’ blog! Then another guest post tomorrow on Writing is Home and Thursday at Five Year Project. And again on Friday on Elements of Emaginette. Whew!

How to Write an Erasure Poem (2)

  1. As a kid, I used to be able to write poems quickly, then one day, I couldn’t; seeing you pull this stuff out of your head so quickly truly amazes me and reminds me that writing a poem is a form of art. Kudos, and glad Stephanie shared you over at her place. Hugs…RO
    http://www.intheknowwithro.blogspot.com

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    • Thank you Ro. In truth, it’s finding the right words to create the right potency that is the tricky part. Sometimes, it just looks easy.

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  2. I hadn’t heard of erasure poetry before, but this is a really amazing artform! Thank you for sharing the technique. I love your poem.

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    • Thank you Heather. There’s a similar poetry form, where you black out words with a marker to create a poem.

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    • Fun and interesting too. Give it a try and maybe share it too?

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  3. Wow. That sounds like quite a challenge and you did such a good job. Only a poet could make something like that into something THAT beautiful!

    Stephanie
    http://stephie5741.blogspot.com

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    • Thanks Stephanie. And yes, it was a challenge. I was stumped a few times until I completed it.

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  4. This has also been called found poetry, and there’s even a journal for it.

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    • Oh yes, and you’re talking about The Found Poetry Review? Will submit to them one day soon.

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  5. I’d never heard of an erasure poem. Very interesting. I’ll have to try it. 🙂
    @dino0726 from
    FictionZeal – Impartial, Straightforward Fiction Book Reviews

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    • When you do, would you mind sharing it?

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  6. I am delighted to have found your blog and read about you. My book is a poetic memoir. I found using poetry to tell my life story easier at the time. Perhaps I have other books in me as well. For the time, I read with great interest about your transition from Catholic school to public school. I went two years in 7th and 8th grades to a Catholic school before returning to public school. Today public schools are much different than in my day. I know all too well after my retirement from 48 years of teaching German. Poetry is my choice sometimes because it says so much in so few words. I had my students writing and illustrating Haiku poetry in German over the years and became used to this format. Happy writing!

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    • Thank you. What I remember most was huge amount of students. My old Catholic school went from kindergarten to 8th grade. But the public school I had to go, which only went from 5-8, seemed to have had more students. Maybe it was all in my head but seeing hundreds of unfamiliar faces really hit home that I ‘wasn’t in Kansas anymore.” I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my blog and congrats to your poetic memoir. I got into haiku, the senryu and tanka in college and even post senryu poems on Twitter. Here’s to more poetry books in our future!

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      • I second that! More poetry books in the future. The fun part of writing Haiku in German for my students was finding one German word to fill up the line with either the 5 syllables or 7 if they were lucky. I am a fan of small neighborhood schools and not huge public schools. When I taught in Virginia, I had a couple of high schools with 3200 and 3600 students. In NY we had about 2500 at peak enrollment a few years back. It is difficult to make friends in such an impersonal setting. Tell me more about your senryu on Twitter.Happy writing.

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      • Wow, that must have been hard. Must’ve created some interesting haiku’s. And as for my senryu, I like to pair them with images. I’d also say they’re at times philosophical. I even have them up on my IG too.

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      • Tell me what IG is. I try to stay current with technology. Images inspire me as well. I immediately create poetry in my head.

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      • I love that poem. Don’t have an account. It’s an app? I need to look up a photo I was told is on instagram. Thanks for the fun and edification today.

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      • Thank you and you’re welcome. You can find the downloadable app for your phone with the app store or google play. And it’s easy to sign up online, just go to instagram.com

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      • Thanks, Lidy. I own an Android which I seldom use. I looked on the iPad for the app but nothing was free. I refuse to pay for it. I looked on the website as well. I’ll find someone who has it because I am looking for a specific image.

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  7. I had never heard of an erasure poem! And my attempts at poetry have always been dreadful, so I’m sure you don’t want to see it, lol. It sounds like your blog tour is quite the success. Sending good vibes your way:)

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    • Thank you Quanie. I’ve heard that quite a bit from other people. Even so, if an erasure poem is not for you, you can try blackout poetry. Like an erasure poem, you can use any kind of text like books, letters, magazines and in particular newspapers. Then take a marker and blackout the words you want to leave. Here’s some examples of blackout poetry on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/blackout-poetry/

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  8. This seems an interesting form. I’m definitely going to try my had at this. At least I will already have a banquet of words to choose from already 🙂

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    • “A banquet of words,” I like that. And fitting too. Let me know how it goes. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  9. I haven’t heard of erasure poems but this sounds so much fun. You did a great job, Lidy!

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    • Thanks Claudine. But it did get a bit dicey here and there.

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How to Write an Erasure Poem (2024)

FAQs

How to Write an Erasure Poem? ›

The rules are fairly simple: In an erasure, you can only use the words that appear in the article you've chosen, and you have to use them in the order they appear. How you erase the words around your poem is up to you.

What are the rules for erasure poems? ›

There's no one way to create an erasure poem. The only “rule” is that words must be taken away from a pre-existing text, rather than written as new.

How do you erasure a poem? ›

Poet Erin Dorney identified six styles of erasure poetry: blackout; crossout, crossing out words to create a new poem; computer, using computer software to add or remove lines; cut out, using a knife to cut words out of paper; covered up, covering up the original text with another material (paper, sand, rice, etc.); ...

What is an example of erasure? ›

You can experience an accidental erasure of a whole day's work by hitting the wrong button on your laptop, and you can choose to hide details of your past with the kind of erasure that involves leaving certain information out when you tell your story. The Latin root is eradere, "scrape off" or "remove."

What does erasure mean in poetry? ›

Erasure poetry, also known as blackout poetry, is a form of found poetry wherein a poet takes an existing text and erases, blacks out, or otherwise obscures a large portion of the text, creating a wholly new work from what remains.

Is it illegal to copy a poem? ›

Copyright currently protects poetry just like it protects any other kind of writing or work of authorship. Poetry, therefore, is subject to the same minimal standards for originality that are used for other written works, and the same tests determine whether copyright infringement has occurred.

What is a burning Haibun? ›

The burning haibun is an alteration of the traditional haibun—a Japanese haikai form originally popularized by Matsuo Bashō in the seventeenth century; it is composed of a prose poem and a haiku that functions as a kind of capstone or postscript, either amplifying or complicating the prose portion's contents but ...

What if someone steals my poem? ›

If your work, as the copyright owner, is being used without permission, the first course of action is to contact the offending party with a copyright infringement notice usually in the form of a cease and desist letter and explain that your work is protected by copyright.

How do you get featured in unerase poetry? ›

To speak at Kommune, or Unerase poetry, you have to prove that your video is worth what the communities have already offered. Begin with reciting poetry, building up a reputation. Frequent open mics, get in poetry circles in and around these cities, whichever is closer for you.

What is the secret to writing poetry? ›

Poems work best if you focus on a moment that expresses an emotion or is a metaphor for an idea. Such moments occur every day. We just need to notice them. The more details you use, the more vivid your poem will be.

What is erasure method? ›

This technique uses software to write random 0s and 1s on every sector of the storage equipment, ensuring no previous data is retained. This is a very reliable form of sanitization because it validates that 100% of the data was replaced, at the byte level.

What is evidence of erasure? ›

In computer security, proof of secure erasure (PoSE) or proof of erasure is a remote attestation protocol, by which an embedded device proves to a verifying party, that it has just erased (overwritten) all its writable memory. The purpose is to make sure that no malware remains in the device.

What is the difference between erase and erasure? ›

an act or instance of erasing. a place where something has been erased; a spot or mark left after erasing: You can't sign a contract with so many erasures in it.

Should poetry be edited? ›

A poet's work is a personal expression that uses figurative language to create imagery with words. But as with any creative writing process, poetry requires careful editing to ensure you've conveyed the theme you envisioned in a clear, concise way.

Can a poem be prose? ›

Characteristics. Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it makes use of poetic devices such as fragmentation, compression, repetition, rhyme, metaphor, and figures of speech.

How much of a poem can I copy without permission? ›

Fair Use Guidelines for Students

You can use up to 10%, but no more than 1000 words, of essays, articles, or stories, of a single copyrighted work. You can use up to 250 words of an entire poem, or a portion of a poem.

What are the rules for found poems? ›

Let students know that they cannot add their own words when creating a found poem (not even articles or prepositions), but they can repeat words or phrases as often as they like. Also, when composing found poems, students do not need to use all of the words or phrases they have previously selected.

Can I use a poem without permission? ›

Reciting poetry without permission can be copyright infringement, depending on the context. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material for specific purposes, like education or criticism, but reciting an entire poem rarely falls under it.

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