P.o.E.M.M.

P.o.E.M.M., a group of interactive applications created by Jason Edward Lewis & Bruno Nadeau, allow for iOS users to directly touch, create, and manipulate works of e-poetry. The first example, titled What They Speak When They Speak To Me, is a piece of e-poetry that unfolds before your eyes, though only by way of the user swiping around the display. As you move your finger, floating letters come to fruition and begin forming complete lines on the trail that your finger has left in its wake. In piecing together this poem, you see a story unfold. As stated on the P.o.E.M.M. site, "the interaction is designed to echo the text’s concern with the difficulty in establishing lines of communication then in a foreign place, and the necessity for intense concentration such efforts require".

Another example of this piece of e-poetry is The World That Surrounds You Wants Your Death. To better understand the basis of this piece, you must look at a quote by Paula Gunn Allen:

“When you’ve gone through five hundred years of genocidal experiences, when you know that the other world that surrounds you wants your death and that’s all it wants, you get bitter. And you don’t get over it. It starts getting passed on almost genetically. It makes for wit, for incredible wit. But under the wit there is a bite.”

According to the P.o.E.M.M. site, "The World That Surrounds You Wants Your Death takes its cue from Allen’s observation of what it means for a culture to live, generation after generation, in an environment that actively strives for that culture’s demise". In interacting with this poem, the user is presented with many moving lines of horizontal text. Upon swiping from left to right, or vice versa, and depending on the force with which you performed the action, the text will move accordingly with the motion you made. This piece is perhaps depressing to some, but invaluable within the context of e-poetry and human interaction.

See Below: Screenshot of The World That Surrounds You Watns Your Death via poemm.net

P.o.E.M.M. is an important and interesting piece of interactive e-poetry and both is and represents an example of how such literature and technological crossover(s) may not only coexist, but open the doorway to a much broader, more vast, and creative learning environment.

Sean McCarney

I Love You

As I started my E-Poetry search, I was not sure exactly what to expect. I wanted something that would make me feel some emotion towards the piece. "I Love You" by Lello Masucci gave me an interesting feeling I did not expect. This poem was made up of only one phrase, "I love you." However, "I love you" was not just written in English; this poem was written in many other languages. The phrase "I love you" in various languages was circulated in a 3D fashion with orange triangles mixed in between for dimension. The speed of the circulation can be controlled by the mouse as well. The words were in all different colors, leaving me in a state of wonder. I felt relaxed as I watched the screen come to life. "What languages were these?" I would ask myself, trying to remember anything from the Spanish classes I took in high school. Just watching my computer screen almost put me in a hypnotic state. I thought about love itself and people I cared about; I thought about all the relationships I have in my life. I also thought about what it means to show love and to give everyone love. The different languages represent different people, but the message is the same. I think Masucci did this to bring unity to people; everyone can love everyone, even if they do not speak the same language, do not have the same religion, or look differently. This powerful message is import today. The most important idea from this piece is to know that we are all people and we need to all show love to everyone. I think if everyone respected each other and showed more kindness, our world would be a much happier place.This poem is made up of only one phrase, "I love you," but that phrase is a spring board to other powerful messages.

Devan Orr

Faith Is Crazy.

"Faith" by Robert Kendall is a piece that at first absolutely boggled my easily distracted mind. So much so that I had to click through this piece twice. As I slowly comprehended the piece the second time, I began to think about what the word faith meant to me and what it meant to Robert Kendall and what he was trying to relay in his piece.

Then I realized this wasn't the point at all, well at least to me it wasn't. If you click through this piece you'll realize it has a lot going on and isn't always clear and easy to understand. Just as having faith in something isn't always clear and easy to understand. 

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." This is what I believe Robert Kendall was trying to convey in this piece. That faith is crazy, and its surely not always enjoyable and easy to stand by . To have true faith in something takes extreme discipline and willingness to understand that you could be potentially wrong or that your what you have put faith in could fail you. The creator throughout the piece uses so many different colors and words that all correlate and bounce of each other to form different sequences etc. To me it was just to show that having faith in something can lead you down so many different paths, good and bad, and be chaotic along the way. 

For example, if you look at the screenshot that I attached in tis post from the very end of this pice of e-poetry you'll notice how it is a jumbled mess. Also, notice how the last few words that are left floating above are, "just to sum up." This, in my opinion, is Robert Kendall saying that faith can be a monumental cluster of chaos but still carrying immense value. 

Overall, I believe faith is at times can be completely chaotic, especially misguided faith, but if used in the right situation, can be extremely rewarding. 

Jack Shirk

Traveling Through Mr. Plimpton's Revenge

George Plimpton 

Mr. Plimpton's Revenge takes the reader through the journey of Dinty W. Moore as he encounters the "tall, wry, erudite, and gracious" Plimpton. Moore, a free spirited writing undergrad at the University of Pittsburgh, has the job of picking up Plimpton, a successful author, from the Pittsburgh International Airport. Like the main character, we three authors, Devan, Jack, and Sean, are also undergraduate students in the University of Pittsburgh system. While our personal experiences may differ from Moore's, we can often relate to his reactions, persona, thoughts, and stresses associated with both academic and personal life. In this, we have a unique perspective that allows for an otherwise impersonal connection to be very much personal. What follows between Moore and Plimpton is a series of repeating encounters that take us throughout Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. 

Dinty W. Moore 

Our story begins in Pittsburgh, PA. Moore is living out his college life like many other students would by drinking, smoking, sleeping, and missing classes. Moore was thought to be reliable by professors, and so he was assigned to pick up Mr. Plimpton, an incoming guest speaker at the University, from the airport. The two men grabbed some quick Chinese food, though Moore forgot his wallet, unprofessionally leaving Plimpton to foot the bill. The student then took Plimpton to his hotel. This situation would leave any student embarrassed. Mr. Plimpton was somewhat a celebrity in the writing world. Moore looked up to him because that was something he wanted to do; he too wanted to be a writer. At least this would pass and Moore would never see him again... or so he thought.

Moore was sent as a reporter to Harrisburg,PA along with four other students in order to receive state funding to continue their Pitt News. While sitting in the airport waiting to fly back to Pittsburgh, Moore saw the author he met not too long ago, Mr. Plimpton sitting across from him. After making eye contact, Moore decided to approach Plimpton and ask if he remembered his old chauffeur. Plimpton simply thanked him and left Moore feeling awkward. Once again, Moore was in an embarrassing situation. Not many students would approach someone in public that they only met once. Moore must have been feeling brave that day.

Following graduation, Moore and some "dope fiend friends" went to New York City to celebrate. After a rowdy night on the town, they decided to visit a famous music store on 48th Street. Moore steps outside and, sure enough, sees Mr. Plimpton across the way. The author looks up but seems to be unsure of who Moore is and walks away. Moore thinks he will, once again, never see Plimpton again. This is the second time Moore has encountered Mr. Plimpton unexpectedly. Was it fate? Moore must have felt like the Universe was punishing him for his past actions. At least Moore was facing his past head on by reaching out to try to get Mr. Plimpton's attention.

Manny's Music Store has since been closed. 

Moore was invited to a national nonfiction conference at a university in Baltimore where the keynote speaker was none other than Mr. Plimpton. Moore was surprised that after the book signing, Mr. Plimpton walked right up to him and said he remembered when Moore was his escort back in Pittsburgh. Moore was speechless as Plimpton walked away. Just then, a faculty member flashes a deviant grin. Apparently, Moore missed some inside joke.

The big take away from this story is that Mr. Plimpton never really remembered Moore, though all their encounters left Moore feeling embarrassed of the past. Moore let all the different encounters impact him and made his life stressful. He was afraid that the intelligent Plimpton would look down on him and judge him for that awkward first encounter. If Plimpton was just a random person, then perhaps Moore would not have cared as much. However, Plimpton was a famous author - someone that an up-and-coming writer aspires to be.

Contributors:

Devan Orr
Sean McCarney
Jack Shirk