A couple of days ago, I wrote a weird poem. It had some of the following elements:
- Repetition
- Coding Symbolism
- Purposeful Misspelling
- Dictionary Pronunciations
- Words broken into Smaller Bits
- Use of numbers
The poem was very short. That first poem led me to write an entire series of similar poems. I did some research to discover that I was writing “glitch poetry.” It also might fall into categories like anti-poetry and cyber punk.
Topics include technology, government, news, social media, sex, addiction; the individual struggle to not get lost in today’s overstimulated world.
Here’s short description of the 28-poem cycle I’ve completed:
I believe that error is the only honest data left in a manicured cis-stem. My lyrics are not typos; they are the intentional ruptures of a soul that refuses to be domestic-8ed by the algorithm. I invite the brave soles to stop scrolling, ignore the deaf socials, and enjoy the hum of a reality that is truly {RE}moved.
The project is still in the works. While I have completed the sequence, there is still editing and formatting that needs to be done.
The project started when I was studying how one might actually make a profit writing poetry. I hope you’re not laughing too loud. What I discovered is that the way one might make money as a poet is to create a brand and a specific identity behind that brand. That is what I did. Actually marketing and selling that brand is the trick. I’ve never cracked that code.
In the process, I’ve secured the website: glitcsh.com. The purposeful misspelling is part of the concept. My identity as the creator is not Dan Steven Erickson, but simply: POET. Because I could be anybody trying to survive in a world in which systems are stacked against us. The POET is the superhero, so to speak. The resolve is not to fight evil, but to simply walk away from it all, and in the end, to reduce the ego.
I have not decided when/if I will start the “Glitcsh” site and brand. Currently, my website hosting plan only allows for a single site. I either have to upgrade or return to a cheaper option.
I could start the series on this site, and I might. For now, simply stay tuned as I continue to work on the poems and make decisions on how to present them.
Let’s stay in touch. – dse