Pocket Poems

What do you get when you cross a poem, a miniature, a cloth flap in your pants or in your shirt, and a little bit of fun? Why a pocket poem, of course!

Pocket Poems are my new venture to break into the world of literary populism. I have grown tired of writing poems that no one reads. I think most contemporary poets can identify with what I mean. After all, how many people that you know read poems? Do you read poems yourself? No? I didn't think so.

But if you look back in history, poetry was once something that belonged to everyone. Even the person with the menial job in ancient days could recite by heart a well-loved poem.

What about us today? Aren't poems somehow divorced from most people's ordinary experience of life? I think they are. Part of the reason why is that, for the most part, poems are only printed in highbrow literary journals that are read by nobody but other poets or would be poets. And that just doesn't seem right. I don't think poems ought to be only for artsy types or intellectual types. I think poetry belongs to everyone.

Which is why I have created Pocket Poems.

For now my Pocket Poems are created with only my own poems. That seems self-serving, I know. But we'll see where this leads me. For the moment, I don't have to ask anyone else's permission to print up my own pocket poems. And as I doubt this is a very lucrative venture, I don't think I want to get involved just yet with raising another poet's hopes for success. Because when it really comes down to it, these Pocket Poems will be more of a sharing gesture than a money making activity anyway.

But here I am inviting you to share my fun.

The process I use for making pocket poems involves the personal touch. Before I even begin to print a pocket poem, I hand marble the paper. As a result, each pocket poem is printed on a uniquely designed paper. One side of the paper is marbled while the other side is kept clear for printing the poem. Since I often start with colored paper, however, even the poem side of the paper may include a bit of color. The final product is a pocket poem that is like no other.

The cover of a pocket poem is designed with either an original photograph or a drawing, depending on the pocket poem. When I first imagined making these little books, I wanted to combine both the literary and visual arts that I love to engage in and this is how I decided to do it.

Why did I decide to make books of poems small enough to fit in your pocket? I'm not really sure. I have always loved miniature things, and I thought the idea of miniature books would be fun. That's all. And the portability of poems that fit in your pocket is interesting to me, as I always lug books around with me wherever I go.

Of course the famous poem about a poem in your pocket may have had something to do with it, too.