look FOr inspiration

I believe the odyssey of a lone tear

captures memory

and adapts its story

Into a source of hope

feelings inspire Humans

to turn into heros

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Do certain words grab your attention when you see them? Notice what you notice. It’s part of your story.

This type of work is commonly called a newspaper blackout poem. They were made popular by a writer/artist by the name of Austin Kleon, who is a master at them and uses nothing more than a black sharpie marker.

Some who make these are able to sit right down and start circling words and have something wonderful develop. I usually start by writing the first words that jump out at me onto another piece of paper and seeing if they start to lead me somewhere before I take a marker to the newspaper. Instead of a black sharpie, I like to use paint, or gesso, and since I sometimes don’t use words in the order they appear in the article, I often connect them with a pencil to show the order they should be read. There is no wrong way, and don’t worry if your attempts don’t seem to make sense at first. They don’t need to be logical to get something meaningful from them.

For those of you who would like to try this form of poetry, I have posted a process video on my instagram page (@lea.decosta) that will give you a better idea of how this one was made.