Future Trends in Poetry with Crystalline Poetry

Without the participation of the reader, poetry is nothing. ~Suzette Richards

Poetry relies on the reader's interpretation, emotions, and imagination to bring the words to life. The connection between the poet and the reader is what makes poetry a dynamic and living form of art. Without this engagement, the words remain static and inert. The reader's participation completes the poetic experience, making it a shared journey of discovery and reflection.

What Is Literary Minimalism?

Literary minimalism refers to writing with a small, specific focus, usually devoid of flowery, excessively descriptive language and backstory. Literary minimalism prioritizes brevity, allowing the reader to make up for a lack of verbiage with their imagination. Minimalism focuses on slices of life and general context rather than relying on literary conventions, and is sometimes seen as a rejection or rebellion against postmodernism—a form of literature that relies on lofty literary conventions like unreliable narration, impossible plots, and fragmentation.*

MY EXAMPLE (a tanka)

fierce sun

evaporates my thoughts

breeze

flips my umbrella

redirects my mind

Future Trends in Poetry

Predicting future trends in poetry is always a bit speculative, but there are some interesting directions emerging that move beyond traditional Free Verse and rhymed, metered verse:

Multidimensional Poetry with Mixed Media Forms: Poets are increasingly combining their words with visual elements like painting, photography, music, and performance arts like dance. This creates a more immersive and interactive experience for the audience. See Various Crystalline below.

Micro-Poetry and Short-form Poems: With the rise of social media, there's a growing trend towards brevity and bite-sized poetry that can be quickly consumed and shared. These short poems often distil profound concepts into just a few lines.

Eco-Poetry: This genre explores our relationship with nature and addresses pressing environmental issues like climate change and pollution. It encourages readers to re-evaluate their interactions with the environment and promotes sustainable living.

Collaborative Poems: Poets are joining forces to create collaborative works that blend diverse perspectives and voices. This trend celebrates the collective creative process and results in unique, multifaceted pieces.

AI Poetry: The use of artificial intelligence to generate poetry is a growing trend. While it doesn't replace human creativity, it offers new ways for poets to experiment with form and content.

Social Media Poetry: Platforms like Instagram have popularized short, visually appealing poems that often include emojis and other visual elements. This trend caters to the digital age and the short attention spans of social media users.

These trends suggest that poetry is evolving in exciting and innovative ways, moving beyond traditional forms to embrace new technologies, collaborative efforts, and pressing social issues.

VARIOUS CRYSTALLINE

Definition of crystalline: Something that is clear and transparent like crystal. For example, ‘crystalline waters’ would refer to waters that are very clear and pure.

Crystalline

The Crystalline is a two-line 17-syllabic verse mimicking haiku, including employing the pivot.* It was created by the American poet Denis Garrison. The two lines may be divided: 8–9, 9–8, or any other line break for an irregular Crystalline. Normal grammar rules apply. Poetic devices are employed at the poet’s discretion; written in the present tense with any reference (often seasonal) that can place the verse in context. It is left untitled.

MY EXAMPLE

Aging rocks fall into the sea;

the tides erode all norms over time.

Parallelogram de Crystalline

The Parallelogram de Crystalline was created by Karan Naidu, purportedly dedicated to his soulmate, Crystal Rose. It consists of 4 verses, 3 lines in each verse. A syllabic form: 3, 6, 9 per line. In this style of poem, the beauty of a lover is compared with nature and described in those terms. The beginning of each line is capitalised, but no punctuation is used as the line breaks serve to define the images/thoughts. Crystalline literally means very clear or bright, therefore, keep the complementary images crisp.

MY EXAMPLE

PETRICHOR OF A WATERFALL

Petrichor

Fragrance reminiscent

Of the unique perfume you exude

Cascading

In abundance down rocks

In imitation of your tresses

Enticing

Me to run my fingers

Through essence of your inner being

Reflecting

The sunlight in turmoil

While your passion rests sated in shade

Crystalline Verse

This is not to be confused with the poetic form, Crystalline which is based on haiku.

Multidimensional poetry with mixed media forms is an innovative and dynamic approach to poetry that integrates various artistic elements to create a more immersive and engaging experience. By blending poetry with other art forms, poets can create rich, layered experiences that appeal to multiple senses and engage audiences in new and exciting ways. Some types of visual poetry:

• Illustrations and Imagery: Combining poetry with visual elements like illustrations, photographs, or paintings. This can enhance the emotional impact and provide additional layers of meaning.
• Typography: Playing with the arrangement and style of text on the page to create visual art. The layout can reflect the poem’s themes or emotions.

At its core, Crystalline Verse is a literary art form that employs the principles of geometry to construct written words and phrases into visually stunning patterns. Inspired by organic forms, geometric symbols, and intricate designs found in nature, these compositions often serve as a manifestation of the writer’s innermost thoughts and emotions. The aim is not just to communicate meaning through words, but to enchant and transform the reader’s understanding of language itself. Once the basic structure is in place, the artist refines the composition, adjusting spacing, kerning, and other details to enhance the visual appeal—it is a labour intensive process.†

References

*Glossary of Some Common Poetic Devices | PoetrySoup.com