“Four Poems” by William Poundstone

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Screen capture from "Four Poems" by William Poundstone. Image divided horizontally in half. Both halves display dark blue text on a yellow parallelogram extending off the edge of the screen. Background contains a large white star within a blue circle, bottom half obscured by an overlain plain blue background.
Open “Four Poems” by William Poundstone

Published the same year as New Digital Emblems (2000), these four short kinetic poems read like subverted graphic design experiments. The bright monochromatic, textured, shaded, or divided backgrounds contained by a borderless window serve as a stage into which words move in from several directions to form and develop the poems. The electronica inspired sounds punctuate moments in each poem, such as the apparition of words or the twist at the end of “Nil,” also emphasizing the rhythm of the scheduled presentation.

There is a tantalizing weirdness to these poems that make them feel like little brain twisters, especially to those inclined to try to make sense of them. Why is the F capitalized in “Denied?” What frame of reference is Poundstone evoking with the sounds and word containers in “Basic Con?”

I have my own ideas, so you try and figure it out! If it’s at all possible….