Blackout Thursday (#138)

A new holiday tradition? A found poem found in the Christmas tree. Plus: Yule cat!

Part of Campfire Notebook’s format is a monthly poetry feature. As I continue to work on new poetry submissions offline, I still want to share examples of my work with you. These are poems created purposefully each month to share around the Campfire.

Have you tried blackout poetry?

It’s a type of “found poetry”: poems created from others’ words. In this case, an existing text is reviewed for words that you can use to create a new theme or story. The rest of the “unused” words are simply redacted from view to make the new message clear.

When I’m looking for a way to stretch the creative muscles or am stuck on an idea, I like to reach for an old book from a yard sale, better suited to the scrap heap but given new life through a pencil and a Sharpie.

Or - this week, anyways - a well-known holiday tale…

Sadly, I don’t have a printed copy of Moore’s classic Christmas tale to then rough up into a redacted poem. A copy from the web, nestled into the just-purchased and now-settling Christmas tree, has to suffice. (© Bryn Robinson, 2024).

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A Creature Stirring
The night before -
hung hopes,
nestled visions;
I had settled the matter.

But he called by name - 
that wild hurricane -
in my head with a bound,
 from ashes roses and smoke

He shook.
He laughed.

And I had nothing.

Not a word.

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It’s not gone unnoticed by me that I blacked out words, yet somehow the ones remaining seem darker than the new ink around it. Did I lean into an unsettled, anxious vibe on purpose to subvert the cheery Christmas classic? Do I need to speak to a therapist? Was I influenced to take on darker tones after reading this week about such evil holiday creatures as the Alpine hell-goat Krampus and the lesser-known Icelandic Yule Cat?¹

“Watchful Knight” - a watercolour by artist Hope Doe, who reimagines the Yule Cat’s vengeful nature into one of vigilance over the children of Iceland.

Regardless, I’m in the mood to redact more words from holiday tales and tunes. The local farmer’s market was giving away newspapers full of carols, and it might soon meet a fate with my pen. As the days grow darker, perhaps so too will these found poems - or maybe I’ll reimagine them, like Hope’s painting above, to find more light.

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Thanks for reading this month’s creation, friends. You can check out other poems I’ve created for the Campfire here:

Invasive Species | The Tangent Function | A Spark That Spreads | Mango | Tangled Whispers | Springtime Elegy | Cannonball | Sugar Pants | Bracelet Days | Emerging | The Cry from the Attic

I’ve also got examples of other blackout poetry that I’ve done, over on my website.

Have a gander - and let me know if you try your hand at this technique!

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1. Maybe, probably, and likely are the responses I’ve arrived at.