Only recently did I discover spine poems, a kind of verse “found” among book titles. I love found poems in general, as they often spur my creativity whenever I’m in a rut. When it’s hard to start with a blank page, sometimes you have to use what’s already out there and in the process create new meanings.
Below are my first attempts at creating spine poems from my collection of books. I think they’re quite good! If anything, it was fun to read book titles out loud, to listen to the rhythm of them, awaiting the moment the titles fall into place.
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
One Mighty and Irresistible Tide
RISE
Becoming
Many Voices, One Nation
Aiiieeeee!
Walang Hiya
Charlie Chan Is Dead
Between the World and Me
Unbroken Thread
Night Sky With Exit Wounds
The Color of Air
Burning Questions
Song I Sing
How the Word is Passed
How to Tell a Story
Call Us What We Carry
Beautiful Country
Who We Be
After One Hundred Winters
Postcolonial Love Poem
The Hurting Kind
What I’ve Stolen, What I’ve Earned
We Gon’ Be Alright
Early Grrrl
Loose Woman
Resistencia
Three Women
Crying in the Bathroom
Making a Scene
And this last one is actually pulled from my sister’s bookshelves.
Maybe This Will Help
Salt
Upheaval
The Warmth of Other Suns
Making History
Embracing Defeat
Dancing in the Dark
Disquiet, Please!
Last Call
Reflection
three generations 