This is poem 8 out of 30 celebrating April as National Poetry Month (Inter)national Newspaper Blackout Poetry Month!

There’s nothing especially remarkable about this poem, except for the fact that I did it live in front of a camera. Because I don’t keep track of time while I’m making them, I never really know how long these things usually take—but this one took about 17 minutes, which I think was more of a result of nerves in front of the camera than any poetic ingenuity.

Here’s the making in 224 frames:

see it bigger

And here’s a time-lapse video:

Making a newspaper blackout poem (time-lapse video) from Austin Kleon on Vimeo.

Just a little experiment. Hope you enjoy it.

TODAY’S SHOUT-OUT! goes to Drew Myron, who took a stab at his her (sorry, Drew!) own blackout poem. Rock on, Drew!