a love letter to magnetic poetry

mutual mayhem through art

In my college dorm, the minifridge that my three roommates and I share is covered with little fragments of magnetic poetry lines. We decided to fill up the fridge with magnetic poetry one night before classes started, and not only was it one of the most hilarious nights we’ve ever had, but it was the perfect way to re-establish our bond going into our junior year.

From “imagine a short chair” to “his heart is a library,” we still quote the lines we came up with that night. We even had some of our other friends and partners add lines when visiting us. Signs of life like these silly, lovely lines of poetry on our fridge mean the world to me. They’re representative of our memories together and our friendship.

A few posts ago, I mentioned how I’ve come across people who think they don’t have the capacity or ability to write poetry. However, poetry is a malleable medium, and many people don’t understand what that means.

Collaborating with your friends to make magnetic poems (or lines of poems) may not result in one’s next greatest work of poetry, but it’s more than likely going to be a lot of fun. It’s also a chance to let your creative parts out.

One activity I’ve particularly enjoyed as an English major is participating in magnetic poetry competitions and write-a-thons at my college, partnering up with students to create surprisingly deep magnetic poems on the fly. Some have been more successful than others, but I’ve actually finished and polished a few in my free time. Here’s one:

a still raven

a still raven
murmured ancient melancholy 
into the night air,
each word forming a woman, 
shaping 
	an eye, 
		a lip, 
			a brow,
a body.

i have been all of them,
a maven masked in merengue,
smushed and unpeeled like a 
tangerine in a child’s careless hands,
dunked into the deep drowsiness
of the blues that birthed me.

in the sorrow that has formed me,
i ask the goddess in her raven-state,
	would pain warm like a blanket
	if i could beat the dread of morning?

i lusted harmony once,
and i lust it again,
sweet bug of sun,
the soft press of aching lips
crackling on skin.

yet, she is the imagination of darkness,
a vacuous void in the vastness of outer space,
the crows in her cool shade.
no answer falls from her lips,
leaving me fruitless, forlorn.

as i ask once more,
the eyes the raven formed 
suddenly crystalize in new hues,
so that all who gaze upon my figure
and look into these new eyes of mine,
see and know the kaleidoscope 
this world has made me.

clarity is a bead of quartz.
	it is only i who can do these things.

---

Working with other students in my major to craft magnetic poems has helped me grow as a poet and a collaborator. And, in the case of my roommates and me, it’s strengthened our bond through a very memorable night of nonsensical lines and stanzas memorialized on our fridge.

When I first bought a pack of magnetic poetry at my local Barnes & Noble, I never would have expected to make so many memories with it. Poetry does bring us together in ways we may have never expected it to. But once it has, we can’t forget its impact on us as writers and individuals. We see thoughtfulness and silliness and partake in mockery and memory-making all at once.

Feel free to share any magnetic poems you’ve written in the comments!