Poems.
Specifically, I write poems using a unique form of poetry I invented for this project that I call exponential poetry.
I really enjoy the 5-7-5 syllable constraint of westernized haiku, but I don't know enough about Japanese culture to have a deep understanding of that form. I looked around for other forms of poetry that have similar constraints, or that would otherwise click with me, but I came up empty.
So, I invented my own form of poetry influenced by the syllabic constraints of haiku, as well as patterns found in both nature and technology. I call it exponential poetry, and it only has one rule:
I believe that magic is the result of ingenuity pushing against constraints; my hope is that this form of poetry will help me produce a little magic every now and then.
I'm Justin Michael. Hello!
I plan to write and publish a new poem every day until the end of 2019 (and perhaps beyond).
I wanted to do something creative every day in 2019.
In the past I've tried to do a photo a day, or a sketch a day, but I always ended up falling out of the habit. I took a hard look at these past failures and determined the main problem was depending on something external. If I was going to succeed doing anything every single day for a whole year it needed to be something I could do at almost any time, from anywhere, using only the things I normally carry with me each day.
Poems fit that requirement, so here we are!
This site is made of 100% hand-crafted HTML, CSS, and PHP code. No frameworks, no libraries, no dependencies. The original version of the site took about three days to build from start to finish.
I primarily use two apps to write and publish my poems: Bear and Coda. They both run on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac which lets me create and share my poems easily from anywhere.
When I'm on my Mac I also use the excellent Contraste app to verify I'm selecting accessible colors for the text and background of each poem.
Poems usually start in Bear as rough drafts. I often write more than one poem per day and publish the best one here (I'm still deciding what to do with the extras).
To publish a poem I create a text file on my web server using Coda. Each file has a special filename that includes the date, text color, and background color for the poem inside. From there the PHP code running on the server assembles the HTML and CSS you see in your web browser.
Still have questions, or just want to say hello? Send me an email: justin@violetpixel.com