Lessons in being a Guerilla

I went out on Tuesday night to post up the first batch of 'Guerilla' poems around my town.  I learnt several things quite quickly:

1/ Practicing how you are going to tie or stick the poetry up BEFORE heading into the field is a good idea, as is a quick lesson in knots.  I wished I had a few options under my belt.

2/ However large the print, once your poems are up, they look very small!  Experiment with coloured paper?  Bold font?  I certainly plan to next time.

3/ A friend of mine suggested using plastic raffia to tie my laminated poems up.  This works really well, and adds a bit of colour.  (I sourced it at my local $2 shop). The downside is - it's plastic.  I plan to use eco-friendly twine next time, and dye my own with paint, ink or food colouring if I want it colourful. (Unless you know the source, the process for colouring 'biodegradeable' string might be just as damaging as plastic....)

4/ You do want to make sure to cut the ends or tie a neat bow after knotting.  The first poems I put up are a bit messy - I think I'll go back and do them again over the next few days.

5/ Take pavement chalk with you, and a book of inspiring words/poetry that is not subject to copyright laws (old stuff, for example).  I really liked how my chalked words enhanced my own sense of the event, and if people don't see the printed poetry, they might see the colourful chalk words.   I also chalked the pavement/walls close to my poems with things like "STOP - POEM" and some arrows, and "LOOK BEHIND YOU - POEM!" on the sea wall when I'd tied a poem to a bench.

6/ Don't fear security guards - charm them!  But look out - I chalked some Wordsworth on our ferry wharf walkway during the evening (despite the security guard's doubt about my activity) - it was gone by next morning, which is really annoying and very stupid on their part.  All the other chalking I did that night is still there...  I'll be back, though, to chalk the wharf again.

I went out the next day to put more poems up.  It's more time-consuming than you imagine it will be!  Last tranche will go up today.