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.

Keep the poems coming

I've received some wonderful work from North Shore poets this week, for the Guerilla Poetry event.

Keep it coming!

As it's a busy season, I've decided I'll accept work throughout the holidays.  So don't feel you can't send something after 1st Dec.

The first, and largest, posting of poems will happen on 16th December, but any work submitted after that will be displayed.  I'll try to put poems up on a weekly basis.

Don't forget, the poem doesn't have to be written about or in Devonport, but should be appropriate to the location.

Check blog posts below for ideas for themes - they might remind you of something you have in your back catalogue that would be perfect to send in, or that with a little tweaking would be ideal.

Auckland North Shore Poets Please!

Any poem appropriate for the location of Devonport village, or sea front will be accepted for consideration.  Poems to be displayed around Devonport from 16th December throughout the summer holiday.

Post here as a comment, or email guerillapoetevents@gmail.com

You can visit Devonport and write a poem inspired by a specific location, or submit a poem (or several) that you've already written that you consider suitable.

Clearly the theme of the sea is applicable!  Other themes or subjects might be:

Pohutukawa
City view
Ferry
Wharf
Arriving / Departing / Journeys
Beach
Sea
Rocks and rock pools.
Boats
Anchors (there are a couple of large old ones on display here and there)
The Navy
Cafes
Coffee
Icecream
The horse wagon (we have a wagon pulled by two huge Clydesdales that traverses the village)
The Morton Bay Fig Tree (of fig trees in general)
Shopping
Fountain(s)

Any style of poetry, shorter poems preferred.

Poems for Gorillaz

Well, I feel like I'm just writing for myself, and maybe I am!  But never mind, because I am a guerilla and guerilla poetry in Devonport will happen with one or a hundred guerillas.

What I have mainly learnt in life is that if you don't do it, no one else will.  And if you do do it, perhaps no one else will, but at least you will have done it!

Hence, at 27 I went travelling around the world on my own. No one else I knew was doing it. There wasn't anyone else interested in coming with me - not even my long-term boyfriend at the time.  So I went.  I had a blast.  It changed my life. As a result of just doing it, I ended up living in not just a different continent but a different hemisphere, and subjecting myself to adventures I would never have thought would come my way.  Life may not always be coming up roses, but I relish the learning from every bump in the road I've ended up on.

Long story short.... due to an apparent general malaise on the part of local poets, or perhaps a lack of local poets, I have been researching existing poems that have resonance to places in Devonport, which will be displayed along with some of my own work.  Poets who have written in and around the area were my first port of call, but some of my own personal favourites will also appear.

If you're out there, poets, I'd love to receive your work to display in our unique and rather fabulous city village.

Let's get writing

Come on all ye poets!

How are you all going?  I hope you're out there writing!

I've been looking through my own back-catalogue too, and found some poems that fit perfectly in some locations around Devonport.

New work is great - but if old work fits, use it!  We need the general public to see and appreciate poetry, to enliven, inspire and embolden!  The more the better.

BE BOLD.

WELCOME

Welcome to Guerilla Poets, the home of Guerilla Poetry.

'Guerilla' poetry is poetry that just 'appears' one morning in your local town, village or suburb. It's pertinent to the area, it's written by locals, and it's all about you.

Why? To inspire others about their local area, or the area they are passing through. To draw people's attention to places they perhaps take for granted, or have forgotten to look at. To show that inspiration is all around us. And to give us writers something else fun to do! And finally hey - our micro-world is worth writing about.

What I've learnt from writing, and reading, for most of my life, is that I write best what I know. This project is the result of two things 1/ An ongoing interest/obsession with the haiku form 2/ A project/book called 'Haiku on 42nd Street in New York... I'll quote the blurb on the back of the book of photos of the project - it says it best:

"Times Square. Crossroads of the world... not so long ago it... carried a slightly shabby dignity... Haiku on 42nd St. magically appeared one night on the abandoned movie marquees. This whimsical collection of wordplay put a smile on the face of everyone who passed by."

While the short form of haiku lends itself well to guerilla poetry since it can be read quickly by passers by, this guerilla poetry is open to all forms. HOWEVER, poems need to be able to be read swiftly - to encourage readers to stop, so I recommend not more than 14 lines (which means you could even pen a sonnet!).

If you feel inspired to set up an event in your home town - tell us about it here.