Twitter Poems
Sharukh Khan does it. Amir Khan does it.Salman too does it.Sashi Tharoor did it and landed into a cattle class controversy but he still does it.Gul Panag did it, got addicted to it, has now gone slow on it.Saif too did it but learnt some hard lessons on the way.Lara Dutta also had some unsavoury experiences while doing it !
You must be wondering as to what am I talking about. Yes, I too have recently started doing it in my style and at this age.Yes I am talking about Twitter and twittering and of course about the big galaxy of twitterati out there in Bollywood,Hollywood and AnyOtherwood !
Let me begin from the grassroots.Try looking up in a good reliable old dictionary.Twitter,as a verb, means to utter or express. As a noun it means a succession of light tremulus sounds,also called a chirp.The act of twittering in a coloquial way,means being in a tremulously excited state. A tweet means a chirp of a small bird, reproducing high frequency sounds etc too.
Now lets understand what this latest social form of communication called Twitter, is about.
It means airing your views, opinions,comments,ideas,news et all with all in general and with no one in particular and which is meant for all sundry to read,understand,smile,cry,laugh,hate, and employ any or all or whatever other means of emotional atyachaar they have at their disposal !
Having understood the basic part,now let us try to learn something more about Twitter.However,if you are already aware about it,you can chirp a sigh of relief and fly off. Yes, kudos to you. If you are not, allow me to introduce you to the 21st century version of mass communication.Twitter is an opt-in service that allows you to set up an account and a profile and instant message multiple people who have agreed to receive your messages. The messages, however, have a 140-character limit. Because of this limit, Twitter has been also dubbed as “microblogging”. It’s a way of sharing information in short snippets. I like Twitter for a number of reasons, one of which is because it forces me to think concisely. Brevity is key to good writing and Twitter forces you to be brief. The only limitation is that all communications must have maximum 140 characters. Keep in mind, we are talking about 140 characters, not words.For the dummies like me, here is an example.The word Twitter is made up of 7 characters- t, w, i, t, t, e & r. All other alphabets,numerals and signs like $,@,&,? etc as seen on a standard key board, are all rightly and collectively called characters.
I will now fly to the specific topic under discussion.With Twitter having gained popularity,notoriety,name,fame,etc, now, there are a number of foras (plural of forum) and sites that teach readers with poetical bent of spine/mind,the art of writing poetry in various forms like haiku,tanka,senryu,limerics etc in the Twitter way.You can search on the internet and educate yourself,please.
What Is A Twitter Poem?
So what is a Twitter poem? In a word, a Twitter poem is a poem that you write for Twitter and publish on Twitter. I have seen Twitter haikus and other poets have used Twitter to write short poems. I’ve even seen people Twitter an entire book.I understand that Shakespears Romeo and Juliet is there on Twitter ! (More of that later !)
As we see it, there are two ways you can use Twitter to write a poem. You can write a single poem within one “tweet” – the word for a message on Twitter. Or you can use each message to write a line in a poem. In the latter’s case, your poem can be as long as you want it to be as long as each line is no more than 140 characters. That’s not quite as challenging as writing a 140-character poem.Keep in mind, we are talking about 140 characters, not words, as explained above.
Twitter Poem Experiments
Many poets have started experimenting with twitter poems.One such link/hint is :http://twitter.com/Allen_Taylor.
If you have an interest, try to follow Allen Taylor.Many twitter poems of his are there for you to read and enjoy.There are many other poets too, who have posted a variety of twitter poems.
How To Write A Twitter Poem
Whenever you see a Twitter poem it will look like mostly this:
- Every line will end with /
- Stanzas will end with a double / – just like this //
- Poems will appear as one line with the above symbols to represent line and stanza breaks
- At the end of each poem you’ll see #twitpoem
That’s about it. Pretty simple,no ? The #twitpoem is called a hashtag. If you go to http://search.twitter.com and type in the hashtag you’ll find all the poems on one page.
There are several categories of twitter poems out there eg :
- #poetry
- #twitpoem
- #haiku
- #micropoetry
- #senryu
- #tanka
A few of my favourite Twitterpoems/twihaikus collected from various sources at random, are given here under : E…n..j…o…y…!!
1.
Brown sparrows roost on/ the drooping clothesline; soiling/ a newly washed sheet.
2.
The caterpillars/ feed on large cauliflowers/ while the farmer sleeps.
3.
tears futile / as seafoam on the beach / after the storm. .
4.
ma brain needs a new memory chip. the current one is infected with you.
5.
Writing poems to put on ones’ twitter /
Is harder than finding a baby-sitter /
For in both cases a problem occurs /
A lack of suitable charact //
Is harder than finding a baby-sitter /
For in both cases a problem occurs /
A lack of suitable charact //
(Note : the last two alphabets E and R of the last word in the above poem have ben purposely left out since the intelligent readers will automatically understand what the twitterer is trying to say.He is literally putting words in your mouth !)
My First Twitter Poem :
I spent nearly two hours in thinking as to on what subject should I compose my first twitterpoem. My wicked sense of humour and my childhood fascination with nursery rhymes compelled me to come out with the following :
Jack n Jill /
went up d hill /
2 learn how 2 twitter /
Jack came back wise n witty /
while Jill learnt only how 2 titter //
(Note :The word “titter” without the “w” of twitter, as my intelligent readers will know, means : to laugh,to giggle, in a covert or restrained manner ! )
I am sure my readers will be laffing der laffy laffter ! So,try to compose and post some of your twitter poems on this forum.
I have already suggested to Shri Mallickji to give twitterpoems as the theme for next monthly competition.Lets see how their twitter cooky tumbles ! All The Best !!
More about this in the next episode.Till then, Happy Twittering !!
Brocaji, It’s a scintillating treat. You ably prove that the twitter is worth an attempt. A few literals – though routine with so many – are uncharacteristic of Brocaji’s stylus. J Thank you, anyway, for the creative and funny fare.
U Atreya Sarma, Secunderabad-56
Apr 16, 2010
Thankyou for sharing the intricacies of twitter and twitter poems. Your take on Jack & Jill’s conventional nursery rhyme is novel and hilarious. Warm regards,
Jasneet Kaur, New Delhi
Apr 16, 2010
Dear Atreyaji, many thanks for ur prompt response. I am sorry for the few un-broca like errors that have crept in ! Thanks for pointing them out. I will be extra careful henceforth. Your request for the post of copy editor is under active consideration. Please first learn to tweet on twitter as that experience is essential these days I think! I have just posted the Jack n Jill twitterpoem on twitter through my twitter window on left of my blog. You can follow me there if u so desire. Keep Smiling and Keep Others Smiling. GBU
J S Broca, New Delhi
Apr 16, 2010
Dear Jasneet, thanks a lot for finding some time from your busy schedule and going through my post and responding to it. GBU.
J S Broca, New Delhi
Apr 16, 2010
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Jatinder ji,
You have enlightened an amateur who had just a vague idea of what Twitter is all about. I must say besides writing such interesting posts, your ability to teach is comendable. Like Jill I perhaps may only learn to titter but will keep in touch with your twitter posts. Thanks for making life interesting and fun.
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