Why and how to write “radio poems”

• Quick, fun batches of poetry

• Creativity boosting writing exercise

• Spontaneous writing fun

Nan Patience with work in progress. Video made in YouTube shorts (link here: https://youtube.com/shorts/eD1QVLfLoQI)

Following my bliss one day, I sat down to write poems while listening to a favorite radio station. I low-key challenged myself to enjoy the writing, sit and do a solid session, and see what came out on the page.

It was a fun exercise, and I got a whole batch of short poems out of it, too.

Here’s how you can write a “radio poem” to have fun, boost creativity and churn out some work in a fun way.

Step 1: Turn on your favorite music or talk radio station.

Step 2: Get ready to write in the moment, without knowing what’s coming over the airwaves.

Step 3: Start! Listen and jot down random words, maybe not just from the radio, but other words that come to mind, your own feelings, experiences, people, sensory notes, instrumental notes, etc. Anything. Avoid unique turns of phrase of particular artists, original ideas and anything trademarked or copyrighted.

Step 4: Do a whole session, aiming for a batch of (short) poems. Smash out several pages of words and raw poetic notes.

Step 5: Turn off the music and edit, edit, edit. Group words and ideas, try different arrangements, draft titles, rephrase, add context, reword, omit words, add other words, try some rhymes if you want, etc. You have complete freedom.

You can do it anywhere. Here are two radio poems I wrote the other day on the fly when out and about…

Trouble Tonight

by NG Swett

if looks could kill
I’d be in trouble
so out of touch
in my own bubble

the dangerous type
what are you all about
shock me baby
let’s scream and shout

you’re all I desire
don’t play dead
light my fire
you god among men

And another (below). I will say the two poems are nice and short and have an edge of passion that is wonderful for poetry.

Poem At Open Window

by NG Swett

I long to know you’re real

something I can feel

like an old typewriter key

clacking away here

words on a rag breeze

you breathe in and sneeze

“Oh bless you, Darling’!”

Once edited, my radio poems aren’t too far outside of the kinds of poems I’ve written before. One is on the racier side, one on the charming side. Both a little desperate haha!

They would fit into, for example, my first book of poems, HOLD ME TIGHT, a collection of 36 love poems about love and loss in modern times.

I’m working on a new collection of poems to be published by Labor Day, which will be a mix of poems with black and white photo collage illustrations (I think).

Give my radio poetry exercise method a try and see if YOU like it!

“More Babies!” — video with short rhyming poem, artwork

by New York poet NG Swett

Just a quick video post today, including a couple of extra pieces of material:

• notes about the substance of the poem

• when and how I wrote it

• creating and posting the video

The substance of the poem

The billionaires, plutocrats, oligarchs — some are calling for more babies.

Women should have more babies, some say. Women shouldn’t be able to end a pregnancy under any circumstances, some say. Life is too… precious!

Over a lifetime, families can easily shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars per person for taxes, health care, child care, education, shelter, food, transportation, weddings, and finally assisted living. The willingness to pay is only limited by our means. The value of a statistical life was estimated at $7.5 million in 2020 according to FEMA. Oh how the shareholders must drool at a number like that!

Other happy civilized countries don’t have things set up this way. Every heartstring we have is tapped for all it’s worth. Every fear stoked for our last dime.

There’s pushback on social media to this idea of women as livestock, especially among women. But the good news for the owner class is that they can mute ‘em with algorithms. (Studies show that social media is terrible for women’s mental health, especially secular liberals.)

Scientists proved that the human race is stripping the planet of resources, causing mass extinction, and polluting it to the brink of extinction. So do we really need more people? Or should we get our house in order first?

Writing the poem

So this all tickled my funny bone a little, so I jotted down this little rhyming poem, “More Babies!” just this week in a big black journal that I’ve been using lately for sketching and writing.

To illustrate the poem, I pulled up a painting I did some time ago of a made-up plutocrat, “One.” It’s from a series of a couple dozen mini acrylic paintings I made as art therapy to get me through writing and editing my first novel — a very, very challenging project! The paintings are all illustrations from scenes of the novel.

In the painting, One lounges god-like across a royal-looking chair in front of a glass window at night. You can see a bridge lit up behind him. The rug under his shiny black boots is a rough map of the Outer Lands Archipelago.

Making the videos

With the poem, the painting, and some branding basics for 4seasonshelf, I then made a short video in two formats, wide and vertical mobile. I added two audio tracks, one with the sound of a typewriter and another with the sound of an eerie lullaby…

I’m placing the wide format video here on 4seasonshelf.com first.

Then they will go on the billionaires’ platforms…

Pair of Haikus for our modern times

Earthquake, Solar Eclipse, Apocalypse, oh my!

You just never know what the day will bring...

Today we had a 4.8 earthquake in the region -- New Jersey to be exact. Everyone in the NY metro region felt it, up and down the East Coast.

Nothing was damaged, it seems. Close call?

Do you know where your friends and loved ones are? Everyone seems ok, but are we?

Life goes on. Get back to work?

I mean, it's absurd how much the world has to process on a daily basis. Today an earthquake, on Monday a total solar eclipse will slash darkness across the country. And always lurking in the background is the possibility of a large apocalypse, which is a reality for too many people in too many places around the globe these days.

Altogether the words earthquake, eclipse and apocalypse tickled my funny bone a little, even though the situation’s not really that funny. A haiku is quick, something we can all use to dash off an idea in a pinch, 5-7-5 syllables for three lines, and the last line is supposed to land a little flat or funny. This short ancient poem format is just the thing for a pair of poetic dispatches for today.

Here are a pair I wrote in my notebook then set up in Canva and posted on YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

While it may be wrong to ride a trending wave about a natural disaster, I can assure you that I’m not above it. And I feel it’s right to share an experience with the wider public, and an idea about something big that’s happened, so that we can all share in it.

Turn on sound!

~ Nan

Download Love Poem: “Thoughts Upside Down” by NY Poet NG Swett

People really like this short rhyming poem from Hold Me Tight, my book of love poems

“Thoughts Upside Down” from HOLD ME TIGHT poetry book by New York poet NG Swett. On 4x6 adhesive shipping label printed on a thermal printer.

4YOU! Click image for free DOWNLOAD of png for personal use.

Here is a short video I made of the same poem:

I’ve posted online a few poems from Hold Me Tight. I’ve tried different ones in different ways (e.g., videos, images, audio, etc.). This short vertical video has done the best so far.

As you can see, it types out the poem, and there’s a black and white image behind it of an upside down crystal ball. It shows the minimalist modern aesthetic of the book overall.

Thermal poetry?

I printed the poem above on a thermal printer and I’ll tell you why.

Printing a poem on an adhesive thermal label is an idea I got by two accidents.

One accident was in the original printing of the paperback poetry book. A poem accidentally sucked. So I made a label with a better poem and covered my shame. (And updated and uploaded my files to Ingram Spark and Draft2Digital for the revised hard cover and ebook editions.)

The other accident was printing out a dozen of the same shipping label for an eBay sale. A waste of precious labels, for sure! But printing a dozen poems on purpose and then sticking them up around town might be fun.

When I’ve got some thermal poems in my bag, I keep my eye open for a good spot. What’s a good spot? Visible, public, out of the elements a bit, smooth surface, and possibly used by other sticker people…

Can you see my thermal poem?

In recent years I’ve been selling a few things online, such as eBay, Poshmark and Amazon. I’ve become aware of a huge number of creative, entrepreneurial and community-minded people doing ecommerce, and many of us have thermal printers because of the time, money and paper they save in shipping. The cost of ink these days, am I right?!

People might like to print out a little poem and stick it up somewhere it can be seen. Maybe it will inspire others to write their own poems and paper the world with poetry.

Poetry — the readers, lovers and writers

The angelic people who have taken time out of their busy lives to flip through a few of my short poems have told me that they really like the shortest ones. Haha! But this one titled “Thoughts Upside Down” is one of my shortest though.

Seriously, short poems are easier to share online with the people because they can fit on one visual and in a short period of time.

And what could be simpler than a poem? Especially short rhyming poems, they’re just fun and easy to read.

Poetry is a weird thing

Poetry is a weird thing for most people, and no one really talks about it. You’d have to go to a local poetry jam or writers club to find anyone talking about this sort of thing. In fact, it’s not uncommon for people to be stone cold stunned quiet with nothing to say when called upon to read and comment on a poem or a book of poetry. Although I’ve seen that poetry is enjoying a new popularity which I’m happy to see and even happier to join in on.

So that’s why I like to be on my poetry bullshit right in plain view. It was over a casual lunch at the dining room table one day that I toyed with the title of a new poem in my notebook. I asked my husband to get involved, and “Thoughts Upside Down” is what we came up with. It was a pleasant lunchtime puzzle, and I’m quite pleased with the result.

“The Best Season?” a small talkin’ one-minute love poem

Three slides of a short 1-minute mobile video for the poem “The Best Season?” by NG Swett, Outer Lands Archipelago / NY poet

This is the 1:09sec video for posting “The Best Season?” love poem from HOLD ME TIGHT poetry book.
The video and the individual slides (pngs) are for posting on social media platforms with links back here to this website at 4seasonshelf.com.
Audio is added on each platform to avoid copyright issues.

What is YOUR favorite season
-- winter, spring, summer or fall?

Here's a nice and easy one-minute short poem about a great small talk topic. Everyone cares about the seasons and the weather!

Small talk is a lost art, isn’t it? People are so shy and wary of talking to strangers. When you’re at the front desk, as I’ve been from time to time over the years, small talk is perfect for engaging with people. It’s friendly but not nosy.

People feel nostalgic for the seasons and what special things each season brings to life. Changes, cycles and transitions are in our human nature.

About this poem

The short rhyming poem, "The Best Season?", is one from my new collection of 36 poems, HOLD ME TIGHT (link to buy internationally). The book is available in hard cover and ebook formats. It’s gorgeous if I do say so myself. I love it!

Have you ever made a book? Or would you like to? It’s quite a journey, and I share it on this blog and in my enewsletter.

Minimalist aesthetic photo illustration

The poem is Illustrated here and in the book with a black and white photo of a flowering spring daffodil for a contemporary minimalist aesthetic.

In the book, each of the 36 poems shares a two-page spread with its own minimalist black and white photo collage illustration.

How did I make the book? People have been asking me, and I share all the details here in a blog post all about making and publishing the love poetry book. Here is the cover:

I’m experimenting with short mobile videos like the one above for sharing poems, blog posts and new paintings online.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

~ Nan

P.S. I invite you to keep in touch by subscribing to my email list.

~ Headquarters of 4seasonshelf and home to the New York poet NG Swett ~

The Outer Lands Archipelago is made up of all of the ancient islands along the East Coast created 30,000 years ago during the last Ice Age when the Labrador Glacier was halted by the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

The islands of the archipelago include New York’s Long Island, Block Island, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and many other stunning islands.