Poem: A Mashup

What makes poetry effective? How does a poem work? What are its goals and aims?

Taking his cue from the musical form of mashup, in POEM M. D. Usher has composed what is known as a cento, stitching together snippets from famous poems in such a way that the words of the text illustrate the aspect of poetry being described. A lively introduction and short, irreverent biographies of the featured poets add to the fun.

In T. Motley's artwork, Word literally becomes Flesh, as letters emerge like epiphanies from the drawings.

POEM is a unique achievement that stands in relation to canonical poetry as Disney's film, Fantasia, stands to classical music-first of its kind, something for all ages, and well worth experiencing again and again.