Over the years, I've come across many different types of poems for e.g. abecedarian, acrostic, ballad, blank verse, bop, blues poem, cento, cinquain, echo verse, elegy, epic, epigram, epistle, epitaph, free verse, ghazal, haiku, limerick, ode, pantoum, persona poem, renga, rondeau, senryu, sonnet, tanka, telestich, terza rima, triolet, villanelle, etc.

The list of variations, classifications and modifications seems to be endless.

But I searched for Emoticon Poems - the type that I usually write.

I found none ;-)

Hence, I thought of coming up with this new genre of poems and coining the term - Emoticon Poems in which some lines of the poems end with emoticons.

The emoticons or emotags could be inserted in the beginning, middle or end of the poem depending on which line/s the writer wants to emphasise with emotions. These sequential letters, symbols or facial glyphs complement the line/s or the poem as a whole, adding much more to it in way of expression although caution should be exercised not to add too many in case it spoils the decor or aesthetics of the poem. To avoid the use of glaring red/yellow images or emojis, I always use text emoticons rather than pictorial ones. Also, I would suggest - to avoid any confusion, use the emoticons which are more popular rather than using the rarer ones which might perplex your readers. For e.g. :) ;) :( are easily understood than the less common ones such as :-~~~ which means drooling or (-_-) which means secret smile ;-) unless of course, you are not only willing to put in an unusual emoticon but are also able to explain in a footnote below the poem what that queer symbol symbolises ;-)

I usually go for emoticons that have a universal appeal and are simple to understand thus helping to retain the simplicity of my poetry.

Emoticons are derived from 2 words - Emotion + Icons.

In my poems, I often use them as Smileys :-) Winkeys ;-) or Frowns/Sadness :-(

Emoticons show the emotions expressed in the lines of the poem through a facial expression using a colon or semicolon, an optional hyphen (dash) and a parenthesis (bracket), thereby conveying the writer's feelings, attitudes & intentions and clarifying the intended tone of the poem - the way the writer wants those lines to be perceived by the reader.

I insert emoticons to help the reader better understand the feeling I want to get across....so as to minimise any misunderstanding.

Sometimes at the very end of the poem i.e. beneath all the lines and verses, I would put ;-) or :-) or :D or LOL :D so that the overall mood of the poem is conveyed i.e. it is a light-hearted / flirtatious / humorous poem and I would like the reader to perceive it that way.

I hope this trend of using Emoticons in Poems doesn't die with me and somebody who enjoys reading and writing such poems, carries on after me :-)

Proposing this new category of poetry, I would also say that to each his own; people who are not comfy writing poems with emoticons, I wish them happiness with their old ways of writing :-)

And now before I leave you, let me share with you some of my Emoticon Poems so that you can sample some examples of such writing:

Last Night

https://www.boloji.com/poem/15073/last-night

Pages

https://www.boloji.com/poem/14748/pages

Popcorn

https://www.boloji.com/poem/16321/popcorn

Q&A

https://www.boloji.com/poem/16944/qa

The Sports Channel

https://www.boloji.com/poem/18110/the-sports-channel

Let Me

https://www.boloji.com/poem/20212/let-me

You can read many more such Emoticon Poems of mine on my Profile Page

https://www.boloji.com/writers/2140/aparna

And now as always, here are the ending Quotes for your Notes :-)

If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. - Albert Einstein

Friendship may, and often does, grow into love, but love never subsides into friendship. - Lord Byron

When a woman's wave rises she feels she has an abundance of love to give, but when it falls she feels her inner emptiness and needs to be filled up with love. - John Gray

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy. - Anton Chekhov

Love is a lot like Dreams! They both have no borders or boundaries! Except the ones we build in our egoic mind. - Philip T. M.

We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us they will react and behave in certain ways—the ways we react and behave when we love someone. - John Gray

You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body. - C.S. Lewis



Hope happiness kisses your feet so that you can make lots of others happy :-)

Cheers
Aparna

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