Time Lapse Poetry #1 – “Debt”

When I write poetry, sometimes I handwrite and sometimes I write on my iPhone. I find it funny how regardless of which I do first, I inevitably copy the poem over to one or the other. When I handwrite I usually copy the poem digitally just for the sake of posterity and safekeeping. With this one, I wrote the original draft in my Evernote because I was out and about without paper when the idea struck. I liked it, so I later transcribed it to a notebook for no reason other than feeling like it’s more fun and poetic to see it handwritten.

The same day that I wrote this poem down in my notebook I randomly came across an advertisement for an app called Camera Lucida. I investigated and ended up purchasing the app for a few dollars. It’s not the most robust application but it’s proven a fun tool and very good for recording time lapses. This video is the result of my early experimentations with the app. Side note: I used to own a small iPhone tripod which I seem to have lost. So, this video was recorded with my phone taped to a tall stack of DVD’s. I also propped the notebook up with one and you can see a sliver of the DVD jacket for Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket in the bottom left corner.

Here’s another quick time lapse I did with the app during my experimentation. Obviously this isn’t meant to be a masterpiece, it was merely a sketch of my Scrabble mug, but here it is for the sake of showing off what the app can do.

I love to see artist process videos on Instagram and Facebook. There’s something so oddly hypnotizing and alluring about them. I feel like they give a fun little insight into the life of the artist and induce a slightly more intimate impression of the work. When I got the new app I couldn’t resist trying my hand at one of my own. It seems like most time lapse videos I see are of drawings or lavish paintings but I thought it would be cool to apply the process to poetry. This poem is short and admittedly simple, but it’s one of my favorites I’ve written lately. I thought it would be a good one to share in time lapse both because it’s so simple and because it’s about something I think so many people can relate to: gratitude for life.

This marks the first post on this blog to feature my own work. If by chance you enjoyed it, you’re in luck. I had a lot of fun making it and plan to make more time lapse poetry in the future.

Michael