Why AI Can't be Creative

From time to time, we invite members to write guest blog posts on topical issues that impact upon poetry. Here is a fascinating article on AI and poetry/creative writing by our very own Iain Strachan, formerly a computer scientist and always a poet!

One of the keys to original creative work is that it should be.... well, original. It should contain phrases that haven't been seen before - that take us by surprise and delight us. However, a program like ChatGPT will struggle to produce anything like this, because it can only really produce output that is resembles the text and poems that have been used to train it. 

I asked ChatGPT to provide ten possible completions to this line, taken from Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem "God's Grandeur" 

    It will flame out like ... 

Here is what it came up with: 

a comet streaking through the night. 

a candle in the wind. 

a phoenix rising from the ashes. 

the last rays of a dying sun. 

fireworks bursting in the sky. 

a shooting star's brief flight. 

the embers of a forgotten fire. 

lightning splitting the heavens. 

a spark in the dark, then vanish. 

the final flare of a burning match. 

These phrases are all well-known, and not exactly unexpected; they are bland and literal. Compare that with the completion in Hopkins's poem. If you don't already know the poem this will be completely unexpected: It will flame out like shining from shook foil. 

Why is it that chatGPT can't produce stunningly original completions like that? The reason lies in statistics. In generating continuations, it uses probability, and a random number generator that is tuned (like loaded dice) to be heavily biased towards more likely (and hence less surprising) continuations. Also, if it chose an unlikely continuation, it probably won't make sense at all. There are vastly more nonsensical unexpected continuations than ones that make sense. 

What can we learn from this and apply to our own poems? A lot of our writing can be automatic, sometimes creative, but sometimes commonplace. So next time you write a poem, go through the first draft and examine each word or phrase and see if you can make a better one, instead of the expected word, make it unexpected. Make it a metaphor, rather than literal. 

Here's an example from one of my poems, describing the grid system of roads in Washington DC:

Geometric city. Anonymous streets 

Labelled with letters and numbers 

????? the shops into blocks. 

Here are chatGPT's 10 boring suggestions: 

Neatly dividing 

Methodically carving 

Carefully segmenting 

Precisely arranging 

Artfully separating 

Rigorously partitioning 

Strategically placing 

Systematically organizing 

Elegantly splitting 

Thoughtfully grouping 

Here's mine: Cheese-wire. 

I'll bet you didn't see that coming! It was based not on poems I'd seen before but lived experience; how as a kid I was fascinated to see cheese cut up with a cheese-wire.

Iain Strachan

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Writing great poetry

Is there a secret to writing good poetry? There are certainly no real rules. Watch Dead Poets Society, where the teacher tells his students to tear out the turgid introduction to 'How to Write Poetry', because it is rule bound, and actually stifles creative expression rather than encouraging it.  

So how do you go about writing a good poem? What is the process by which you end up with verse that is lyrical, beautiful to read, with some emotional impact? 

Well, the clue should be in the three elements I just listed. Let's take them one at a time...

Lyrical - what does it mean? Think of the lyrics in a song (more on this in a moment). Or think of the work of some of the masters of poetic expression. They don't simply say it as it is. William Wordsworth didn't just walk about a bit. He wandered lonely as a cloud (a simile). Dylan Thomas didn't write blandly about death - he raged against the dying of the light (a metaphor). Think deeply about what you are trying to describe and then go the extra mile. Nothing is off the table in poetry. Language can be made to mean what you want it to mean. Experiment, take risks, and write lyrical poetry that gets people thinking. Step out of the rut of the ABAB rhyme and try to colour outside the lines you've imposed upon yourself. 

Secondly, poetry should be beautiful to read. Now beauty is in the eye of the beholder (you can remove it with any eyewash). Essentially, poetry is subjective. Some may love your writing while others might despise it. Most will be fairly ambivalent, so it's up to you as the writer to convince your audience to keep reading. How do you captivate them? Think about the poetry of Paul Simon: 'My eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light, that split the night...' or 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls...' and see how he generates a stark urban imagery for his classic song Sound of Silence. There are various devices, tempos, formats and literary techniques you can employ to create atmosphere, tell a story or capture your reader's attention. Many are already presented in previous posts on this blog, so you'd be very silly not to explore them, wouldn't you? 

Finally, emotional impact. Yes, you can write a poem that is devoid of emotions, but such poems tend to be bland and sterile. Most poets have been through some kind of trauma, heartache or sadness in their lives. Write about your experiences, and you'll naturally have emotional impact.  Emotion can also present as joyful, angry or fearful, or a whole range of other expressions. Your poetry doesn't have to be melancholic to have emotional impact. It can be humorous, or it can be quizzical. Whatever you're writing, write it with some passion, and it will naturally have an emotional impact. 

Steve Wheeler

Image source Flickr

A Review Of “Beyond The Pyre”

There is a purpose that burns within us all… a fire that longs for expression and validity. At times it burns without even being identified,… a longing, existing to redeem sufferings into something new and precious as life itself.  This refinement burns brightly within an incineary collection of poems by Imelda Garcia entitled “Beyond The Pyre”, published by Wheelsong Books.

Imelda possesses an exuberant edge that sets her apart from everyday authors. A poet in every sense of the word, she is able to extrapolate images out of emotions… weave stories out of feelings, and discern truths out of deception.

Her topics maneuver between the diverse and the divine. She is no one trick pony, touching upon such hot button subjects as climate change, war, poverty, racism, women’s rights, and child advocacy. She also celebrates her Latino background exquisitely through the eyes of an endlessly expressive spirit. Imelda is bold, and writes with a distinct expression that gives every poem her signature. 

Her years of experience with tragedy and celebrations as a mother come to life in such poems as “Momma Doesn’t Want”, “Bolt” and “Woman Of Wonder”, in which she elegantly celebrates her daughter. She delicately touches upon childbirth and the ups and downs of motherhood here in “Womb”: 

“mothers sow seeds from the womb

tend then watch seedlings grow 

nurturing throughout life’s expanse 

often while consumed with sorrow”

The spiritual  aspects of her poetic voice are also evident in selections with such enthralling  titles as “What If God’s Not One Of Us”, “Untouchables”, “Rock Of My Altar”, and “Oh J.C.!” In “I Thirst” she passionately petitions to us all to become aware of our own precious redeeming vulnerabilities by addressing her own:

“I and mine call on your humanity

though He might have said it first

look to your souls, you’ll see

I am a human being, and I thirst”

Able to cover so many subjects, she ducks and dodges jabs of the mundane like a skilled prize fighter, unafraid to challenge any metaphor. She dances with death in poems like “Above Crosses” or “Forbidden Fruit”, and even explores the cosmos itself with titles like “Celestial”, “Of Stardust” and “Ethereal”.

Her love poems soar as she professes a most solid adoration for her beloved husband. Balancing between heavenly and earthly desires, Garcia knows romance where it comes to for better or for worse, or as she would describe it, “… to go for gold and failed to fall”, a fine line from “In Heaven”. From passion to endearing forever love beyond the physical, she does not fail to deliver.

Her dedication to poetry is evident in offerings like “La Poeta”, “On The Swing”, and the following excerpt from “Abstract Stamp”:

“…The art I now create for prosperity 

Are words, I hope with clarity

Impress upon future review

My definition of my view

Having shared on podium stalls

On stage, in schools, library halls

I try to stamp a liberal mark

On countless minds who hear my spark” 

No one writes quite like Imelda Garcia. Her use of short staccato phrasings, set with a lush use of metaphors, paints a mosaic of meaningful word murals that are both enjoyable to read and practical to interpret.

“Beyond The Pyre” is exactly that… a white hot refinement beyond our earthly reality into an understanding of illuminating truths, both profound and utterly beautiful. 

Matt Elmore

Available now on Amazon

Beyond the Pyre
https://a.co/d/5vlnfqY

Poetic devices 2: Metaphors

Last week I introduced my new series on poetic writing devices and posted a piece on the use of similes in poetry. In this second post in the series we're going to explore the use of metaphor. 

Now perhaps you're thinking what is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? Well I can best illustrate the difference by employing both devices directly. I might say for example 'He has a brain like a computer!' - and that's a simile. Or, I may instead say 'His brain is a computer!' - which is a metaphor. The first device compares his brain to a computer. The second suggests it is a computer. This is the power of the metaphor. A metaphor states that one thing is another thing. Although the reader knows it isn't true, it nevertheless offers a powerful figure of speech to enrich a comparison. Metaphor goes one step beyond simile. It transforms comparison into symbolism. It is a rhetorical device. And there are metaphors everywhere just waiting for you to use them... (What could the image above denote?)

There are numerous examples of metaphor in poetry. In fact they are everywhere.

In Emily Dickinson's poem Hope we see her speaking of hope as a bird:

Hope is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all

Hope doesn't really assume the form or characteristics of a bird of course. She doesn't even use the word 'bird' - but simply alludes to it as 'the thing with feathers'. The power of the metaphor is there for the writer to wield - and Dickinson uses the device very powerfully here to imply that hope lives like a perched bird inside her, and it sings an endless song. 

The arch proponent of the metaphor in poetry of course, has to be Dylan Thomas. In perhaps his most celebrated poem, Do not go gentle into that good night, Thomas uses night as a metaphor for dying. He's not talking about the setting of the sun here, nor is he wishing his father a good night. He's literally pleading with his to fight against death.  

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Another classic example of metaphor use in poetry is our very own Tunisian bard Rafik Romdhani. He is so prolific in the use of metaphors, that he has published an entire book of poetry called Dance of the Metaphors. Most recently, in a new collection called Vapour of the Mind, Rafik writes: 

Hours are flat tyres

on potholed asphalt roads

Dreams were first moans

before their explosions

We are figments of fiction

caught up within our own minds

This short poem is absolutely laced with metaphor. Hours become flat tyres. Dreams emerge as moans. Then explosions. He paints a dramatic and highly evocative picture of mundane every day life, with very few words. This is the power of the metaphor. Try it in your own poetry and see how far you can push it.

Steve Wheeler

Image from HippoPX used under a Creative Commons Licence

Expanding Your Poetry

Poetry is a timeless art form that’s practically been around most of humanity. It has the power to capture the essence of emotions and experiences in a condensed, pure and thoughtful manner. If you're an aspiring poet looking to expand your poetic horizons, this blog is for you. Here we'll explore a few simple, yet effective ways to enhance your poetic expression and unlock different creativities. 

1. Experiment with Different Forms

   

One can challenge themselves by exploring various poetic forms such as sonnets, haikus, villanelles, or free verse. Each form offers a unique structure and rhythm that can inspire fresh ideas and stretch your poetic capabilities.

2. Dive into Nature

   

Nature is a profound source of inspiration for poets. I know it plays a major part in my own work. Perhaps try to immerse yourself in its beauty and observe the intricate details. Let the colors, scents, and sounds ignite your imagination, enabling you to hopefully be inspired to paint vivid pictures with your words.

3. Embrace Metaphors and Similes

   

Metaphors and similes add depth and richness to one’s poetry. Compare abstract concepts with tangible objects or draw parallels between unrelated ideas, this will allow your readers to experience your words on multiple levels.

4. Read Widely

   

Expand your poetic palette by diving into the works of a multitude of different poets. Read across different eras, styles, and even cultures. By exposing yourself to diverse voices, you'll certainly start to gain new insights, discover fresh techniques, and broaden your perspective.

5. Practice Regularly

   

Like any craft poetry requires practice. Try to set aside dedicated time for writing, even if it's just a few minutes each day. Use prompts, engage in free writing, or capture snippets of daily observations. With consistent practice, your poetic prowess is sure to create self expansion.

Expanding your poetry is an exciting journey of self-expression and creativity. By embracing different forms, drawing inspiration from nature, employing vivid metaphors, exploring diverse works, and practicing regularly, you'll refine your poetic voice and captivate readers with your words. So I say step beyond your comfort zone and embrace the unknown. Then watch as your poetry soars to new heights. Happy writing everyone! 

Brandon Adam Haven 

Image free for fair use by Freepix 

Line evolution

Often I'm asked how I write my poetry. The source of my inspiration is an easy one to answer. How I construct my lines and infuse my poetry with tempo is a harder question to answer. I sometimes have to stop and think about that one, because writing poetry is like riding a bicycle or swimming. Once you've developed your skills, you don't really have to think about them too much - they become competencies that are fairly unconscious. 

But, just for the sake of analysis, here is a response about how I develop a line (or in most cases a phrase or an idea) into a stanza with a pleasing tempo. NB: Because I edit a lot, I use either a laptop, or more likely my smartphone to compose my poetry. It provides the provisionality that I need to do this.

Let's start with a simple line...

A river flows toward the sea

It's fairly bland, yeah? It's something you might say in a conversation. Let's add some adjectives to it. And let's change the definite article from 'A' to 'The'.

The silver river flows toward the stormy sea

Now it's a little more poetic. Let's evolve it further by enriching the adjectives and adding some personification...

The argent river flows toward
the mouth of a contentious sea

OK. Now it's transformed into two lines.  Argent means silver. 'Contentious' is not something people would normally use as an adjective to describe the sea, but it conjures up some imagery for me, so I will use it! I can add more description, further adjectives, maybe enrich the nouns.... and also include a metaphor!

The argent river dances its relentless flow
to kiss the angry maw of a contentious sea

Now it's a little close to becoming a little pretentious, but let's pursue this for the sake of poetry! At this point I can decide whether I want to add some more lines with or without a rhyme scheme... I'm changing the tense from present to past at this point too for effect. 

The argent river danced its cold relentless flow

to kiss the angry maw of a contentious sea

I sat on the river bank and watched...

I need to complete this poem now, splitting up the lines to improve the flow to 6 syllables for each line. The technical term for this is 'accentual syllabic iambic trimeter'. Fancy name,  but it doesn't matter what it's called as long as the poem sounds good and flows well. I'll add another metaphor, enrich it with an adjective and extend the clause with a simile to finish.

The argent river danced 
its cold relentless flow 
to kiss the angry maw
of a contentious sea 
I sat alone upon 
the jealous verdant banks
and watched the silent flow
mute as the fallow swan 

And there it is. A few minutes of writing and thinking and I have an Octave which has some narrative, some assonance and casual rhyming, and plenty of flow (pun intended). I hope that helps, but I write in a different style to you and it may not resonate with you. This post is just to offer some insight into my own writing process.  Each of us can develop their own process for writing poetry.

Steve Wheeler

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Inverting Literary Devices (Wringing Out Words)

Steve Wheeler and I had a fascinating exchange of texts not long ago. He really is a wringer and twister of all terms literary, and I am always thrilled to witness him in full blast poetry extrapolation mode.

I am also absolutely certain he has a washboard somewhere in his office where he wrings out thesauruses and dictionaries, then reuses the wordy wash water to concoct his wooly masterpieces! I only wish I knew what kind of soap he uses…

We were going on about literary devices… and he was turning them inside out.

When I told him about the Invisible Poets Facebook Group exercise I wrote on extended metaphors, he said I should use a contracted metaphor. When I asked him what that was… he replied he just wasn’t sure yet… he had just made it up! I was like “Wha…?!!”

He went on to explore something he called anti-similes.. a total opposite contrast of “as” or “like”… always unlike something… then pointed out a few. His examples included … “as a pig wearing lipstick” or “as a walrus wearing a corset”… and as a kind of “jumper on there” I wrote back “as an elephant walking a tightrope”… 

It was just fun bouncing ideas between poets, but I started to see a window into my colleague’s poetic genius. He was creating inverted devices!! 

A bright light bulb lit up over my head like in the old Looney Tunes cartoons!!! “Ehh…what’s up doc?!” Wow… the possibilities…

That’s when Steve’s literary wringer went into a spin cycle… and he washed out another zinger… “Anti-Malapropism - misappropriation of a word for another word and then reverting back for effect”…  with the example “Tome becomes time becomes rhyme”. I answered “Rote becomes mote becomes rhyme”. He answered, “You got it. Go to the front of the class!!!”

Well… he didn’t really say go to the front of the class but it sounded good as I just wrote it…

Anyway (!),… what an amazing turn!!! To take  a word, follow it with a word that only sounds like or may imply that word, then follow it with another word or words that actually resemble the subject word.

Some more exchanges followed into the twilight zone of extemporaneous exhalations of exemplary english proclamations that soared into my favorite kind of preposterous…

I offered, “Jellyfish baited with toast becomes a toast to jellyfish becomes a stinging belly of jelly.”… to which Steve killed it with, “To all intent and purpose becomes to all intensive purpose becomes a porpoise on intensive care!” 

A porpoise on intensive care! 

My favorite of his was “Ravel's bolero becomes unravelled hero becomes unruffled Nero”! He claimed, “It’s a great way to write abstract internal rhymes.”

This was just a little fun texting between poets, but it proved to be much more than that. It put a tiger in my idea tank for sure… It also showed me a glimpse into the mind of a professor and opened up a whole new range of possibilities pertaining to our craft!! I’m not sure what Steve would term these morphing brainstorms of his to construct new ideas, but I just referred to them as “Inverted Devices” for the purpose of this blog.

I had to share them with YOU! 

Have you done this before reader? Can you think of any such “devices” you can turn inside out? Maybe you might even offer a few originals  of your own… or some examples pertaining to the above “Anti-similes” or “Anti-Malapropisms”…

 I would LOVE to see them! If so, PLEASE POST THEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

And stick around… we will continue to explore a few more of these inverted devices together next time!

Until then, the writer writes… write on my friends…

Matt Elmore