Textu

Textu

<div><p>"Joudah's poetry thrives on dramatic shifts in perspective, on continually challenging received notions."—<I>The Guardian</I></p><p>Emerging in the era of tweets and text messages, poet Fady Joudah has invented a new poetic form: textu. The "u" in textu echoes the one in haiku, and also emphasizes the intimate you. A textu poem has a single rule: be exactly 160 characters long. As theme, form, and style are wide opened, a textu reveals new possibilities and poetry in unexpected ways.</p><p><B>Textu</B></p><p><I>Your spine a river into the forest<BR>can't tell the neurons for the trees</I></p><p><I>I light & light<BR>you up with sound profile</I></p><p><I>threading the image habit<BR>of pleasure</I></p><p><B>Conscience</B></p><p><I>When we learn how an infant in the womb<BR>Sleeps precisely in a parent's pose</I></p><p><I>say with fist closed<BR>pillowing the temple</I></p><p><I>What will become<BR>of the poem</I></p><p><B>Fady Joudah</B> is a poet, translator, and emergency room physician. His first book, <I>The Earth in the Attic</I>, won the 2007 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. He lives near Houston, Texas.</p><BR></div>