Skip to content

Blackout Poetry Project

The Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College

  • Home
  • Monster Mash
  • Current Page Parent Past Projects
    • Current Page: Erased Land
    • PostEmily
    • Emily Dashes
    • CTRL + WALT + DELETE

Erased Land

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image of trees and apples with a low sun and clouds.

so grim

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image of an abstract tangle of limbs on a red background.

Do I dare

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of two cats in a field at sunset. One looks at the sky. One holds an mouse in its mouth.

there was joy

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of starry and cloudy sky above mountains and trees.

Daughter of Death

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a bat hanging upside down on a dark and red background. Many pairs of red eyes shine out of the background.

Bats

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a dog with an open mouth barking under two stylized stars.

Wonderful

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a coastline with rocks and waves.

Night

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a nude torso with breasts.

Thus your fathers

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of four red lit taper candles on a dark background.

Four wax candles

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of alarge iron gate with a flame at its top. A figure kneels at the lower right of the gate.

I am an old man

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a sunburst. The sun has human facial features.

Before Sleep

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a golden bird with a large crest on a dark background.

Fragments of You

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of a closeup of an eye, with red diagonal bands running top right to bottom left.

I turned away

This is a blackout poem using TS Eliot's work as base text. The image is of jellyfish with long tentacles over a dark background and a woman in a dress with long hair in the lower left corner. Her back is to the viewer and her hand is raised.

what is my duty?

This image shows a blackout poetry piece made from a page of T.S. Eliot's verse drama, "The Cocktail Party". The majority of the page's text has been scribbled over with black marker, with select words and phrases left uncovered to form a new poetic message. Two images have been collaged onto the page. One is a woman's eye with the iris cut out, and it is pasted to frame the word "mystery". The other image is of the sun, and frames the words "All there is of you is your body / replenish / ing". The two quotations at the end of the blackout poem also seem to be pasted cutouts from different texts.

Nobody

This image shows an art piece made on a page of T.S. Eliot's poetry. The header identifies it as page 298. The majority of the page's words have been drawn over by black marker, with some the text left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message.

To the Unidentified Guest

This image shows an art piece made on a page of T.S. Eliot's poetry. The majority of the page has been covered by black marker and yellow-and-black packing tape. Some of the text has been left uncovered, revealing a new poetic message.

Why is it so quiet?

This image shows an art piece made on a page of T.S. Eliot's poetry. The majority of the page has been covered in red and purple tissue paper. The tissue paper is cut in the top left corner to reveal the page number, "62". The tissue paper is also cut in the center of the page to reveal a large drawing of red roses, made in marker. Some of the text is partially visible underneath this drawing, but, the art is the focus of the piece.

62

This image shows a collage poem created from T.S. Eliot's writing. The background is a black-and-white image of light flooding in from semicircular windows. Parts of Eliot's poems have been cut and pasted together to form a new poetic message.

214

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "THE WIND SPRANG UP AT FOUR O'CLOCK". The background is predominantly painted over in streaks of multicolored markers, and the majority of the text is drawn over in purple marker. Select words have been left uncovered, forming a new poetic message.

A DREAM

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original text has mostly been drawn over in silver marker, with select words left uncovered to create a new poetic message.

A RUNNING STREAM

This image shows an art piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot's writing. The letters "AdR" are written in yellow marker at the bottom of the page. In the center of the page, there is an drawing of a crown done in yellow and black marker and decorated in gold rhinestones. This illustration conceals some of the text. Select paragraphs are left uncovered, and accompany the drawing in its poetic message.

ADR

This image shows a blackout poem created on a page of T.S. Eliot's work. The majority of the page's text has been painted over in white-out. Select words and phrases remain uncovered, and form a new poetic message against the stark, white background.

AGATHA

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The background includes small pencil illustrations of stars and plants. Select words and phrases from the original poem have been highlighted in green, forming a new poetic message.

AND THE STRANGER WILL DEPART

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "IX". The poem is framed by cut-out images of eyes, ears, and anatomical hearts. The majority of the original text has been drawn over in purple, blue, and black crayon. Select words and phrases are left uncovered, forming a new poetic message against the collaged background.

BEHOLD

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original text has been mostly covered by a painting. Half of the page is painted in blue and white spirals, and the other half is painted in jagged black marks. The words "BROKEN ENVY FAITH Pride ENVY HELP US HELP I ENVY YOU" are written in red on top of the black paint. Two black birds are painted on the blue side of the page, and two orange and black fish are painted towards the bottom of the page. Select words and phrases from the original text are left uncovered, revealing a new poetic message against the painted background.

BROKEN

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original text has been mostly covered by a painting of a galaxy. The stars are painted in white, yellow, red, and blue, and occupy the majority of the page. The background is black and red, with a few blue and red planets drawn in the upper left corner. Select words and phrases from the original page are left uncovered, revealing a new poetic message against the painted background.

CHEERFUL FACES

This image shows an illustration that has been inspired by T.S. Eliot's "Choruses from 'The Rock'". The background of this piece shows various drawings done in marker, including roses, a phoenix, and a mountainous landscape. Cutouts from page 96 of "Choruses from 'The Rock'" have been pasted on top of the illustration, including the page's header, the page number, and four paragraphs of prose. The text excerpts and drawings work together to form a poetic message.

CHORUSES FROM “THE ROCK”

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot verse drama. The page has been scribbled over with blue and gold marker. Two images of butterflies are pasted onto the page. Select words and phrases from the original text are left uncovered by the blue and gold markers, and are instead highlighted and outlined for emphasis, forming a new poetic message against the illustrated background.

CONSCIOUS

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "CONVERSATION GALANTE". The background includes pieces of patterned tape, as well as some small pencil illustrations. The original text of the page has been partially drawn over with dark brown marker. Select words and phrases are left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the background.

CONVERSATION GALANTE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot verse drama. All across the page, there are small, scattered illustrations of red and black eyes. At the page's center, there is a pasted image of a group of smiling women eating at a table. The page's text is mostly drawn over in black marker, with select words and phrases left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the illustrated and collaged background.

DO YOU LIKE TO BE STARED AT?

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The original text of the page has been partially collaged over with images of floral patterns and cutouts from a dictionary. Select phrases from the original text have been left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the collage.

DO YOU SEE NOTHING?

This image shows a drawing done on page 215 of T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral". The page's text is mostly covered by pink tissue paper and an illustration of roses done in red and green marker. A few sentences from the dialogue of the "First Knight" character are legible against the art piece in the foreground.

FIRST KNIGHT

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original poem has been mostly covered by black marker, with select words and phrases left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message.

FOLLOW

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "II". Next to the poem, a printed illustration of a garlic has been pasted and lightly colored in. The page's words are mostly drawn over in green, pink, and purple crayons, with select words and phrases left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the illustrated background.

GARLIC TRILLING IN THE BLOOD

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The original page of text has been mostly collaged over by a silver-dotted blue paper. At the bottom of the page, a small collage has been made of torn images of a flower, a face, windows, and red rectangles. Some of the blue and silver paper has been cut out to reveal select words and phrases from the original page underneath it, creating a new poetic message against the collage.

THE CRY OF BATS

  • Next Page »

Blackout Poetry Project © 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by WordPress. Theme by Alx.