It’s the end of the year—a time to play with new ideas for next year.
And one of the ideas I have is for an art project, or more specifically, a poetry project: Create a large-scale poetic work based on the Manhattan Project.
I haven’t yet decided on the form. Structuring it as 154 sonnets—in a nod to Shakespeare? Going all in and using an epic format1, such as the one used by Homer in the Iliad? Or how about writing in free verse, and just letting it all hang out?
But I have decided on its content: The creation myth of a weapon proven to be so powerful it is still the most immediate existential threat to humanity.
Either way, I think this creative soil is rich for digging about, and it will keep my “poetry mind” occupied for the year.
(1) From literaturemini.com: “The Iliad possesses characteristics of an epic. It is composed in a grand style. It includes an epic hero, supernatural machinery, war, great issues like honor and dignity, the great significance of national interest, etc. So we can call The Iliad an epic or a primary epic.”