This is an ekphrastic poem. (A poem initiated by a picture.)

I chose this picture with a lack of specific observations and had to realize its destructive nature after it was too late. This experience still had something inexplicable to it: It might sound crazy, but I fought against the story that formed in my head when I finally recognized the severed neck. Part of the task, though, was to let go. 

So I did and the poem rather magically formed itself. It still took some effort to make the rhymes work and to get some sense in the poetry, but the story was unavoidable for my mind. I hereby warn against ignoring the details.

Jabbing Wires

A garden of wires,
entangled in joy,
that spread old deeds
beneath the lonely boy:

“The house of my father lies under the moon,
where we used to live and play happy tune.
I went right along with his basic sins.
Understood rather none, when we used to kiss.

My Mom worked from late till sunrise brought light.
She knew my betrayal – accepted the fight.
Her belt was so fast, too fast for my arm,
could never look up to see her so calm.

I ran every mile from here into town,
I sang late on stage in my dressing gown.
I tried to stay gone and not return home
and slept in the beds of the queasy and strong.

Walked quite different paths, but never to stay.
It never was mine to find the right way.
Come see what you’ve done to my little soul
that strikes now with one lasting goal.”

Both arms on the robe,
he opens his eyes.
A last breath: he sighs.
His chest is falling down
to the ferrous garden ground.

New Media has become our present and I‘m certain it will be essential in our future. That's why I wrote my own hypertext story.

Last year my course fascinated me with a way of writing called "Hypertext". I wasn't aware that I already knew this to some extent - and you do, too. Children's books sometimes use hypertext to make the stories more active for the reader.

So, let me explain how hypertext works: similar to hyperlinks, where a word or word-group leads to a different webpage or subpage, hypertext uses "links" to switch to another part of the story. "Why?", you might ask now. Because it adds interactivity to the reading process.

Actually, there are many possibilities in utilizing hypertext. Some use it, to confuse the reader to extract him from his usual reading habits. Others try to tell stories on the basis of parallel layers that the reader can randomly explore. After all, they always involve the reader experimenting and going on a quest inside of the story.

Iphones already enable users to read ebooks on a phone. Most hypertext still exists online, which makes it somewhat inaccessible for the general public, because they don't want to sit at the computer. What, if ebooks would make use of hypertexts in a way that would especially attract iphone (and alike) users. This way, while you are waiting at the train station, you could not just read a good story, but you could also construct the way you read it yourself.

In my own hypertext story, I tried to give the reader three pathways that are randomly interlinked throughout the progression. By using different colours, the reader can decide between the main branches of the story. In order to get the whole picture of the characters, though, the reader will have to revisit the scenes and explore different pathways. This will in a way bring more knowledge to the reader, but also provide him with various different outcomes. It really is up to you.

If you're curious now, visit this free Google Site and read my story.

It is called Joe on a New Wave. You access the story by clicking on the last sentence. Be aware, there are no obvious links, as it is supposed to be a close-to-real reading experience. Thinking about the links will help to define the story's output.

Other examples of hypertext:

In the late 1960s a new type of cinema emerged in Hollywood due to the social, political and industrial changes in America[1]. One of the first new types of films was Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which redefined classical conventions especially for the crime genre that would determine a new way of approaching filmmaking for the next generations. This essay will investigate how the social trends of the 1960s spawned a revolutionary crime film and by closely analysing Bonnie and Clyde’s cinematic devices determine its meanings for the audience of the 1960s.  
The period following the Second World War brought changes to Hollywood. Starting with the Paramount Decree in 1948, the US Supreme Court ruled that the major studios must depart from their exhibition sector in order to dismiss their monopoly. Although the economy flourished after the war, audiences declined. The growing middle-class was able to move to the suburbs, which resulted in a tripling of the suburban share of the population until the 1960s[2]. Theatres were less accessible there and other leisure activities were prioritized, as prosperity and more opportunities appeared[3]

Cas A

strangely bright,
outside where there’s no light:
flaming spots whisk an internal fight.

¡Vaya CasA!

When matter
matters more,
out there, where
it’s their fuel and ore,

¡Vaya CasA!

every core
is an assembly fort
of a mysterious world.

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