Margin Notes

In her Author’s Note, Kate Baer describes the day she realized she could see the growing number of negative messages she encountered online and in her inbox in a new way: “On a whim, I took a screenshot of her message, blotted out some lines with the pen tool, and hit post.” Soon, she began seeing opportunities to create erasure poems everywhere. I Hope This Finds You Well is Baer’s collection of erasure poetry created from both negative and positive exchanges she has had with readers as well as from advertisements, news, and current events.

Almost any text, from a text message to a text book can be reimagined as an erasure poem. Invite students to select a text they can re-envision as poetry and then reflect on how the meaning and message has changed by the words and phrases they have erased.