16tinyfrogs

[16tinyfrogs]

all the days after

this one made me a little sad i can't lie

[16tinyfrogs]

hey guys! just letting y’all know that i put together a couple posts of me outlining my process/formatting under the tag #behind the scenes! i’ll update the tag if i post more about it. feel free to send in any questions y’all might have!

[16tinyfrogs]

hi! I really love your poetry, and I was wondering how you choose in your contrapuntal poems which "narrator" goes in what order (left/right)-- I've been trying my hand some contrapuntal poems for fun, but I keep ending up feeling like I've chosen the wrong order...

do you have any tips?

this is a great question! when i’m deciding how to order my sides, it usually depends on these three factors (not every poem has all three)

if the poem has a timeline- this one’s pretty straightforward. if i’m writing child me vs older me, kid goes on the left. if i’m writing about a healing journey, i put my struggles on the left and my progress on the right. left side always gets the perspective earlier in time 🤷‍♀️

what i came up with first- usually, if i have inspiration for a contrapuntal poem, i’ll have already thought of the first few lines for one of the sides. i’ll probably end up putting that side on the left because it works better for my writing process (detailed in this post).

how the big poem is supposed to make you feel- so usually in my contrapuntal poems, the mood of the big poem will lean a little bit to the language i used on the right side. that’s why if i’m writing a poem that i want to end up being optimistic, i’ll put the side that’s “struggling” on the left. i’m not explaining it very well, but here’s a poem i wrote that kind of shows it- see how i put the optimistic side on the right because i wanted that to translate into the big poem?

i think i’m going to compile these sorts of technical posts into a separate tag at some point. thank you so much for asking! let me know if you’re confused about anything :)

[16tinyfrogs]

okay i don't have any drawing skills whatsoever- these are traced from internet photos. i've had this concept stuck in my head and i needed to get it out lol. someone with more artistic talent than me should do this better

because i feel like their wings would be different yk?

one day, i am gonna grow wings

i should be put in timeout for this one. genuinely.

[16tinyfrogs]

I forgot to ask in the last ask, but do you have any specific authors that inspire you, or that you'd recommend to people?

as far as poetry recommendations, i am embarrassingly strapped for them, since i’m still somewhat stumbling around in the dark- but whenever i am longing for the comfort i felt as a child, i go to shel silverstein, specifically his books “a light in the attic”, “where the sidewalk ends”, and “falling up”. my uncle gave them to me when i was 3/4, and i guess i was reading poetry before i even knew it was poetry. took me long enough to come back to it 🤦‍♀️ there’s also laura gilpin, famous for the “two headed calf” poem, but all of her work is great. i really like her “seeing a dog in the rain”. i’ll reblog this with more recommendations with i think of them!

as far as inspiration, i’d say shel silverstein again because he was the first writer to ever really inspire emotion in me. there’s @two-bees-poetry, who wrote the first contrapuntal poem i ever saw and motivated me to write one myself. there’s the Bible? is that weird to say? whenever i’d read the book of Psalms, it’d stand out to me among the other books of the Bible. i guess i've always been drawn to poetry. madeleine l’engle is another big one too. apart from writers, i get inspiration from my parents, my friends, the beach, the internet, from other pieces of art, from music, basically anywhere. thanks for asking!

[16tinyfrogs]

There was a short time in my life where I wanted to be the type of person that reads and writes poetry, unfortunately I found the poetry I read boring and wasn't motivated to create it at all.

Since then, I kind of just accepted that that phase was brought about not by a love for poetry but by a want to be seen as a "poet," and since I saw that I didn't even really like poetry I kinda just moved on with my life. Theres really only two or three poems that I like and go back to reread.

I did not know this style of poetry existed, I admire the work you put in and your ability for your poetry to have multiple coherent messages. You write beautifully and I genuinely look forward to each time you post a new poem

In other words I love your work, it's making me want to try poetry again, and you're my favorite poet

you know, it’s hard to summarize how much i appreciate this. i cannot believe that my words have an effect on people- but i’m so grateful for the fact that y’all are moved by my poetry.

sometimes i worry that i’m writing just to be a ‘poet’ too, but then i get the rush in my system that comes with creation, and i remember why i do it. i think everybody gets that feeling, they just have to figure out where it’ll come from for them specifically. prose, drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, music, carpentry, even non traditional stuff like coding, etc etc etc we all have a passion, sometimes it might take a little longer to unearth. at least, that’s my opinion

i would write poetry regardless of if my audience filled stadiums or if it was just me and my reflection, but there is something really special in being able to see the impact your creation has on the world around you. thank you so much for reading my works 🤍

[16tinyfrogs]

a little salt for your wound, perhaps

one day, i am gonna grow wings

i should be put in timeout for this one. genuinely.

[16tinyfrogs]

one day, i am gonna grow wings

i should be put in timeout for this one. genuinely.

[16tinyfrogs]

haha thank you so much! i definitely put a (mostly) healthy dose of insanity into a lot of my work 👀

humanity 101

ok so i saw the new superman this week and guys it was my first dc movie and wow it felt really important

and also i got an easel and used it to plan this poem- and now i’m realizing how insane i really am when i write these poems lol

[16tinyfrogs]

i should not be allowed to have access to electronic communication after sundown. i think i've finally fully lost my mind

[16tinyfrogs]

No joke, poetry has been my least favorite form of written media until I found your poems. Genuinely some of the most beautiful little things I’ve ever read. Something about the sum of the pieces making a whole, finished poem while each side *also* has its own well-crafted story is so unbelievably beautiful to me. You are incredibly talented and I love your work so so much

thank you so much!! i love all poetry, but i think that contrapuntal poetry specifically spoke to me because my brain leans a little more to the analytical side (though i do like to think i have some creativity too), and there’s something so alluring about this format with the puzzle of putting pieces together and rearranging them until they fit, so you can have independent parts that make a whole. it’s SO cool. thank you for reading my works :)

[16tinyfrogs]

Hi, OP. Have you thought of sending a few of your poems into some poetry publications or putting them in like a book we can buy????

i have! trust me, you’re not the first person to ask :) unfortunately, i am 16 and increasingly chronically ill, and i really don’t think i have the bandwidth right now to draft, organize, and distribute a project of that magnitude. i do hope that i’ll publish/sell my work later on- maybe when i'm more experienced with poetry (as i’ve really only gotten into it this year) and when i have the time and energy to do it all. thank y’all so much for all your support though, i do hope i’ll eventually be able to give my work back to you guys in that way ☺️

[16tinyfrogs]

So abt that contrapuntal poem…

I did my best 🥹

dude, you knocked it out of the park!!! seriously- each voice is so distinct and true to its title, and they come together to form a really coherent narrative. and to write your FIRST contrapuntal poem with 3 voices?? this is awesome. i really like the last two bits “small, however resolute, lingering just enough”. i’m so glad you tried something new :)

[16tinyfrogs]

on gritting your teeth

i’m back on my bs again with another poem about hope because idc i think a lot of us need it

[16tinyfrogs]

official yapper status 🔥🔥🔥

[16tinyfrogs]

humanity 101

ok so i saw the new superman this week and guys it was my first dc movie and wow it felt really important

and also i got an easel and used it to plan this poem- and now i’m realizing how insane i really am when i write these poems lol

[16tinyfrogs]

hello!!! I took am a (my county's equivalent of) high school student who loves poetry, but I don't really know where to start when it comes to poetry creation; do you have any suggestions?

hi! i guess i’d say don’t force it- art is best when it’s authentic. i know this is cliche, but when i’m taking showers is when i get good ideas lol, or when im about to fall asleep. wait for the inspiration to come to you, and THEN create. it doesn’t have to be a top tier idea (mine usually aren’t) but if you can’t stop thinking about it, put it on paper. don’t worry about rhyming or structure or grammar, bleed emotion out through a pen. the rest comes later. thanks for asking :)