Instapoetry

[milo]

While reading through the discussion on rhyme in poetry, I was attempting to dive into the numbers to see where they got the data for the graph (the graph says "percentage of published poetry" but what does that mean?  Has the quantity of published poetry stayed the same?  What counts as published.  In researching, I ran into this statistic on "Instapoetry"

Instapoetry statistics

• Instapoetry was the driving factor behind the rise in poetry books’ popularity in the US in 2017 and 2018.
  
• In 2019, 7 of the top 20 Amazon best-selling poetry books were written by Instapoets.
  
• This trend is especially popular in Canada, where Instapoents account for the majority of the poetry book sales.
  
• During 2017, 80% of all poetry books sold in Canada were written by Instapoets, and in 2018 this group accounted for over 70% of all poetry sales.
  
• Even in 2020, over 49% of all poetry sales were still coming from Instapoets.
  

Now, I am admittedly almost completely unfamiliar with instapoetry, hearing the term for the first time maybe 2 weeks ago.  Doing a little research I found a name I recognize - Lang Leav.  My daughter bought a couple of her books in junior high and proudly showed them to me as she knew I would approve of her reading poetry.  It was . . . not to my taste . . . shall we say but it was encouraging to me to see her reading poetry.

What are some thoughts on this?  Who is familiar with this?

It seems pretty popular.  It is not rhymed which could be contributing to the decline of rhyme.  Are there some thoughts we should add to site design?

Let me know what you think

Thanks

[milo]

While reading through the discussion on rhyme in poetry, I was attempting to dive into the numbers to see where they got the data for the graph (the graph says "percentage of published poetry" but what does that mean?  Has the quantity of published poetry stayed the same?  What counts as published.  In researching, I ran into this statistic on "Instapoetry"

Instapoetry statistics

• Instapoetry was the driving factor behind the rise in poetry books’ popularity in the US in 2017 and 2018.
  
• In 2019, 7 of the top 20 Amazon best-selling poetry books were written by Instapoets.
  
• This trend is especially popular in Canada, where Instapoents account for the majority of the poetry book sales.
  
• During 2017, 80% of all poetry books sold in Canada were written by Instapoets, and in 2018 this group accounted for over 70% of all poetry sales.
  
• Even in 2020, over 49% of all poetry sales were still coming from Instapoets.
  

Now, I am admittedly almost completely unfamiliar with instapoetry, hearing the term for the first time maybe 2 weeks ago.  Doing a little research I found a name I recognize - Lang Leav.  My daughter bought a couple of her books in junior high and proudly showed them to me as she knew I would approve of her reading poetry.  It was . . . not to my taste . . . shall we say but it was encouraging to me to see her reading poetry.

What are some thoughts on this?  Who is familiar with this?

It seems pretty popular.  It is not rhymed which could be contributing to the decline of rhyme.  Are there some thoughts we should add to site design?

Let me know what you think

Thanks

I googled the best poems of Rupi Kaur and a list came up from her latest book, "Milk and Honey".  Here is the first one on that list:

sex takes the consent of two

if one person is lying there not doing anything
cause they are not ready
or not in the mood
or simply don’t want to
yet the other is having sex
with their body it’s not love
it is rape

hmmm . . . if this were posted here without the knowledge that this is one of the best and most popular poems of (2018?)  I don't think I would look kindly on it.

First, the linebreaks - they seem completely arbitrary.  Second, it just feels like a statement - maybe a rallying cry or an opinion, but more exposition than poetry.  What would it look like on a billboard carried in  a protest march is my first thought:

sex takes the consent of two if one person is lying there not doing anything cause they are not ready or not in the mood or simply don’t want to yet the other is having sex with their body it’s not love it is rape

I don't have a problem with the message (although it is obviously sexist - the lying there not doing anything part)

Still, as I mentioned before, I struggle with Imagism for similar reasons.  What do you guys think?  And if you don't have any thoughts on this one, don't fear, I will try to find some better.

Thanks

[milo]

I am searching long and hard for you, my little piggies, to find the Instapoetry you so crave.

Today, I have been diving deep into the deep deep works of Lang Leav.  TBH - if you mixed most of Lang's poetry up with Rupi Kaur and forced me at gunpoint to separate them there is a possibility you would have to shoot me.  Still here is a longer one I found:

LOSING YOU (By Lang Leav)
I used to think I couldn't go a day without your smile. Without telling
you things and hearing your voice back.

Then, that day arrived and it was so damn hard but the next was
harder. I knew with a sinking feeling it was going to get worse, and I
wasn't going to be okay for a very long time.

Because losing someone isn't an occasion or an event. It doesn't just
happen once. *It happens over and over again*. I lose you every time I
pick up your favorite coffee mug, whenever that one song plays on the
radio, or when I discover your old t-shirt at the bottom of my laundry
pile.

I lose you every time I think of kissing you, holding you, or wanting
you. I go to bed at night and lose you, when I wish I could tell you
about my day. And in the morning, **when I wake and reach for the
 empty space across the sheet, I begin to lose you all over again.**

1.  I can't figure out her rational for her linebreaks
2. I thin this poem is better than yesterday's because it makes usage of some imagery and metaphor rather than just exposition.
3.  This poem does have an extended metaphor and attempts to stick to it.
4.  This poem attempts to make use of bridge metaphor.

If this were posted to this site, I would note the nice feel of natural rhythm and encourage the writer to focus more on her metaphor and image, try to trim any unnecessary verbiage, fix her line breaks and trim any exposition ( this is the show don't tell advice - present me someone in the middle of loss, don't tell me someone is in the middle of loss)

Before anyone mentions it, yes, I am aware this poet is more successful than I could ever hope to be.

[wasellajam]

It reads a little too generic for me. I need to know which shirt, which mug. I know for sure that loss has nuances, all those instances can't feel the same. So, personally I want more. But I'm always behind the times.

[milo]

It reads a little too generic for me. I need to know which shirt, which mug. I know for sure that loss has nuances, all those instances can't feel the same. So, personally I want more. But I'm always behind the times.

Have you ever heard of Instapoetry?  This is brand new to me.  100 years from now they will be studying the instapoetry movement in the way we study the Imagists.

[wasellajam]

It reads a little too generic for me. I need to know which shirt, which mug. I know for sure that loss has nuances, all those instances can't feel the same. So, personally I want more. But I'm always behind the times.

Have you ever heard of Instapoetry?  This is brand new to me.  100 years from now they will be studying the instapoetry movement in the way we study the Imagists.

Nope. My insta is mostly musicians I don't know, my fb is whose dog/cat/ chickens/cows got loose. The only poet I've followed was Andrea Gibson and that didn't happen from searching Poetry. Honesty, there hasn't been much poetry of any sort around me lately, a bunch of unread books. Nice to be here.

[milo]

It reads a little too generic for me. I need to know which shirt, which mug. I know for sure that loss has nuances, all those instances can't feel the same. So, personally I want more. But I'm always behind the times.

Have you ever heard of Instapoetry?  This is brand new to me.  100 years from now they will be studying the instapoetry movement in the way we study the Imagists.

Nope. My insta is mostly musicians I don't know, my fb is whose dog/cat/ chickens/cows got loose. The only poet I've followed was Andrea Gibsom and that didn't happen from searching Poetry. Honesty, there hasn't been much poetry of any sort around me lately, a bunch of unread books. Nice to be here.

I think the name is terrible but - I guess they didn't ask me.

Should we all try to write an InstaPoem?

[milo]

oh pigs of the pen, I know you yearn for more Instapoetry but maybe are afraid to brave the dark webs of the inters to find them.  Never fear - your faithful servant milo has been out prowling and returned with a new Insta-star.  This poets name is Atticus and they are considered one of the top 10 Insta poets.  They have 2 best selling books of poetry which is more than infinite times the number of books of poetry I have.

Here are some notes from his fans:

I love Atticus work.

I know he catches flack from “real poets” but his words often connect with me.

Thanks for sharing insight into why you enjoyed each passage.
14


1 reply

Reply

Jon Von Erb
Jon Von Erb

Nov 4, 2025


These poems are beyond lovely, they shine in the heart of the reader so very much like the love for I share with Gary, my husband now for fifty years.
Reply

That is pretty strong endorsement, lets get to these marvels of modern poetry, shan't we?

1. Some write for fun others write because if they didn’t the words would grow
 and fester and bust from the seams of their souls. Some words are safer down on
 paper.

At first I thought this might be an answer to the question - "why don't you please stop this?" but it turns out this is a poem from his best selling book.  If this was posted here looking for feedback, I might just skip this one, honestly.

2. I’d always watch as the world fell in love with her I’d smile at the inevitability
of it all. And it wasn’t just the boys the girls loved her more they’d grab her hand
and run her away to drink beneath the stars — they needed to discover what I
already knew — if she kissed better than the champagne.

ok, while better than the first, it does contain a couple cliches though there is a taste of real imagery in there.

3. To me she is those final steps the turn around the last bend and a little house
with a light on and a fire lit with a faint laugh floating on the warm wind — she
is my always, coming home.

So, I think this might be the best so far.  I think it could be improved quite a bit by ending with wind. Also, "to me" adds nothing and maybe some help with the linebreaks:

she is those final steps
the turn around
the last bend
a little house with a light on
and a fire lit with a faint laugh
floating  on the warm wind
she is my coming home.

Maybe something like that.  The attention to sound and rhythm is also much better here.  It is still pretty twee but the focus is on the central metaphor with multiple images all pointing directly there.

Any thoughts.  Anyone want to try their hand at Instapoetry?
Do we need to add an Instapoetry section to the site with a #deep?

[milo]

I was reading this article on Instapoetry in my research.  Of all the articles on instapoetry, this one is the first I have found defending it.

Ana Hein suggests that Instapoetry is more accessible by not hiding under pretentious metaphor or verbose language.

<sigh>

wait, that won't quite cut it

<sigh>

Ana - I am sorry but without metaphor - there is no poetry.  There are quips.  There are platitudes.  There is not poetry.

Or whatever.  Agree.  Disagree.  Read the article.  What make of you this, swine?

---

I forgot to add the article link, I will do that tomorrow

---

https://medium.com/the-open-bookshelf/wh...c309bedccd

[busker]

I used to follow one insta page, called poetryisaluxiry
What I liked about it was that the poems were photos of actual book pages, some of the time. At other times, they were set in a beautiful font or background

But they were regular poems - I mean, famous ones by famous poets, like this one by Joy Harjo, whom I didn’t know about:

If you look with the mind of the swirling earth near Shiprock
you become the land, beautiful.
And understand how three crows at the edge of the highway, laughing,
become three crows at the edge of the world, laughing.

[milo]

I used to follow one insta page, called poetryisaluxiry
What I liked about it was that the poems were photos of actual book pages, some of the time. At other times, they were set in a beautiful font or background

But they were regular poems - I mean, famous ones by famous poets, like this one by Joy Harjo, whom I didn’t know about:

If you look with the mind of the swirling earth near Shiprock
you become the land, beautiful.
And understand how three crows at the edge of the highway, laughing,
become three crows at the edge of the world, laughing.

I think there was a posting vanity site a while back where members chose all these fancy backgrounds for their poems and some had music too.

[busker]

The Insta page I referred to published already published poems, so it wasn’t bad
Introduced me to a lot of modern poets, including Joy Harjo with her beautiful piece above

[rayheinrich]

Just went and looked at a decent number of instapoems.
The short format with an image is what I do so I proclaimed
to the gods my instapoetness. The second I did that I felt
a sudden rush of au courant pour over me and soak into
my veins. It's simple, short stuff made for sharing on social
media (hence the "insta" taken from Instagram). I like it
because it encourages people to write and share poetry.
Its quality is on par with most other socially shared internet
and pre-internet poetry. In fact, except for the literal imagery,
it's hard to tell instapoems from the poems posted on the
pre-web Usenet poetry newsgroups I loved to post on in
the 80's and 90's. Usenet newsgroups were arguably the
first computer-based social media.

P.S. And Hi Y'all!

P.P.S. "Quality" is, as ever, outrageously subjective.

P.P.P.S. Critiquing someone who has become popular and
successful at publishing instapoetry is not unlike critiquing
the Kardashians; certainly amusing, but largely pointless.

[milo]

Just went and looked at a decent number of instapoems.
The short format with an image is what I do so I proclaimed
to the gods my instapoetness. The second I did that I felt
a sudden rush of au courant pour over me and soak into
my veins. It's simple, short stuff made for sharing on social
media (hence the "insta" taken from Instagram). I like it
because it encourages people to write and share poetry.
Its quality is on par with most other socially shared internet
and pre-internet poetry. In fact, except for the literal imagery,
it's hard to tell instapoems from the poems posted on the
pre-web Usenet poetry newsgroups I loved to post on in
the 80's and 90's. Usenet newsgroups were arguably the
first computer-based social media.

P.S. And Hi Y'all!

P.P.S. "Quality" is, as ever, outrageously subjective.

P.P.P.S. Critiquing someone who has become popular and
successful at publishing instapoetry is not unlike critiquing
the Kardashians; certainly amusing, but largely pointless.

Shakespeare is the most critiqued poet of all time

If Shakespeare isn't immune to critique, certainly instapoetry is not?

Generally the poetry we critique is the popular poetry

[Weeded]

Hey, good to see some old giants stomping about again

Instapoetry eh. Seems like a shallow vanity dressed in line breaks and pictures. No wonder people love it!

[milo]

Hey, good to see some old giants stomping about again

Instapoetry eh. Seems like a shallow vanity dressed in line breaks and pictures. No wonder people love it!

great to see you around as well!

[milo]

P.P.P.S. Critiquing someone who has become popular and
successful at publishing instapoetry is not unlike critiquing
the Kardashians; certainly amusing, but largely pointless.

I have continued thinking about this and I think:

1. Critiquing poetry is not like critiquing a person at all
   
2. Poets and writers have a long history of critiquing both poetry movements and individual poets
   
3. It is beneficial to poets, writers and readers to analyze poems and poets of every era
   
4. There is a benefit in reading critique of both poetry and poetic movements
   

I am still on the fence over whether at some point it would make sense to add an Instapoetry section to the PigPen or whether it would make sense to add a challenge to the practice forums.  I would need to study more to decide what goes in to one before I could competently make a practice post but I would be willing to participate if someone else made it

Thanks