Mechanical Form and Twenty-First Century American Poetry

This article explores why contemporary American poets have begun to employ a variety of nontraditional yet highly structured poetic forms. After presenting and analyzing several of these forms-sestinas, ghazals, abecedaries, and some yet-to-be named improvised and experimental forms, the article argues that the popularity of these modes of writing reflects the position of the American artist and intellectual in the early twenty-first century. Corporations encourage today's "knowledge workers" to create brilliant, creative and new products quickly, accurately, and well; similarly, contemporary poets disregard the old rules about rhyme and meter and invent new complex word games that illustrate their own vocational skills wit, ingenuity, and verbal virtuosity.