Sign
p
o
s
t

Note: The above is a fairly obvious bit of concrete poetry, the shape of the words mimicking what they represent. But there is perhaps a less obvious feature as well. The use of font size and boldface lettering is used to stress function as well as appearance. When we look at a sign, it is the sign, with its attendant message that we focus on, not the post. So the poem gets at this more abstract notion as well as the more overt visual imitation of what it represents. On a completely different note, it always occurs to me when making something as simple as this, that someone else has probably already done it. But what if the visual presentation is altered, for example by using boldface lettering and different font sizes? The text would be the same, but its appearance, which encapsulates much of its "meaning" as a poem, would be different. Would it be considered plagiarism? An original work? Something in between?