Third prize winner of the 2nd Annual Geist Erasure Poetry Contest.

Old people want it, too
conversation, non-stop complements

they wonder about it,
love the simple examples
of undying fame

but you’re not too interested
in the details of life
famine, war, the nineteenth century

it’s all bingo to you,
sore ass, more gin

deals to sneak into heaven

Erasure poetry begins with removing letters and words from an existing text in order to create a new stand-alone piece that provides new meaning to the original passage. For the 2nd Annual Geist Erasure Poetry Contest, we posted an excerpt from the novel How Should a Person Be? by acclaimed Canadian author Sheila Heti.

The 3rd Erasure Poetry Contest is now underway. Enter today!