“More Babies!” — video with short rhyming poem, artwork

by New York poet NG Swett

Just a quick video post today, including a couple of extra pieces of material:

• notes about the substance of the poem

• when and how I wrote it

• creating and posting the video

The substance of the poem

The billionaires, plutocrats, oligarchs — some are calling for more babies.

Women should have more babies, some say. Women shouldn’t be able to end a pregnancy under any circumstances, some say. Life is too… precious!

Over a lifetime, families can easily shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars per person for taxes, health care, child care, education, shelter, food, transportation, weddings, and finally assisted living. The willingness to pay is only limited by our means. The value of a statistical life was estimated at $7.5 million in 2020 according to FEMA. Oh how the shareholders must drool at a number like that!

Other happy civilized countries don’t have things set up this way. Every heartstring we have is tapped for all it’s worth. Every fear stoked for our last dime.

There’s pushback on social media to this idea of women as livestock, especially among women. But the good news for the owner class is that they can mute ‘em with algorithms. (Studies show that social media is terrible for women’s mental health, especially secular liberals.)

Scientists proved that the human race is stripping the planet of resources, causing mass extinction, and polluting it to the brink of extinction. So do we really need more people? Or should we get our house in order first?

Writing the poem

So this all tickled my funny bone a little, so I jotted down this little rhyming poem, “More Babies!” just this week in a big black journal that I’ve been using lately for sketching and writing.

To illustrate the poem, I pulled up a painting I did some time ago of a made-up plutocrat, “One.” It’s from a series of a couple dozen mini acrylic paintings I made as art therapy to get me through writing and editing my first novel — a very, very challenging project! The paintings are all illustrations from scenes of the novel.

In the painting, One lounges god-like across a royal-looking chair in front of a glass window at night. You can see a bridge lit up behind him. The rug under his shiny black boots is a rough map of the Outer Lands Archipelago.

Making the videos

With the poem, the painting, and some branding basics for 4seasonshelf, I then made a short video in two formats, wide and vertical mobile. I added two audio tracks, one with the sound of a typewriter and another with the sound of an eerie lullaby…

I’m placing the wide format video here on 4seasonshelf.com first.

Then they will go on the billionaires’ platforms…

Download Love Poem: “Thoughts Upside Down” by NY Poet NG Swett

People really like this short rhyming poem from Hold Me Tight, my book of love poems

“Thoughts Upside Down” from HOLD ME TIGHT poetry book by New York poet NG Swett. On 4x6 adhesive shipping label printed on a thermal printer.

4YOU! Click image for free DOWNLOAD of png for personal use.

Here is a short video I made of the same poem:

I’ve posted online a few poems from Hold Me Tight. I’ve tried different ones in different ways (e.g., videos, images, audio, etc.). This short vertical video has done the best so far.

As you can see, it types out the poem, and there’s a black and white image behind it of an upside down crystal ball. It shows the minimalist modern aesthetic of the book overall.

Thermal poetry?

I printed the poem above on a thermal printer and I’ll tell you why.

Printing a poem on an adhesive thermal label is an idea I got by two accidents.

One accident was in the original printing of the paperback poetry book. A poem accidentally sucked. So I made a label with a better poem and covered my shame. (And updated and uploaded my files to Ingram Spark and Draft2Digital for the revised hard cover and ebook editions.)

The other accident was printing out a dozen of the same shipping label for an eBay sale. A waste of precious labels, for sure! But printing a dozen poems on purpose and then sticking them up around town might be fun.

When I’ve got some thermal poems in my bag, I keep my eye open for a good spot. What’s a good spot? Visible, public, out of the elements a bit, smooth surface, and possibly used by other sticker people…

Can you see my thermal poem?

In recent years I’ve been selling a few things online, such as eBay, Poshmark and Amazon. I’ve become aware of a huge number of creative, entrepreneurial and community-minded people doing ecommerce, and many of us have thermal printers because of the time, money and paper they save in shipping. The cost of ink these days, am I right?!

People might like to print out a little poem and stick it up somewhere it can be seen. Maybe it will inspire others to write their own poems and paper the world with poetry.

Poetry — the readers, lovers and writers

The angelic people who have taken time out of their busy lives to flip through a few of my short poems have told me that they really like the shortest ones. Haha! But this one titled “Thoughts Upside Down” is one of my shortest though.

Seriously, short poems are easier to share online with the people because they can fit on one visual and in a short period of time.

And what could be simpler than a poem? Especially short rhyming poems, they’re just fun and easy to read.

Poetry is a weird thing

Poetry is a weird thing for most people, and no one really talks about it. You’d have to go to a local poetry jam or writers club to find anyone talking about this sort of thing. In fact, it’s not uncommon for people to be stone cold stunned quiet with nothing to say when called upon to read and comment on a poem or a book of poetry. Although I’ve seen that poetry is enjoying a new popularity which I’m happy to see and even happier to join in on.

So that’s why I like to be on my poetry bullshit right in plain view. It was over a casual lunch at the dining room table one day that I toyed with the title of a new poem in my notebook. I asked my husband to get involved, and “Thoughts Upside Down” is what we came up with. It was a pleasant lunchtime puzzle, and I’m quite pleased with the result.

“The Best Season?” a small talkin’ one-minute love poem

Three slides of a short 1-minute mobile video for the poem “The Best Season?” by NG Swett, Outer Lands Archipelago / NY poet

This is the 1:09sec video for posting “The Best Season?” love poem from HOLD ME TIGHT poetry book.
The video and the individual slides (pngs) are for posting on social media platforms with links back here to this website at 4seasonshelf.com.
Audio is added on each platform to avoid copyright issues.

What is YOUR favorite season
-- winter, spring, summer or fall?

Here's a nice and easy one-minute short poem about a great small talk topic. Everyone cares about the seasons and the weather!

Small talk is a lost art, isn’t it? People are so shy and wary of talking to strangers. When you’re at the front desk, as I’ve been from time to time over the years, small talk is perfect for engaging with people. It’s friendly but not nosy.

People feel nostalgic for the seasons and what special things each season brings to life. Changes, cycles and transitions are in our human nature.

About this poem

The short rhyming poem, "The Best Season?", is one from my new collection of 36 poems, HOLD ME TIGHT (link to buy internationally). The book is available in hard cover and ebook formats. It’s gorgeous if I do say so myself. I love it!

Have you ever made a book? Or would you like to? It’s quite a journey, and I share it on this blog and in my enewsletter.

Minimalist aesthetic photo illustration

The poem is Illustrated here and in the book with a black and white photo of a flowering spring daffodil for a contemporary minimalist aesthetic.

In the book, each of the 36 poems shares a two-page spread with its own minimalist black and white photo collage illustration.

How did I make the book? People have been asking me, and I share all the details here in a blog post all about making and publishing the love poetry book. Here is the cover:

I’m experimenting with short mobile videos like the one above for sharing poems, blog posts and new paintings online.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

~ Nan

P.S. I invite you to keep in touch by subscribing to my email list.

~ Headquarters of 4seasonshelf and home to the New York poet NG Swett ~

The Outer Lands Archipelago is made up of all of the ancient islands along the East Coast created 30,000 years ago during the last Ice Age when the Labrador Glacier was halted by the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

The islands of the archipelago include New York’s Long Island, Block Island, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and many other stunning islands.

Mission Creep

This is a short vertical video carrying a scratchy dark noir island dispatch from Nan in which she’s graphically and symbolically dressed in an unofficial but also official pilot’s hat. This video was uploaded to 4seasonshelf channels/profiles on multiple social media platforms with audio added in from each platform. The video itself was created in Canva using a mobile video template selected for its mood and aesthetic.

When you begin, there’s the idea, an inspiration, a fluttering of the heart?

Then a path appears, so you take it.

Next thing you know, you’re signaling to merge onto a superhighway.

How did that happen?

It might be mission creep.

Nan, what are you talking about?

Mission creep. Wow will you look at that view!

Poetry of Love?

As Canadian wildfire smoke turned skies orange way down here in the Outer Lands Archipelago, I wrote love poems…

TikTok video of Stolen Moment, one of the first poems
in the poetry collection Hold Me Tight.

Why A Poem?

At our wedding, our best man advised us to follow the KISS principle: keep it simple stupid — the shortest speech in the history of weddings. Now that we’ve had a lot of time to think about it, that was darn good advice for a twenty-something guy to give.

And now, what could be simpler than a poem?

And did you know, poetry is alive and well? So I thought I’d give it the old college girl try.

Immediately yes! I loved it. I’m a pen and paper note taker, a list writer, a scrapper, a note hoarder. My entire career thus far has been about making stuff up, fitting it into impossibly small spaces, and broadcasting it.

More Love

You’ve probably heard some version of the Cherokee legend in which an elder uses a story of two wolves to explain to a child how to choose a course of action. One wolf is FEAR and the other LOVE, the one we feed is the one that will survive.

In that vein, I started a new project early in the summer of 2023 — a series of love poems — to be dedicated to my husband of more than three decades. I carried around a notebook almost everywhere I went. When I got an idea, I jotted it down. When time allowed, I worked poems out like word puzzles.

I kept the poems short to make them easier to read and share.

Before long, there were a dozen poems. I started setting them up as a collection of love poems in a 6x9” book format using Canva. I created a black and white photo collage illustration for each poem. Each poem got its own two-page spread.

As I finished poems, I added them to the book. By Labor Day weekend, I had 36 poems. That was a good place to stop, I decided. When you’re the decider, you can decide anything!

With the world burning, I wanted to give love more oxygen in my life.

I played around with the title, subtitle, description, and cover design. I researched key words and categories. I added the dedication to Cary and a copyright page, the inside title pages and the acknowledgements — and a couple of About pages.

Cover reveal

So here is the final cover:

Can you spot the typographical error?… I’ve decided to keep it there lol, at least for now. And also to give my inner perfectionist a chance to relax.

Going Wide, Going Global

I purchased a bundle of ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) from Bowker and published the book as a paperback on Amazon, as a hard cover on Ingram Spark (which offers it to independent bookstores, libraries, and other retailers), and as an ebook on Draft2Digital.

The book is now available on a wide range of platforms all around the world. That’s cause for a celebration right there! No?

Draft2Digital offers a nice thing called a Universal Book Link on its sister platform Books2Read. Using one link, you can direct readers to get the book in all of its formats wherever they get books around the world. I’m slowly building those links… Here is the UBL for my book of love poems, Hold Me Tight.

Time & Money

This little poetry collection took six months to conceive and bring to this point. It’s been a labor of love! The main investment was my time and focus, which I borrowed from my loved ones a day at a time.

How Print on Demand Works

Print-on-demand publishing is free for authors who can create, edit and produce their own books and upload them. Only when someone orders the book is it printed/produced. The author sets the book’s price and receives royalties from any sales. There is no up front print cost.

Sharing Poetry

I’ve definitely been dragging my feet about sharing the book, even though I feel pretty good about its contents. As the lion in The Wizard of Oz said, “C-c-courage!”

Final Thoughts for Today

Though published, the book is still a work in progress.

I’ve barely touched the promo work that would have to be done for readers and the book to find each other.

I’ve learned so much, and there’s still a lot to learn.

Writing a love poem can lead to the permanent existence of a book of love poems for posterity, what’s left of it.

~ Nan

P.S. I made 4You a FREE pdf sampler of the poems in the book. Click here!