The Imaginism Project

What Is Imaginism?

Imaginism is a poetic practice of compression. It seeks the essence of a moment, image, or idea until it speaks in a single breath. It captures that essence with clarity, economy, and imaginative surprise. Rather than reducing experience for its own sake, imaginistic poetry reveals more by saying less, allowing an image, metaphor, or juxtaposition to disclose a larger truth or illuminate an existential reality.

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Compression shapes every imaginistic poem. Most can be read in a single breath. Others gather several brief movements into diptychs or triptychs, each standing as a complete imaginative unit. Imaginism pursues not merely brevity but aesthetic "short-and-sweetness," saying no more than necessary while leaving the reader with more than has been said.

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My work shares certain affinities with the early twentieth-century movement known as Imagism, but it developed independently and follows a different path. Classical Imagism presented the image directly. My imaginism begins with an image and attends until it reveals its essence. The image itself bears philosophical, ethical, spiritual, or existential weight.

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Someday soon, I hope to release an "Imaginism Project" collection.  In the meantime, check back as I get more of my imaginistic poetry published in online and print journals and anthologies.  

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