Anagrams.
Jason Reynolds uses anagrams as a literary device in LONG WAY DOWN.
What are ANAGRAMS?
ANAGRAM NO. 1
ALIVE = A VEIL
ANAGRAM NO. 2
FEEL = FLEE
ANAGRAM NO. 3
COOL = LOCO
ANAGRAM NO. 4
CINEMA = ICEMAN
To make an anagram you take a word or phrase, and rearrange the letters to make another word or phrase.
In the example above the letters from ‘ALIVE’ can be rearranged to make the phrase, ‘A VEIL.’
You can use names to make anagrams, sometimes with comical results:
Donald Trump = Portland Mud
Boris Johnson … Mayor Boris Johnson = Oh Joy Mr. Brass Onion.
Little Red Riding Hood = Delight Orion Tiddler
The purpose of this exercise is to use an anagram in order to create an evocative phrase, and then use this phrase to begin a poem.
Sounds crazy perhaps, but just try it and see what you get.
Maybe it won’t work. If not, then no worries, you can try a different approach.
In order to get you anagram began with your name.
You can try different permutations, such as you could use just your first name, or last name, or both, your last name and your initials.
Begin with your name in the form of your preferred author credit:
Ed Asher Briant = Absent red hair…
Edward Asher Briant = Inwards threadbare…
EA Briant = Ate brain?
Mister Edward Asher Briant = Bear remarried, withstands…
Out of these I like ‘Absent red hair…’
Absent red hair
Absent green eyes
Absent freckles
Absent your smile
Absent your voice
Absent the softness of your presence…
You can also tweak your anagram––after all it’s the poem that counts, not the anagram, the anagram is just a means to an end
I loved at Absent red hair, and thought it was a close anagram of ‘Absent reader I…
Absent reader, I
Engrave my thoughts
To you alone,
Hoping they will brush your face
Like a summer morning spider’s web.
Ed Asher Briant 