# Speculative Poetry



## Ghost (May 5, 2012)

Anybody write speculative poetry? During the last week, I decided to submit speculative poetry to ezines. I didn't even know this was a genre of poetry although I've seen similar themes in older poetry. It seems really cool.

I have some odd lyrics that would work better as poetry, and I knocked out a new poem yesterday. (Is there a sentence out there that could make me sound like more of a hack? I doubt it.) I thought sending poetry while I work on my short stories would be a good idea. Now I'm nervous to do it because I have no idea what makes for a good poem in the first place. I suppose this would be a good opportunity to get used to rejection.

So now I'm curious who writes speculative poetry or what your favorite speculative poems are.


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## Lorna (May 6, 2012)

I've never heard of speculative poetry before although I have heard of speculative fiction. I'm guessing that if the meaning is similar perhaps stuff like Blake's 'Urizen' and 'The Four Zoas' might apply as they provide alternative versions of creation myths. I write poetry about the local land and its myths, with an emphasis on nature and the gods and our relationship to them in contemporary times. Whether this might be classed as speculative I'm not sure. 

What e-zines are asking for speculative poetry? Can you define it?


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## Ghost (May 6, 2012)

I figure it's poetry with topics covered under the speculative fiction umbrella (science, myths, magic, monsters, etc), but theme-wise and form-wise I don't think there are restrictions. I've seen a few poems that aren't very weird, so it could say more about how the poet identifies herself than how the poem itself is defined. Dunno.

Just like with fiction, I'd recommend Ralan and Duotrope. For Duotrope, just switch to Poetry and search under the genres fantasy, science fiction, and horror or perhaps pick "general" and try a subgenre like magical realism. There is also the market list on the Science Fiction Poetry Association website, but I think some of them are defunct. For nonpaying, there are tons of literary journals that accept weird stuff.


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## Clansman (Jan 21, 2022)

Ghost said:


> Anybody write speculative poetry? During the last week, I decided to submit speculative poetry to ezines. I didn't even know this was a genre of poetry although I've seen similar themes in older poetry. It seems really cool.
> 
> I have some odd lyrics that would work better as poetry, and I knocked out a new poem yesterday. (Is there a sentence out there that could make me sound like more of a hack? I doubt it.) I thought sending poetry while I work on my short stories would be a good idea. Now I'm nervous to do it because I have no idea what makes for a good poem in the first place. I suppose this would be a good opportunity to get used to rejection.
> 
> So now I'm curious who writes speculative poetry or what your favorite speculative poems are.


Robert E. Howard, the author of all the 'Conan the Barbarian' stories, had a collection of his speculative poems published in 2010. Title is, "The Singer in the Mist & Others." It's pretty good.


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