Helvetica Poem and Moleskine
In February, Graham Smith, the creator of LoveHelvetica.com, had a Helvetica-themed poetry contest in honor of Valentine’s Day. The winner would receive the coveted Helvetica Moleskine. I happened to be taking a poetry writing class at the time, and thought it would be perfect to write a poem for my class and also submit it in the contest. I ended up winning, but it was a close competition. I finally received the Moleskine in the mail yesterday, and it is beautiful and I feel inspired just looking at it! I have never owned a Moleskine before, but if its the same brand of notebook that Hemingway, Picasso, and Chatwin used, it’s good enough for me! I haven’t decided what, if anything, I will write in it.
For the record, here is the poem I submitted in the contest. It has been slightly revised to please my poetry teacher, but I like it much better than the original submitted poem.
Ode to Helvetica
Ubiquitously prevalent yet transparent,
classically beautiful yet neutral,
fashionably modern yet timeless.
You are perfectly proportioned—
the Marilyn Monroe of typefaces.
Your graceful curves and bold lines
float smoothly across a page
with understated elegance.
I can easily discern you by
the tilted teardrop shape in your lowercase a
or the soft snaking bends in your uppercase R.
You whisper your lucid existence
from freeways, shopping malls,
airplanes, and television screens—
the identity of America.
There is nothing you cannot display,
yet you are never boastful,
and would never spite Arial.
Loyally sitting on my shoulder,
you are the little black dress
tucked away in a wardrobe
filled with trendy, tawdry fonts.
I fill my lungs with your omnipresence;
your subtle aroma is unavoidable.
From black extended
to ultra light condensed,
your variant weights humbly surrender
to the written word.
Loving you is easy
and inescapable.
I’m not really that corny and emotional. My poetry class liked the poem, though.
My dearest Miss Nickerson,
I am ashamed at how long I have gone without complementing your beautiful writing style and elegant control of diction. I have, in fact, been preoccupied with a variety of tasks including, but not limited too, scaling the Rock of Gibralter with nothing but a pair of tweezers and a single shoe, forging across the Nile Delta during the flood season in a pedal boat shaped like a swan, unearthing an ancient and precious manuscript describing the discovery of fire as a first-hand account, and single handedly halting the spread of a flood in Holland by building a new 30 foot tall dike with a child’s plastic shovel. In all my travels however, I have never seen anyone as stunningly beautiful, intelligent or inspiring as yourself and it brings me great pleasure to see your blog once again.
Sincerely,
Not Thadius T. Flickenbocker III Sr.
Ok, I’m instantly going to make a poster with this poem to hang on my wall!
In Helvetica 108 bold, obviously.
Haha, wonderful, glad you liked it!