Poem Backwards is Meop, and That’s Kind of Neat
Bmud si siht. Siht ekil ton tub. Sdrawkcab meop siht etirw dluohs uoy.
Bmud si siht. Siht ekil ton tub. Sdrawkcab meop siht etirw dluohs uoy.
Some things only make sense in reverse.
In this challenge, you will write a poem that reads differently when read backwards.
Your poem should make sense both ways—but the meaning, tone, or feeling should shift when read from the last line to the first.
You have two choices:
The Mirror Poem – The poem reads naturally forward, but when read in reverse, it offers a new or opposite perspective.
The Spiral Poem – The poem slowly falls apart or comes together, depending on the direction it’s read.
Your poem should make sense both ways. The meaning may shift, but the words still need to hold together.
The reversal should be intentional. Maybe a love poem becomes a breakup poem. Maybe despair turns to hope. Maybe the truth only reveals itself backwards.
Structure matters. Repetition, short phrases, and simple sentence structures help the poem work both ways.
Think about punctuation and line breaks. A single period or comma might change everything in reverse.
Does the tone or meaning change when the poem is read backwards?
How does the first line feel as a last line?
What emotions or themes work best for this reversal—hope, loss, memory, regret?
"Lost Generation" by Jonathan Reed – A poem that expresses despair when read forward, but hope when read backward.
"Reverse Poetry" in Spoken Word – Some spoken word performances use this technique for powerful shifts in meaning.