Aleatory

An aleatory poem is a form of poetry composed using elements of chance, randomness, or indeterminacy. The term “aleatory” comes from the Latin alea, meaning “dice” or “game of chance.” In poetry, this technique may involve rolling word dice, drawing words from a hat, using computer-generated selections, or applying statistical methods to determine structure, word choice, or line arrangement. Aleatory poetry challenges traditional notions of authorship and control, allowing randomness to shape the creative process.

Example of an Aleatory Poem

Second Line

Don’t you—
my standards—this Irish—
starts abstractions—phrases—
recognition one century of Love.

It was—
Walter… readers during the glory
of source which—
sprawling phrases—especially time.

How It Was Composed

Word selection: I chose a book and took the first word and the last word on alternating pages to create the title and poem writing the words in order, 30 in all, with full freedom in punctuation.

Structural Chance: I used a coin flip to decide line breaks:
Heads: Short line
Tails: Long line

Another possible Aleatory technique:

Word Selection by Randomization: Write down 30 evocative words on slips of paper and shuffled them in a container.
Random Line Pairing: Pull four words or phrases at a time and arrange them into lines without altering their order.

Final Refinements: While maintaining the random selections, allow minimal adjustments to connect words in a way that preserved the poem’s flow.

This method results in unexpected imagery and juxtapositions, allowing chance to influence the final form.

Photo Image taken by Salie Davis and overexposed through Adobe Creative Suite 4 in 2008