Spellcheck poetry is an experimental form that blends randomness, constraint, and digital intervention to generate unexpected linguistic outcomes. Unlike traditional poetry, which begins with deliberate word choice and careful structuring, spellcheck poetry starts with a deliberate act of chaos: the poet types without looking at the keyboard, producing clusters of letters, spaces, and fragments. These raw inputs—often nonsensical at first—become the foundation for the poem.

The next stage involves the spellcheck algorithm, a tool designed to impose order on textual randomness. Spellcheck suggests corrections or replacements based on proximity, frequency, and linguistic probability, offering the poet a palette of unexpected words. The poet then selects from these suggestions, breaks apart clusters, and adds connective language, shaping meaning from the digital noise. The result is a hybrid creation—a co-authorship between human intention and machine logic.

In the rehab sick bed, awaiting trial

Don’t droop man, I’m not discouraged.
It’s a falsie, not a Kilo.
I joypop man, only once in a while.
You dress my chow like a fop man
and you qualm about how much I owe?
Don’t pose as my pal’s paw when your a navy cat’s meow
not even a forepaw!
You deck my chow in an afro and make him swirl.
Go, get yourself a hoer to weed your hypo’s garden.
I would give you a thou, if you hadn’t given me the pox.
Now my ex’s out to get me.
I am now as air, if a wisp, a memory fled.
Give me some mace, man and I’ll put it in a pie.
If you think I’m lit then let lemurs take me to my grave.
I’ll meet her at the pew and she’ll feed me manna from the ash.
She will walk with me to the quoin where my mom will be waiting.
The jurors will not see me in the courtroom.
Tell Jen to sift the sand with Julius upon the hill in Seoul.
If you take this pi and oil it a bit,
maybe remove the id and pad the meanings to make them less alive
and call the lipoid imam to sort it all out,
it might not impose, on an icier I.
Bring me some poi before I die.
Inks, I got lots of.
Deep inks, the kids will love, stories about my vice.
Put the king’s bishop on the hob and give me my sop.
Pour it out on this sob before I die.
My words are congruous to edit and oil
but the origin, the den, where Papa kicks himself in his grave,
is in the nave. No theory In trio can wow or hex.
I’ll meet Papa by the quoin, ergo leave me raked like the ox and cow brought to slaughter.
I’ll not cavil. Leave me to Dharma. I’ll not pout.
Weigh my words and Oil them, to be spoken in the upper rooms while they toot.

Spellcheck poetry begins with random typing, where the poet types blindly, producing streams of fragmented text that may include invented words, spacing anomalies, or typographical quirks. From there, the poet engages in spellcheck intervention: using a word processor, the spellcheck algorithm suggests real-word substitutions, introducing vocabulary the poet might not have anticipated. Next comes cluster separation and word selection, in which the poet disassembles the text clusters, chooses words from the algorithm’s suggestions, and begins forming phrases, sentences, and images. Finally, during poetic assembly, the poet inserts additional words or structures to create rhythm, narrative flow, or emotional resonance, transforming randomness into a coherent—but still unpredictable—poetic work.

The resulting poetry is often surreal and unpredictable, with vocabulary that can include slang, archaic terms, or technical jargon, producing a dreamlike or absurd quality. It is constraint-driven, as the poet must navigate the suggestions provided by the spellcheck, making the algorithm a collaborative partner in the creative process. The randomness encourages layered meaning, allowing for double entendres, metaphorical collisions, and unexpected imagery. In this way, spellcheck poetry represents a digital collaboration, in which machine logic interacts with human intuition to create a unique interplay between algorithmic suggestion and creative choice.

An example of this approach can be seen in In the Rehab Sick Bed, Awaiting Trial. Phrases like “joypop,” “falsie,” and “qualm” emerge from spellcheck suggestions, while the poet curates them into rhythm, narrative, and character voice, resulting in a text that is simultaneously grounded and surreal—a voice that feels streetwise yet mythic. Later lines layer archaic and spiritual imagery, as in: “I’ll meet her at the pew and she’ll feed me manna from the ash. She will walk with me to the quoin where my mom will be waiting.” Here, spellcheck-derived vocabulary merges with intentional emotional and symbolic resonance, showing that even in fragmented, algorithmically influenced text, profound meaning can emerge.

Spellcheck poetry challenges traditional notions of authorship, coherence, and inspiration. By inviting poets to collaborate with randomness and technology, it opens new avenues for creativity, linguistic play, and experimental thought. It demonstrates that poetic meaning is not solely derived from premeditated composition; instead, it can arise from chance, machine suggestion, and the poet’s intuitive selection. In essence, spellcheck poetry celebrates the interplay between order and chaos, human and machine, intention and accident, revealing that in the margins of digital logic, new forms of expression can thrive—messy, surprising, and deeply poetic.