Multi-way Acrostic
A Multi-way Acrostic is an acrostic poem that hides or displays words in more than one direction or location. A simple acrostic uses the first letters of lines to spell a word downward. A multi-way acrostic may use first letters, last letters, middle letters, diagonal letters, stanza initials, or repeated positions to create more than one readable message.

A Multi-way Acrostic often includes visible structure, hidden message, puzzle-like design, and careful placement of letters. It may be devotional, romantic, memorial, political, playful, secretive, or ceremonial. The poem must work both as a poem and as a designed letter pattern.

To write a Multi-way Acrostic, choose the hidden words first. Decide where each word will appear: at the beginning of lines, at the end of lines, down the center, or diagonally. Draft the poem around those positions. Then revise so the poem reads naturally, not only as a puzzle.

Example using first and last letters to spell SUN:

SUN
Softly the morning finds uS
Under the trees, leaves—AdieU
Now the birds wake beneath the suN

This small example uses the first letters to spell SUN downward: Softly, Under, Now. The final letters also echo the hidden pattern by ending with S, U, and N, the end letters spell a second complete word.

A stricter Multi-way Acrostic may require two or more complete hidden messages. A looser version may combine one clear acrostic with one partial or diagonal pattern.