Conceptual poem: The poem explains and demonstrates its own governing idea. Its subject is not merely quantum possibility; its structure imitates quantum possibility.

Poem That Forgets Itself

The first line must contain seven words.
This first line contains exactly seven words.

The second line must lose one word.
The second line must lose one.

The third line must lose another.
The third line must lose.

The fourth line loses again.
The fourth line loses.

The fifth grows less.
The fifth grows.

The sixth remains.

Sixth.

The poem announces its governing idea and performs it. Its subject is the gradual loss of language, and each stage enacts that loss by becoming shorter.

The central artistic work lies in the rule and its execution rather than primarily in narrative, imagery, or personal expression. Its defining feature is an organizing concept demonstrated by the poem’s structure.

Central Differences

A combinatorial poem changes the words inside a stable framework.

A branching poem sends the reader along different routes.

An ergodic poem requires the reader to manipulate, solve, arrange, or construct the text.

A hypertext-like poem connects separate textual locations through visible links.

A visual or spatial poem makes placement on the page part of the meaning.

A conceptual poem is organized around an idea or procedure that the poem explains, performs, or tests.