According to the Electronic Literature Collection’s description of Robert Kendall’s kinetic poem “Faith”: “While the word ‘faith’ resists the word ‘logic’ at the beginning of Kendall’s poem, Faith has its own textual logic by which it progresses, words and letters rearranging to lead on to the next state.  This short multimedia piece mingles textual animation and sound effects such that a structure of words sounds as it forms or collapses.”  To add to this: Kendall seems to be using a sequential form to his poem to demonstrate the structure or progression of participating in the act of faith.  Thus, faith—which is supposes to reject reason and form—demonstrates a type of logic and configuration of its own.

Specifically, the author describes (presumably) his journey of faith through five movements in action: first he avoids logic entirely as the words fall from the sky and collide with the word “faith.”  This causes “logic” to vanish—almost entirely—from the screen.  Second, he acknowledges this avoidance of “logic” but tries to justify the need to do so: “Can’t the mind press around the bend to consummate this vision of the deep ‘or’?”  The words next to the forward button reveal doubt: “Maybe,” he answers himself.  “But…”  The next movement demonstrates the questioning of logic through the playful movement of the words: “winking neon” blinks; “theory” spins; and “button” sinks and rises; while in the fourth movement, he tests the use of logic only to conclude that his actions are not logical: “I step to the idea edge elegantly and oh so ultimately…upon the logic lip…I just can’t make the usual sense anymore…”  Lastly, the fifth movement displays an acceptance of faith: All the words of reason which demonstrated this progression of understanding crumble to the bottom of the page.  The word “faith” which stood solidly, fixed at the top now drifts down to crush the fallen ideas below.  The movement of these words represent the lofty, untouchable “faith” that has outstood all other things, is now an accessible idea—as it has dropped to the level of understanding or reason.