The Endemic Battle Collage (http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/huth_endemic_battle_collage.html) is a set of digital poems created by Geof Huth, which was displayed in the simple style of the original Apple Basic program.  While it is indeed a form of poetry, at times the images challenge this idea.  For example, at one point the screen fills up with repeated lines of only the home key letters.  While Huth then transforms these lines into actual words, the typing out of the home keys reminds those viewing his work that they are not simply experiencing a poem on a printed page in a manner that they are used to.

The computer-poetry link is further reinforced by certain sounds which happen at different intervals of the poem.  At some points, the sounds make sense, such as the repetitive tapping sounds that accompany the appearance of the word “thread” on the screen, and which put the viewer in mind of the sounds which might be made by someone who is sewing or knitting.  However, at many points the sounds are simply random, robotic beeps which do not emphasize the words that they are accompanying, and which seem to only be there to again reinforce the idea of the link Huth is making between a literary work and a digital form of communication.

In this way, it seems that the Geof Huth is both critiquing modern poetry, and at the same time putting his own spin on it.  Many contemporary poems can, to some readers, seem to be random collections of words with no meaning, which he imitates when he flashes not only random words, but even random, disconnected letters across the screen.  At the same time, he is furthering modern poetry by taking it from the printed page to the screen.  This allows him to use poetic elements such as imagery in a different way; for example, the word “inchworm” slowly grows and moves across the screen in a way that resembles a living inchworm.  It is also fitting that he imitates more modern poetic styles on the computer; the effect of his digital poetry may not be the same if he had tried to type out and imitate older poetry styles such as sonnets.

Through the use of both typed words and computer-generated sounds, Geof Huth manages to move modern poetry to the digital screen, and offers viewers a new way to immerse themselves in the sounds and sights of his modern poetry.