ICONS

A book of poems about everyday digital symbols.

Price examines the deeper meanings underlying computer icons in this unconventional poetry collection. Combining technical insight and artistic expression, the poet focuses on 100 icons (of the available 3,000) from Google’s Material Design set, asking questions such as, “Is the image beautiful? Does the shape invite me to tap? Does the picture telegraph what the icon can do for me?” He considers how several of the icons we use daily are relics of the past, from an attachment’s paper clip (“reminder / Of paper pages”) to an email’s letter shape (“The stamp—how quaint!”). The transition from tactile to virtual and the related grief over the loss of a physical world are recurring themes in the collection. “Brush” considers the “ancient tool” that “says take me in your hand, / Feel the soft bristles, dip them, and paint.” Of the heart icon users rely on to “favorite” online posts, he writes, “How many meanings this sign enacts. / It performs as noun, verb, and glyph” (“Favorite”). The bell, that incessant “attention parasite” that notifies users of activity, reminds the author of “the brass dinner bell that called / My grandfather in from loading hay” (“Bell”). “Reply_all” earns the label of “The most dangerous icon of all,” provoking shame that “sends you racing back, / As you replay that one unthinking click.” Price ends on “Ampersand,” praising that “Elegant emblem / Ornate placeholder / Connective pointer.” These poems are short yet thought-provoking, inviting readers to slow down and consider the meanings of the icons they mindlessly tap all day long. Though the topic might seem at odds with poetry, Price blends the two seamlessly, as in “360,” based on the rounded arrow that allows users to rotate views on a map: “Imagination cannot show me such a tour. / This icon launches code, / Spins the Earth around its axis, / Turns a city street into a whirl, / And races like an angel around a volcano.”

A quirky exploration of the everyday icons of the digital realm and their symbolic meanings.