Block Cipher

Under diagram                                  of a letter-less paragraph,


block white.       Silent quadrates,          grid                         imperceptible


where the arrangement                             cross-puzzles itself.


Blank words         equidistant         by page         flectional         by print.


Structure of paper           exists to limit           communicatio


of sound               of silence;              how word-types               appear,


how fonts           distinguish                                 an ipseity  of language.


The pages' margins         shape set-text                                 a voice unwrit;


contains unseen               accent,                                pressure wave code.


Where breath              within paper          functions                 a sensation thought,


actions           charge                   form.                                      Without


a point              an i          will forget           its direction,              or a j


with its curve            will not show                           its breadth                                   of line.

 

Copyright Credit: Orlando White, "Block Cipher" from Letterrs. Copyright © 2015 by Orlando White.  Reprinted by permission of Nightboat Books.
Source: Letterrs (Nightboat Books, 2015)