Reversible Verse

      A recent discovery that I have found fascinating is a reversible poem -- a poem with word choices that read the same from the last to the first as from the first to the last.  Author Marilyn Singer offers the following sample on her website from her collection Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse Poems – illustrated by Josee Masse; Dutton/Penguin, 2010.

In this unique collection of reversible verse, classic fairy tales are turned on their heads. Literally. Read these clever poems from top to bottom. Then reverse the lines and read from bottom to top to give these well-loved stories a delicious new spin. 

                    IN REVERSE       by Marilyn Singer     

                            Who
                            says
                            it’s true–-
                            down
                            is
                            the only view?
                            If you believe that,
                            this poem
                            will challenge
                            you.
                            Up
                            is
                            something new.
                                 ***
                            Something new
                            is
                            up.
                            You
                            will challenge
                            this poem
                            if you believe that
                            the only view
                            is
                            down.
                            It’s true.
                            Says who?

                My experiments with reversal of poems of mine have not yet led to sensible results.                   I need to keep trying.