Poetry served fresh

BY AMY L. SMITH

NovaNewsNow.com

From the Shakespearean sonnet to “The road not taken”, poetry has held its place in the hearts of readers and recipients far and wide.

But for many who have less command of such wordy impulses, attempts at solid verse sometimes come closer to “There once was a man from Nantucket” than “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

Fortunately, there is help for even the most hapless of poets. It comes in the form of a plucky Acadia University grad named Marla Landers-Renouf and her service, aptly named Short-Order Verse.

When would-be poets find themselves pen-tied, Landers-Renouf saves the day by creating custom written poetry tailored to their occasion. From her online base, she takes orders and concocts creations for varied events from anniversaries and birthdays to weddings and retirements, always with a sweet and clever charm.

The enterprise started casually with a favour for a friend. A co-worker was retiring and a simple goodbye verse needed. Landers-Renouf came through with flying colours.

She was soon confronted with more requests and discovered how useful a good line of rhyme could be. With her studies in English at Acadia just recently finished and scriptwriting program still underway at Algonquin College in Ottawa, her small business idea was tucked away and left to gather dust.

Printed business cards, rented a post-office box

That was until 2007 when the Yarmouth native relocated to Salem, New Hampshire with her husband. His web-hosting company made for a convenient start-up and in early 2008, Landers-Renouf decided it was time. With her website up and running, she printed some business cards, rented a post-office box and was ready to receive orders.

The process starts with an online order form. In addition to her website at shortorderverse.com, Landers has a storefront at etsy.com, an online marketplace for handmade items. Clients state their purpose and any pertinent details they wish mentioned. For poems regarding a specific person, Landers-Renouf encourages customers to provide as much detail as they can: nicknames, anecdotes, inside jokes, quirks and hobbies.

From there, she goes to work. Keeping true to the “short-order” in Short-Order Verse, Landers-Renouf keeps turnaround time short; seven days. She works methodically, working each stanza to perfection before moving on to the next. The poem is then e-mailed to the recipient. The deal is done and she’s on to the next project.

Renouf-Landers, as a creative type, isn’t a huge fan of the business side of the endeavour. “I was never sure if I had what it takes to be an entrepreneur and it has its challenges, but I’ve always been wildly unsuited to the nine-to-five work life,” she said. “In that sense, I’m sort of an entrepreneur by default.”

Friends and family helped

Her friends and family have been very helpful, assisting her with promotion needs, but it’s the online marketplace that helps her the most. By placing her ads on wedding sites and search engines, Landers-Renouf has been able to get through to her customers, most of whom, contrary to traditional male stereotypes, are female.

While her projects can get a little crazy, Landers-Renouf says she has never had any problems with client information. “So far, no one has revealed anything overly intimate,” she said.

It seems work is never dull for this self-proclaimed “rhyme slinger”. Her last poem was for the label of fertilizer describing how Minnie the pig creates her “compost tea”. While Landers-Renouf admits her business isn’t the most lucrative of professions at this point, she said the satisfaction of operating such a curious venture is reward enough.