Poetry- Writing and Reading

Poetry is the mastery of words in all their variations and subtleies to express in an eloquent manner that which cannot be expressed in silence. Emotions of the heart, a looking glass into the soul, a way to make amends, and a way to build vistas exploring humanity and all it’s relationships. Poetry is all this an much more. Poetry is also much less, and in a more simplified manner, it is only words. Just words. But used in such a way, as to make us think and feel about others, events and things in a way we could never have imagined. Poetry cleanses, fortifies and inspiries the reader, while at the same time fuels the creative passions and allows for cathartic emotional release on the part of the writer. Poetry is powerful, poetry is petty, poetry is loving, and poetry is hateful. But above all, poetry is human, it is a reflection of of the human experience in all it’s glory and all it’s shame. But, it’s something else as well. It’s words.

It’s Only Words

Words are what define the internet. It’s not technology, it’s not servers, it’s not protocols, it’s not browser wars. The internet is made up of words. And words are poetry. So, is the internet poetry? In a sense yes. Sure it’s pictures to, but words were there long before there were pictures. An internet of pictures would be pretty, but it wouldn’t be poetry. It would be thousands of words yes, but what would it say? Words are a business now online. We bid on words, we sell words and information. We sell poetry. Entire industries have sprung up based solely on words. Google is in the word business, as is Yahoo, and MSN. But, these guys are no poets, and long before them their were others in the business of words.

Words Are All I Have

For generations, authors and poets have been in the business of words. For that matter musicians were to. Music is really just poetry with a beat. And these guys and girls have never really prospered from a financial perspective. Oh sure, a few like Shakespeare and Stephen King did pretty well. But just being the tip of the ice cube, there were countless thousands of creative literary genuises languashing in poverty. Starving artists include poets, writters, and musicians. But hey, it’s a new day, and all that can change. The internet has open the door for artists of all inkling to support themselves with their passions of calling. Few have taken up the guantlet though. Perhaps, for poets and the like, suffering for their art is core to their being. A cruel but inspiritional muse. Dosen’t have to be that way though. It’s time for the poets to embrace the world wide web, and voice their words to the masses. The internet is about words, and words are about poetry. Arise poets, your time has come. Write you poetic fools, write.

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Poetry is more than just rhyming and prose that is in meters and verse. It is an art form. It is something that can not be judged by its cover and can not be critisized to the point where it just “sucks.” Poetry is about expression. Poetry expresses the way we feel on a certain subject through imagery and other senses. It helps us deal with our daily problems, be it good or bad.

The emotion which is put within the poem brings it life. A poem without emotion is not a poem at all but simply prose. Poetry is what makes us feel happy or sad, mad or gleeful, loving or broken hearted. Poetry is life on paper. It does not need to be of a certain subject or even rhyme.

Poetry is poetry. It has its own mind. If it flows good if not… it needs work. The rules can be bent but not broken. Our life is our life and no one can tell us what we have been through but ourselves. We know best not some stranger reading our poems. Our poetry is our life, not what someone says.

Rhyming in poetry is not always the best way to express yourself. Rhyming actually takes away many words that could have been used. If you try to rhyme it cuts your dictionary into little pieces. It doesn’t need to be this way, choose flow over rhyme.

As a result of this, poetry is defined as a way of putting flowing words together in meter and verse to show emotion or tell a story.

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Before You Begin

Before you begin writing, there are a few simple ways to get your creative juices flowing. Poetry is not just about finding a word that rhymes to end a line with. It is about the connotations of words, the connections between them, and the images and feelings they conjure up.

Exercise 1: Word Association

This is a very basic exercise that involves thinking of any word, writing it down, and then thinking of a word you associate with it, and so on, forming a chain of associations. For example, I could think of the word pig. My chain might go like this;

Pig, pink, fat, round, balloon, party, cake, birthday, present…

Or, say, shirt;

Shirt, check, chess, board, boring, ironing, clothes, shopping, Saturday, holidays, sunshine, yellow, banana, andy warhol…

Its simply an exercise like practicing scales in music, and is good to use even if youve already begun writing, to limber up and break writers block.

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Why Write?

Writing poetry is not only for black-clad bohemians in smoke-filled Parisian cafes. Anyone can do it, and it is as fulfilling and therapeutic for everyone. Poetry is primarily self-expression. It doesnt matter who you are, or what you write about. You dont have to be a starving artist or a tortured soul. Your experience is as valid as any. Therapists have long seen the benefits of self-expression in the form of diaries and poetry. It helps us to simultaneously examine and scrutinise ourselves, our own personalities, motivations and behaviour, and also to look beyond our own identities to see ourselves as part of the larger scheme of things, and to see the world clearly and honestly. Writing a poem is a moment to sit back and think; to look beyond our immediate concerns.

It may be that you want to express yourself or write about your own experience. You dont have to have anything in particular to say or any great message you want to convey to the human race. You dont have to be a genius or a philosopher; it is enough to be a normal human being who wants to write about their own life, and writing is valuable for everybody. Writing poetry makes us see things differently. It makes us stop and notice things. You have probably already noticed things that make you want to write a poem. Perhaps you wanted to write about your new born baby or a beautiful sunset over the ocean. Or perhaps your motivations are completely different. Perhaps you want to write about a failed relationship or the loss of a friend. Once you begin writing, you will find an endless source of poems inside yourself. You will wonder why you never did it before, and you will start to see the poetry in your everyday existence.

Not only will you begin to see things differently, but you will also find that writing poetry makes you feel better. It is incredibly satisfying to say what you wanted to say in a poem. If something is bothering you, you will often find that you desperately want to talk about it. This is why people go to therapists. You will find that writing a poem about something like this performs a cleansing effect. You will find that just the act of really thinking about an issue and your emotional state is helpful, and ordering your thoughts and clearly articulating them even more so. You will also perhaps find that writing poetry gives you a clearer sense of your own identity. Looking at a poem or collection of poems you have written, you will feel less like one of a crowd, more like an individual, and once you begin, you will no doubt be surprised what youre capable of.

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How often has this happened? You have finally found time to try to pen poetry, but words elude you. You have a quiet spot to yourself, at last, but no matter what, your writers block persists. Your muse has taken a holiday, leaving a less than inspired writer without the poetic sights, sounds, and textures so desired by a poets pen. How, then, can a muse be lured back? Here are a few suggestions that I hope will be helpful.

Read your favorite poems, both your own and those of your favorite poets, or branch out and read poets you have never read. If you enjoy reading and writing traditional poems, mostly, then maybe try reading and writing free verse poems.

Experiment with poetic forms. The Internet can be a treasure trove, in this respect. Many poetic forms can be discovered online. Being a member of Writing.Com has also exposed me to poetic forms that I had never known of before. Which brings me to the next suggestion: join a writing community. Becoming a member of a writing community can help spark ideas, expose you to those various poetic forms, and, perhaps, keep you motivated to write. Poetry challenges and contests can assuage your muse, and lure your muse back to fill you with poetic inspirations.

Another fun thing to do is visit your favorite haunts, making sure you have pen and pad in hand. A friend of mine even once referred to himself as “Starbucks Poet.” If youre not quite in the mood for your usual hangouts, then try some place new. A couple of my own favorite places of inspiration are the lake and the riverfront.

Recently, I have also become inspired by artwork. Consider visiting the museum. A day at the museum can prove enjoyable even if you dont end up inspired enough to pen verses. I also have fun perusing artwork on The Internet. Even avatars have a tendency to spark ideas. Family photo albums can be just as fruitful, although I usually ended up filled with laughter rather than poetic infusions when it came to my familys photographs. Another fun exercise involves engaging whats called “Your Third Eye,” or your “Minds Eye.” Try seeing beyond what is on the surface, or try writing from a different point of view. Try seeing things from a childs eyes, for example. I once tried this while staring at a wall and before long my imagination was in full swing. Imagine what fun it would be to write a wacky poem about spiders and cobwebs from a kids point of view just to get your mind in motion and your pen moving.

The next best source of inspiration can be what I call a “living, breathing muse.” Family, friends, significant others–they all can be great inspiration as living, breathing muses. If theres a poetry group in your hometown, then joining can be a fun kick to your muse also. Make new friends, and get constructive criticism for your poems in the process.

So, if you enjoy writing poetry but suddenly find yourself uninspired, try these suggestions. Hopefully, your muse will return with more inspiration than you can handle. While I have geared these suggestions toward poetry writing, I hope writers might be able to apply them to their writing, in general, if ever faced with writers block.

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WHAT IS A POEM?

Most self-proclaimed poets today dont have the vaguest clue about what a poem is.

If you were to ask 1,000 writers who call themselves poets to tell you just what they think a poem is, you might get 3,000 different answers.

And then youd have to decide which of those answers was right.

Ask yourself what you think a poems is.

Is it definable?

If so, what is it?

How does one describe it?

How does one write it?

And after you think you have written one, ask yourself if its worth reading and if its worth remembering.

People who dont write poetry might say a poem has to be rhymed, in lines and stanzas, and filled with musical language.

Does this statement tell you what a poem is?

Maybe its a statement about poetry and not about poems.

Does poetry have to be musical to be poetry?

What is poetry?

What is the difference between poetry and poems?

Can one write a poem that has no poetry?

Can anyone write poetry that is not a poem?

Can any piece of writing be a poem?

When does writing become poetry?

When does poetry become a poem?

These are very intriguing questions seldom addressed today by the so-called literary establishment.

Can this literary establishment answer these questions intelligently?

Will those answers clarify and explain what poetry is, what a poem is?

Does the literary establishment even know what they are talking about?

Do well-known poets always write poems when they are writing poetry?

And when they are writing poetry, is it really poetry?

And are all of the pieces of writing in their poetry books actually poetry or poems?

If you read someones so-called poetry, can you call it poetry?

What is poetry?

Maybe it should be named so-called poetry or so-called poems or just creative writing.

Can it be called poems?

What is a poem?

How does one write a poem?

Does a poem have lines and stanzas, or lines and no stanzas, or sentences and stanzas, or sentences and paragraphs, or just lines, or just sentences, or just words, or just syllables, or just letters, or maybe just punctuation without words like the piece Hemingway wrote?

Can one write a poem without words?

How many words does a piece of writing have to have to be called a poem?

Can a poem be just one word?

How many poems does a writer have to write to earn the title of poet?

Is a poem a piece of writing that moves the reader?

Does a poem move a reader intellectually and emotinally?

If a poem moves a reader intellectually and not emotionally, is it still a poem?

If a poem doesnt move the reader at all, can it still be a poem?

If a poem has no poetry in it, is it still a poem?

What is a poem?

A poem first of all is a story with a beginning, a middle and an end but not necessarily in that order.

And today usually but not always a poem is a lyrical poem that is a short short story with a beginning, a middle and an end.

And maybe that lyrical short short story is inhabited by people just like long story poems called epics.

But a lyrical poem can also be a story about the beauty, ugliness, indifference or cruelty of nature.

A poem can be a story about anything!

A poem can be written in any writing style and still be a poem.

But for a piece of writing to be a poem it must have a beginning, a middle and an end!

A poem telling a story about a thought, a feeling, or a moments insight has a beginning, a middle and an end.

Of course any of these three parts can be implied and need not be explicitly expressed.

Most pieces of writing passed off as poems today are just fragments of poems.

They are beginnings without middles or ends.

They are beginnings lost in middles looking for an end.

They are middles and ends without beginnings

They are lines of words that neither begin nor end any complete thought or feeling let alone a story.

They are thoughtless storyless solipsistic soliloquies seemingly straight out of diaries and journals.

Can diary and journal excerpts be poems?

Sure, if they have a beginning, a middle and an end.

But almost all diary and journal writing masquerading as poems are just fragments of poems.

Poetry editors today are daily bombarded by bits and pieces of poems.

And when poetry editors do occasionally find poems in their submissions, most of these just belabor the obvious.

They do not GRAB your MIND and HEART.

GRAB means no cliches, no platitudes, no worn-out stories, no maudlin sentiments, no mawkish mumbo-jumbo-gumbo, no dead-but-not-buried hodgepodge-garbage-barrages, no elliptically elliptical musings that say nothing, no elegant excreta, no grandiloquent gobbledegook and no googoogaga.

GRAB means original stories clothed in magical language telling you something you have not heard before or telling you in a creative way and from a fresh new perspective something you already know.

GRAB centers your consciousness and kickstarts your imagination!

GRAB smax you with WOW!

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