Poetry- Writing and Reading

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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Most men will never openly admit that they like to write poetry. They can tell you about their rock song lyrics, but you will not hear the word poetry come out of their mouths. The reason why is obvious. Most of them are scared of being viewed as feminine or even gay, and poems are for women. Right?

There is of course one exception to the rule. If the motive is to impress a girl, he can overcome his worries and read her a love poem. However, poetry is not only about love poems and romance.

Still, many of the great poets in history are men. How can this be? I suspect that many men write poems in secrecy.

Nevertheless, there is hope. Technology is not commonly viewed as a way to encourage people to create art and poetry. Ironically enough, it can turn out to be the solution for an insecure poet.

Instead of becoming embarrassed over writing poems, he can now enjoy the freedom of the anonymous Internet. By creating a pseudonym and signing up on a poetry site, shy poets can finally share poems with the world. One such free poetry site can be found here Poetry Site.

So at last, a man can share his poems without having to worry about what colleagues or friends will say.

Happy writing!

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I adore writing poetry. Ill arm myself, with pen and paper at the ready, and accept any challenge of conquering a new poetry form.

Last year was the first time I questioned whether or not I could meet the challenge and bury it on the battlefield. Sure, Im a perfectionist, but what could make a person whos played with poetry for almost thirty-five years hesitate before charging? It was the narrative form.

Im not talking about the ballad or epic - which are types of narrative poetry - or other rhyming narratives. Im referring to the more modern, freer, narrative poetry. It was different than anything Id ever done before. To me, it seemed more like a story than a poem. I even remember wondering how they could get away with calling it poetry.

EXAMPLES TO READ: (both easy to find on Google if you arent familiar with them)

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
The Wood-pile by Robert Frost

I write stories and poetry, but when I write a poem - Im in poetry mode, and I felt stuck in neutral. How could the Poet-in-Me mix the two?

Stephen Minot said, in Three Genres - The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama, “Narrative is as natural a structure for poetry as it is for prose.”

Poet-in-Me then rationalizes that Story-Writer-in-Me borrows stuff from the “Poets Toolbox” to write more effective stories, so why not knock on her door and borrow a couple of things?

Narrative Poetry Basics in Brief

BRIEF HISTORY

Narrative Poetry is poetry that tells a tale and can be traced back to Homers Iliad and possibly beyond.

MUST HAVES

*Tell a story.

*Pay particular attention to rhythm and sound.

COULD HAVES or Whats The Poets Choice In All This?

*YOU choose the form or whether or not to even use a particular form (aka ballad, etc.)

*Imagery - depth of imagery up to the author - but keep in mind that a primary part of poetry is imagery, and you are writing a poem that tells a story, not a short story.

*Rhyme - use it or not - internal, external or none.

Since Ive tried using narratives in my poetry, I feel as if Ive written some of the best work I ever have in my life. It has opened a door I never knew was locked and I crossed a threshold into a land I never knew existed.

Simply, It has helped me grow as a writer.

WRITING EXERCISE: If you are a writer that really considers yourself more of a poet, try out narrative poetry as a way to build a bridge to story writing. If you consider yourself mainly a storywriter, use the narrative form to ease your way into poetry.

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“It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.” -William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)

Poetry does have a place in our world, a necessary place. Less and less do we find poetry taught in schools, and many people say poetry doesnt belong in our lives. That idea is wrong, sadly wrong. However, a resurgence of teaching literature and poetry has occurred, even to teaching literature to medical students and others in the health-care fields, according to Dr. Pereira.

The study and writing of poetry brings much to our lives. The Rev. H. C. Beeching agrees in “An Address on the Teaching of Poetry” Ambleside Online because the study of poetry sharpens powers of observation and helps one store memories. He states, “…the purpose of poetry is to communicate or extend the joy of life by quickening our emotions.”

Peter Pereira, MD, writes in “The healing power of poetry,” The Writer March 2007, that “the reading and writing of poems can help us (physicians) develop empathy and thus become better doctors.” Empathy is defined as an emotional connection and understanding. Therefore, Beeching and Pereira agree on that point: the purpose of poetry helps with emotional understanding.

Pereira goes on to say that since physicians have less time with their patients than ever, they need to develop listening and interpretive skills. The study of poetry, especially the lyric poem, may be an way for students to learn needed skills.

Empathy is using ones imagination to be in anothers position. Poetry exercises ones powers of imagination as well as helping to gain skill in the use of language. Doctors, nurses, aides, as well as family members, friends, and business people need those skills.

Two other things Pereira believes to be true about the purpose and need for poetry are that reading and writing poetry can help patients facing life-threatening or life-altering illness. I addressed this in my article “Writing through Troublesome Times.” Poetry helps a person to “vent” and to pour emotions onto paper or computer screen, and then to manage the emotions and pain involved.

Pereiras third idea is that the reading and writing of poetry can help heal the world. The quote I used to start this article addresses that thought to some extent. The doctor states, “Poetry of witness has long been a way that cultures and civilizations all over the world remember things - their war stories, the cultural milestones - and give voice to the oppressed or the disappeared.”

A way to bring some healing not only to individuals, but to the world, gives poetry a purpose and a need that cant be ignored.

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