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Poetics

Christine

Hooked

Why do you write poems?

For me, it is because I remember a little girl sitting on a big pillow in the middle of the den, amazed that her father can remember all those words that both rhyme and tell a story. I believed that he made it all up himself. Not for me the Mother Goose rhymes of cats and fiddles, of black sheep and Jacks and Jills. He would tell me of "Casey at the Bat" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter", and I was enchanted. This was our bond, poetry. The poems grew harder and more complicated as I got older. He would challenge me with lines, making me remember the poem they came from. Out came the books and we would read them together. I recall that we seemed to concentrate mostly on fun and nonsense, laughing at Ogden Nash and of course, those great poets, Anonymous and Unknown.

As I grew older I broke open the books by myself and discovered the more serious poets. I was in love with Sandburg, Longfellow, and Tennyson. In my sensitive, emotional teens, I turned to the poetry books when I was overcome with the tumultuous feelings of youth. Usually I found something that I could relate to. That was when I began writing. I wrote some of the most awful things you ever read! I wrote love dirges (yes, dirges) that were longer than the original infatuation. I wrote silly songs about classmates and gossip. I heard of the death of a friend of my mother's, a lady I liked a lot, and wrote a book length tirade to God about how unfair it all is. I have now, in my computer, some terrible, lengthy "divorce" poetry of lost love, shattered hopes, ill treatment - you name it, I got it.

Somewhere along the line, poetry became my outlet. Yes, I try to write stories in prose, and I am still struggling with a classic novel. But when it comes to it, when I feel that I MUST write something NOW, it is always a poem. It doesn't matter if the sentences are complete, if the phrase is not perfect, as long as the feeling, the idea, is there. Rhymed poetry demands so much that by the time I am through getting the meter and the words to work, I have exhausted the original emotion and switched my concentration to the mechanics. This is a form of therapy for me, I am sure. But free verse flows. I can just let my senses take me from plateau to plateau, until I have exhausted all thoughts. Then if I want to keep it, I go back and work on it.

I know some people who use poetry to hone their writing skills. Poetry cuts to the chase, gets rid of all the unneeded stuff, and just tells us what we need to know. It is an easy way to develop a scene, a character, and I don't know about the plot, but probably could be used there, too. Write down all the stuff you know and want to tell about, then go back and cross out all the stuff that doesn't matter. Put it into a sensible order, and you will have a crude, free verse poem. Then let it out again, slowly. This is the real story you want to tell.

Whenever you feel bad, good, disappointed, happy - write a poem about that feeling. It helps. When you have a decision to make, write it down. By the time you concentrate on what you are writing the decision comes to you. A friend told me she writes poetry because it has to contain what she termed "power packed" words. The idea is to express your thought as consisely as possible. "Power Packed" ...has a nice ring to it. I think I'll save that one for future use.

Why don’t you write poetry?

I have heard most of the reasons.

• There is no real reason for Poetry
• Poetry is for "wimps"
• I can't rhyme
• I can't write

O.K. - No real reason? Turn on the television and listen to the commercials. Those jingles are poems. Turn on your radio, tape or C.D. player. Those songs are poems. Read a story to your child. Chances are, it was written in a poetry format, even though you had to turn the pages. Read a book. Almost every book I have ever read has, at one time or another, referred to a poem or song - even if it was just one line.

Wimps? I will admit, I haven't met many famous poets. However, I have met men and women who adore the medium. Most of them are just like you and me. My father is a retired military officer, 6' tall and anything but a wimp. Yet he can still recite more poetry than I remember being able to read in one sitting.

As for the 'I can't rhyme or write’ theory- if you can voice your protest so that it can be understood, if you can tell of an incident that happened to you at work, at school, or at home and get the response you were looking for, you can write. Just put down the words that you would say. Aren't most of the things you enjoy reading written so you can understand them? And poetry has nothing to do with rhyme - in fact, most modern poets will tell you that rhyme is passe' (although I personally love it).

Try this. Pick an incident. What color was the sky (The sky was azure blue)? What did it remind you of (Like the clear water in the spring)? Where were you (we had a picnic on the meadow)? Who was there? (me and my boyfriend)? What else do you think of (it was hot and the ants came, but we were napping and didn't care)? When you get through, take out all the hard, concrete stuff and leave in the esoteric. You will have the beginnings of a great poem. It might be great already.

A crude beginning, but it's there. You will be hooked

And you will know why you write poetry.