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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/5527-The-Why-of--a-Poem.html
Poetry: February 19, 2013 Issue [#5527]

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Poetry


 This week: The Why of a Poem
  Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Yet through it all this much remains
I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be...
Written by Albert Hammond,
recorded by Whitney Houston
1988 Summer Olympics


         I'm honored today to be your guest host for this issue of the WDC Poetry Newsletter. Poetry is the art of expressing in words one moment in time as a conversation between the poet and listener. Yes, one rule in poetry, read all poetry aloud ~ as the journey continues.



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Letter from the editor

Greetings, writers and reader of lyric prose and verse *Smile*,

         I ask you today, is poetry relevant, does it have intrinsic meaning, or is it a mere exercise in mnemonics, a way to show of one’s prowess in lexicographical memorization?

         Okay, I threw in a couple twenty-dollar words *Rolleyes* to make a point and respond to several questions about 'trends' in poetry, its relevance in our world of words.

         Poetry is: "A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme." American Heritage Dictionary

         I hold that poetry’s meaning is in the conversation; being in the moment, be it past, present, or future, tangible or ephemeral. The poet paints images in words that a reader/listener can hear, smell, taste, see and envision. Maybe poetry is one epic symphony, where lyric solos and arias rise and fall in rhythmic disharmony across the mountains and valleys of space and time, transcending boundaries forged by humankind and nature.

         Consider the deliberately ‘simple’ haiku form, in one breath immersion in nature’s dance while conveying a message to the listener. Then, should the listener with like mind respond, the answering breath creates a tanka, and the conversation may continue back and forth as a renga.

         Consider the continuity of the poem from epic to quatrain or couplet in length, each with lyric tendencies, obvious or subtle, as the poet senses and is compelled to convey by the passion of his/her muse. And, being wordsmiths, we do name those tendencies that become familiar, so listeners can choose to stay for that particular solo of verse. For example, the sonnet, though versatile in its evolution over the past millennium, still ‘turns’ the other cheek in its myriad evolutions since the time of Petrarch, to rise up and sign the ‘blues.’

         Consider too the first verse etched in stone somewhere around 2000 BCE, inscribing the oral tradition of verse to print well before Homer’s ‘Odyssey.’. Do you think the Ur poet who committed to posterity the spoken Epic of Gilgamesh, when contemplating the approach to the forest where the battle would be engaged, was sending a coded message along the march of time to be plucked as a grain of sand from the hourglass by Robert Frost after several millennia? Or did Frost, when he conscribed the following moment to paper:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one, as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;


         See the forest through the trees and contemplate the nature of life as a series of choices which each leave [A] Road Not Taken. The poem itself a metaphor for life – was that his intent? We don’t know; but the vivid imagery both surface and subliminal, has made of it one.

         So, I believe that all poetry has meaning by its very nature, for the poet and the listener both, who carry on together the ars poetica begun millennia ago.
Notice, I say poet and listener. In poetry, there may be a variety of recognized patterns, in verse and lyric prose poetry, but I hold there is only one rule ~ to read all poetry aloud *Thumbsup*

Write On!! - In the Moment*Thumbsup*
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon


Editor's Picks

Read (aloud, please) some lyric verse penned in myriad patterns for your listening pleasure by members of our Community. Share in the conversation, for a moment in time, with your comments (a review, perchance*Smile*, and then share your own lyric images *Pencil*

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#1581597 by Not Available.


 A Traveller's Love Open in new Window. (18+)
Written in Fibonacci form.
#1912382 by WyrdNaos Trippin' on Yello Author IconMail Icon


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#1904346 by Not Available.


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#1907298 by Not Available.


 STARS Open in new Window. (E)
A shadorma
#1778185 by Itchy Water~fictionandverse Author IconMail Icon


 MOON IS NO LONGER ABLE TO RISE:ghazal Open in new Window. (E)
A ghazal written to illustrate the basics of ghazal to a writer. Editor's pick.
#1736754 by Dr M C Gupta Author IconMail Icon


 Drum circle Open in new Window. (E)
My first Lantern Poetry
#1683508 by eyestar~* Author IconMail Icon


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#1916231 by Not Available.


 Fishological Tunundrums Open in new Window. (18+)
A terribly fishy terzanelle to rate low for Cream of SPAM
#1347584 by Katya the Poet Author IconMail Icon


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#1881398 by Not Available.


 
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Ascension Open in new Window. ()
Lyrics which include an unrhymed pantoum. Inspired by Dali and a Hindi song.
#1909579 by BeHereBook Author IconMail Icon


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#1189586 by Not Available.


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#1919842 by Not Available.


 Dried Flowers Open in new Window. (ASR)
A free verse poem about memories kept locked away in the attic.
#1919824 by Harry Author IconMail Icon


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#1919749 by Not Available.


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#1920160 by Not Available.


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#1850546 by Not Available.


 A Fortress of Solemnity Open in new Window. (E)
A prose poem about being a fortress amid the flakiness in my world - enjoy!
#1919344 by Tim Chiu Author IconMail Icon


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#598590 by Not Available.


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#1905556 by Not Available.


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#1341392 by Not Available.



 
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Ask & Answer

         Thank you for welcoming me into your home, and I wish for you joy as you write, and read, your lyric verse and prose *Pencil*

Remember! All poetry is to be read (and written) aloud *Smile*

Write On*Cat*
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon

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