 Poetry: January 25, 2017 Issue [#8095] |
  Poetry
This week: Observations on...Life .. and ... Poetry Edited by: Fyn  
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Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.~~William Wordsworth
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. ~~Robert Frost
Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.~~Carl Sandburg
The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies,
and sparkle in its brightness.~~James Gates Percival
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For years now, I've written about writers and poets being observant of the world around them. One cannot write within a void. For what is probably the zillionth time, I was asked, "Where do you get your ideas from?" And this question was proposed by a writer! (Or at least, a wannabe writer.) Three different people over the past week have said something along the lines of --You can write about anything! How do you look at a stapler or a few words or some random thing and get a poem out of it? How do you do that? Yet another writer asked me to write a poem about a specific something and relate it to something else because they knew I could. So I did, and they were happy. They had actually already (more or less) written the poem in describing to me what they wanted to say! How do I clue them in that they actually were totally capable of doing the same thing? Why are folks so scared of ... (insert ominous music) writing POETRY?
True -- there are myriad forms and types of poetry. True, some of these forms are more difficult to write than others. For some people. Some shiver in apprehension about writing ... (EEK!) ... a sestina. I love writing sestinas -- I love the challenge, the wordplay. Others, me included, shy away from sonnets. I get so tangled up in meter and the 'how' of how it is read and does one pronounce the syllables or slur over them or what that --for me-- the what I'm trying to say gets lost in the how (vs want) I need to say it Some stick to basic rhymes and rhythms and others stick to free verse.
Yet all the logistics of how to write a particular form or style is useless without the 'something to say.' The writer who wanted the poem had the metaphor in place already. The observations were already made. The important work was already completed because she is observant. She sees deeper than the surface and while she 'insists' she doesn't write in layers, she does and does it well.
One of the best parts about her recent writings is that she has focused in on the real. Her fiction is pulled from the true -- the messy interactions of people: their inadequacies, their fears, their joys and their methods of communication which oft times leads to one saying one thing, but the other 'hearing' something totally different. In any conversation, more is going on than a person talking and a person listening because each brings to the discussion completely different sets of experiences, reactions, comprehensions and understanding. Because she is so observant of people, because she listens and watches, she picks up on these nuances which allows her to create the real and the true. Poetry, too, is nothing but a conversation.
One-sided, perhaps. Yet again, not, because the other side of it is the reader. There are numerous ways to say any given thing due to the whys and wherefores under the surface. Pulling from what encases a thought leads to better communication.
My husband was out by the fire last night. Over the course of several hours, he took ten or fifteen pictures of the fire. Fire. Wood (or some material) burning. There are endless ways to describe a fire. Although it is simply a matter of combustion, scientific and matter of fact, fires create so many sensations, feelings, emotions. Pictures do the same thing. As do the words used to describe the fire and all of it relates to whatever experiences one brings with them. Christmas fireplaces complete with stockings or fears that Santa will get burned. Quiet fires with embers smoldering or clothes in a dryer becoming so hot (due to a bad thermostat) that the clothes on top of the dryer smolder before bursting into flame which then sets the house on fire. Sparks dancing in a cyclonic spiral or flying into dry leaves which then create havoc. Smoke carrying the scent of ... dead pine needles, burning leaves, searing steaks or lighter fluid. The flames themselves... colors -- red, orange, yellow, blue, green. The sounds of wood crackling or that roar as wind adds intensity. The temperature that warms cold hands or causes you to back away from blistering heat. Bark that splits away from the log, the sap oozing forth to boil, the branch burning through to drop in a spray of sparks. Endless observations from something as simple as a fire.
We, in our day to do journeys, are constantly surrounded by events, both large and small, that bear observation rather than simply passing them by. When was the last time you looked up to the sky to notice birds flying by in mismatched 'V's or contrails hyphenating the blue? When was the last time you looked up and noticed that the constellations move, that the moon was a sideways smile or that Venus was particularly visible? Is it cold out? HOW cold? Brutal? Chilly? Gymnastics weather? (flipping cold!) Does your breath come out in clouds or merely drop? Are the bird's feathers puffed out or sleek against their bodies? Has Jack Frost etched delicate designs on your windows or is there a sheet of ice distorting your view? Did your husband take out the over-flowing trash or did your wife make you a fresh pot of coffee? Did you think to say something or take it for granted? Did that text response of 'k' mean someone was massively busy or ticked off? Was the missed call because it was not answered or because they left their phone in the truck to go into the store to grab milk? Or was it left at work by mistake? Did he notice you got your hair restyled or did you notice he stopped at the barbershop? Practice noticing the little things. Was that same old-same old chicken dinner different last time? Had they tried something new or had they run out of seasoned salt and improvised? Did he hang up his coat ot toss it on the chair in the dining room? Did you? Little nuances, habits, looks --all so often missed, ignored or simply not seen in our day to day lives are important! For both living and writing. |
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| | The Journey (E)
Walk with me until the journey’s end (Form: English Sonnet) A Write From the Heart Entry
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chord0 says: I enjoyed this very informative newsletter.
These are my resolutions for 2017 in no specific order:
1)Maintain my present weight and lose 5 more pounds.
2) Design Book covers for my 2 ebooks.
3) Finish writing my Book in Progress: Book Reviews Vol II.
4) Learn and master various Boardgames and Card games.
5) Learn how to write a Bibliography.
I have already started 3 & 4 and they are progressing well, the others need work.
Happy New Year!
Steve adding writing to ntbk.  writes: Fyn:
Wow what a nl and want a great choice of authors.
My New Years resolutions:
1) Write a book of 50 Acrostics using the names of WdC authors.
2) Eat more vegetables, because my wellness coach tells me it helps those who are diabetic.
3) Sink my teeth in a book that catches my interest and finish it too.
4) Give more to charity causes in the WdC on a monthly basis. I give 10% of my reviewing GPs on a monthly basis to charity groups and grass roots endeavors on the WdC.
5) Be a good steward with the funds the Lord provides and make it through the year without needing more.
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