Poetry Blog

With the end of this poetry class and the end of the semester, I have come to realize that poetry is not as scary as I always thought.  Yes, I still suck at writing it and find it a horrendous task when someone tells me to write a poem, but I don’t run screaming in the opposite direction.  

I’m really glad that this wasn’t the kind of class that simply told us to write poems and then we were evaluating on them. Looking at different poetic formats and the techniques that go into writing poetry helped me to find the kind of writing I am comfortable with and to form better poems, than just “the cat sat on the mat wearing a hat.”  Using the different writing exercises, like providing the end words for a sestina or having us write prose poetry really helped me to expand my poetic skill and to help me actually write poetry.

Without this class, I know that I would have not grown in my poetic ability. I’m really glad that I had to take it (for my major) because otherwise, I probably would not have bothered.  I tend to see “poetry” in the title of a class and look the other way. Even though I am a creative writer, poetry just gives me the grumpies.  Yes, I just used the term “grumpies.” Don’t judge.

So, overall, thank you Dr. W, for making this class something that actually helped me and made it so writing poetry was not such a miserable experience for me. :)

(Source: zypherdnk, via onetallginger)

As I have not been in class to join in the peer critiques, I have been experiencing how difficult it is to revise a poem, without any kind of workshop.  I was able to revise a tad on my own, but I really needed some peer feedback.  I did email my poems to some of my friends in the class, but it was not the same as having them right there and seeing the group members’ faces. Getting feedback electronically takes away some of the personal experience that having the group workshops can give.  When reading aloud, you are able to see the reactions of your group members to a certain phrase or line; it may give you some idea of what you need to change or not.  Also, reading aloud may change how someone may view the poem.  Of course, I would not want to revise a poem without any kind of feedback, so I would rather get peer critiques through email than not at all.  Peer workshops are an important part of any kind of writing, but for me, they are especially important when writing poetry. Since I have such trouble writing poetry, the peer workshops really help me to see what I’m doing all right with and what I need to work on.  There is really no room to grow if you can’t accept peer reviews or critiques.  If you aren’t willing to share your work, than perhaps you need to work on it and revise, until you can show it to others and be ok with them critiquing what you have written.

(Source: casshole0372, via onetallginger)

As I am watching Syfy’s Neverland, I felt a tine of inspiration, as Peter Pan is my favorite and the Neverland that has been created for this mini series is absolutely breath taking.

Neverland

Fly on to the second star to the right
and straight on until morning.
There in the mist from space
is a land where faeries,
and pirates, and mermaids,
natives and the lost boys
all roam free and wander free.

A place were no one grows old
and adventures are always to be made.
Just a little pixie dust,
a tiny happy thought,
and you can fly.
Fly towards the ship full of pirates
and over the mermaid lagoon.

Fly over the jungle
and the river.
Make your own adventure,
With Peter Pan,
The Captain,
Smee,
And Tink.

Fly on to the second star to the right
and straight on until morning.
A place were no one grows old
and adventures are always to be made.
Just a little pixie dust,
a tiny happy thought,
and you can fly.

orangeskied:

Neverland on GetGlue.com

Presenting a Poem

When it came my turn to present, I was a little anxious about what I was going to read.  I wanted something that showed who I was, as well as what I liked.  I had a book of Celtic poetry, a gift from a close friend, that I thought would be a good place to start.  I read through poems about love, spirit, nature, the olden times, and magic.  The book had poems dating so far back, that no exact date could be pinpointed.   It wasn’t just a question of finding a poem I liked, but also a poem that I could read without making a fool of myself.  I am not the best public speaker and I tend to stumble over words when I get nervous. I found a couple poems I liked, but the longer they were, the more likely I was to mess up as I read.  I finally found a poem that was both easy to read and that I really enjoyed. “Pangur Ban”, a poem thought to be written in the ninth century is said to be written by an Irish monk.  When looking up information on “Pangur Ban,” I found that the fact that the cat has Ban in it’s name meant that the cat was white. In Ireland, there is a saying, “Never trust a man who doesn’t like cats,” from this, I can only think that the Irish enjoyed the company of cats.  I for one, am a dog person, but I don’t hate cats….

Pangur Ban

I and Pangur Ban, my cat,
‘Tis a like task we are at;
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
‘Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will;
He, too, plies his simple skill.

‘Tis a merry thing to see
At our task how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
Into the hero Pangur’s way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den.
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine, and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade ;
I get wisdom day and night,
Turning Darkness into light.

fuckyeahbixby:

Happy Feet

Haiku

Five. Seven. Five. How much simpler can you get? I love writing haikus, even if I’m not the best at it.  I remember writing haikus in my sixth grade English class.  I wrote about Hilton Head and the beach, a vacation that we had taken the summer before.  I also wrote of Ireland, a place I had always dreamt of going, the most beautiful place I know.  I got to go to Ireland the summer of my freshman year.  It was absolutely gorgeous.   When I had to write haikus in my creative writing class in high school, they were all about Ireland.  That place had a hold on my heart and still does.  I would give anything to go back, it was such a magical place.  But this is about haikus and poetry, not my love for Ireland.  I love that such a simple format for a poem, five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables, can still provide a difficulty when creating a poem.  It is not just about the number of syllables, it’s also about the poem and the words that combine to make an imagine.  Sometimes, the simplest poem can hold the most meaning, if written correctly.

The Emerald Isle,
always aglow in my heart
never to forget.

Snow falls gently down,
blanketing the ground with white,
turning all to peace.

All around it’s cold,
December has come again.
The year is finally done.

(Source: caveo)

Sestina

At first, when looking at the structure and creation of a sestina, I had a lot of doubts about whether I could create a poem with this type of form.  Simply using six words to end each line was extremely difficult.  It took me awhile to come up with an idea and then to mold it so that it fit the format of a sestina.  Going to the chapel and working in there did help for my inspiration. The sun and light coming through the stained glass windows actually really helped to give me inspiration and gave me the push I needed to create my poem.  It also helped that the words the class chose,
“time” “glass” “fall” “color” “space” “silent”, were words that fit my idea, perfectly.  The one problem I had with writing the poem was stretching it out to into fifteen lines.   It helped me to think of the poem as a story and to write it that way.  Turning it into a poem was the next step, one that went easier once I had an outline for the sestina.  I do tend to write a lot about space and time, and thankfully, those were two of the words I had to use.  Once I had everything I needed, the poem came a lot easier than I first thought it would.  I had a rough draft done by the end of the class and I was able to tweak and refine it from there.  All in all, the sestina wasn’t the hardest type of poem that I ever had to write, but it certainly was a challenge.  I would like to give it another go, some time, when I’m feeling particularly poetic.

Le Ballon rouge by Albert Lamorisse (1956)

(Source: andrewharlow, via onetallginger)

Ghazal

In learning about and writing a ghazal, I noticed that there is a lot of repetition in the rhyming.  I know rhyme and repetition are huge parts of what makes poetry poetic, but a lot of the time, repetition can just be…repetitive.  I think the trick to a ghazal is to choose an ending to the line that includes a word with many different options of rhyme.  I didn’t exactly choose the most versatile word when writing my ghazal; only so much rhymes with emotion.  But with the idea I was going with, it was the one word I wanted to use.  However, the few words that went along, “notion” “motion” may have been too close to avoid that annoying repetitive sound.   I’m not the best poet and avoiding the repetition is one thing I still have to learn.  I have a hard time not repeating the idea over and over.  I also have issues creating an image from what I am trying to get across, instead of just telling.  The exercise with the ghazal did help me to mind what I was writing, a little more than usual. I was able to show a little more since I was being to conscious of the repetition in the words and rhyme.  I do enjoy having an outline to use, instead of just going in willy nilly.  It gives structure for my writing and I’m not stressing out as much about how my poem sounds and how the form is working.

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kayleyhyde:

  I am dreadfully busy this year - it makes my hand more shaky than ever when I think of it - and not very rich. In fact, awful things have been happening, and some of the presents have got spoilt and I haven’t got the North Polar Bear to help me’ and I have had to move house just before Christmas, so you can imagine what a state everything is in, and you will see why I have a new address.
  It all happened like this: one very windy day last November my hood blew off and went and stuck on the top of the North Pole. I told him not to, but the North Polar Bear climbed up to the thin top to get it down - and he did. The pole broke in the middle and fell on the roof of my house, and the North Polar Bear fell through the hole it made into the dining room with my hood over his nose, and all the snow fell off the roof into the house and melted and put out all the fires and ran down into the cellars where I was collecting this year’s presents, and the North Polar Bear’s leg got broken.
  He is well again now, but I was so cross with him that he says he won’t try to help me again. I expect his temper is hurt, and will be mended by next Christmas. I send you a picture of the accident, and of my new house on the cliffs above the North Pole (with beautiful cellars in the cliffs).
  If John can’t read my old shaky writing (1925 years old) he must get his father to. When is Michael going to learn to read, and write his own letters to me?
  Lots of love to you both and Christopher, whose name is rather like mine.

Christmas of 1925, letter by J.R.R. Tolkien to his sons John, Michael and Christopher Tolkien.

(Source: tolkienianos, via onetallginger)

Charlie Chaplin, “Smile” (via onetallginger)