I will decide today to view writing poetry as a way to learn. It is a way to learn through observation and participation. I am firm believer in the idea that one does not intrinsically know oneself. Just like you learn about the world by observing and participating with the world, we learn about ourselves by observing and interacting with our own thinking and behavior. Often times I will read a poem I have written and say, "Wow, I didn't know I felt that way."
I also believe that poetry is good practice in changing perspective. This is a skill to be develop for poetry's sake, but also for other aspects of my life - music, friendships, family, and even my research. A poem is something that creates its impression through interactions with its reader. The stuff of poems doesn't reside in the poem, nor in the person; but like all things good, it is neither here nor there.
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11 comments:
It is okay to link to this at Poets Who Blog for our What Poetry Means to me post on Jan. 5th?
I concur with your points here. I often use poetry in the same way, it's a mindfulness practice. It is also quite often cathartic.
p.s. May I also just say, it seems to me of the poetry I have read about the web on blogs and such that yours is possibly the most in the moment, the most present, that I have come across.
Kudos
writerwoman: Yeah, i had already posted it to the auto-link, which is what I thought that was for. Feel free to also add it to your Jan 5th post.
ozy: thanks for the kind words.
Thank you for taking part, Brian. For me poetry is a way to cleanse my soul. I loved reading your take on what it gives you.
I like what you say about poetry being a means of access to other perspectives. The writing process and the reading of it make poetry a magical adventure.
Writing in Faith
i know what you mean about re-reading what you wrote & not realizing that you felt a certain way. the writing process does bring one closer to one's true self.
"A poem is something that creates its impression through interactions with its reader."
How true. This is the way I feel, Brian. I think a poem can be interpreted on many different levels and mostly depends on the readers own experiences.
very nice peice. a healthy definition of what we all do. thanks for it.
last line = brilliant!
"The stuff of poems doesn't reside in the poem, nor in the person; but like all things good, it is neither here nor there."
To the extent that words are sound containers the "stuff" of a poem resides in the words of a poem.
To the extent that people are memory and myth makers the "stuff" of a poem resides in the person writing a poem...
and then the irony...
That the "stuff" "is neither here nor there"...becomes a point well made and a point well taken...and a subject for further discussion...
Poetman
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