T he seed of a poem lay dormant in my heart. Mostly always true, and usually that seed is planted by something I’ve seen, maybe heard. That then sparks recall of feelings, maybe other visuals, related feelings. I string them together, editing until an emotional thread appears — then I translate that visually to a poem.
Visuals are one of my favorite inspirations. Writing to a preconceived form is repressive to me. I create visual impact to elicit emotions. Poetic forms are secondary in my writing. When chasing a form, I build a puzzle — reshaping my true poem so it fits.
My fundamental purpose for writing poetry, is the same when writing song lyrics — which for me came first, at age 16. I want people to visualize with me, to have them feel something emotionally. Joy, sorrow, love, anger, loneliness, recollection, longing, comfort — all are good.
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rob kistner © 2023
Poetry at: dVerse
I am with you on this one… poetry has to be visualized and felt to be effective. Form is fine but unless there is meaning, what good is it?
Amen my friend… 🙂
Yes, the seed has to come from somewhere, Rob, and we get our inspiration from different sources. For me it can be visual, I like writing ekphrastic poetry, or the way words are put together in a short phrase, although I have listened to music and been inspired.
Hi Kim — You definitely do good work my friend. I realize you like the puzzle aspect of writing poetry, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It’s just for me it doesn’t really click well with my free spirit temperament. I’ll write to form sometimes, it could be fun. But generally — NO! ???????????????????????????
Those “sparks” are precious. They reignite feelings and experiences in us that lay dormant. It amazes me how many we have!
I don’t think many people realize how complex they are.
Nice one!
Thank you Susan. There are entire worlds within us. Most people just barely scratch their surface — sadly!
So long as you communicate with others, and satisfy yourself, I don’t care how you write! Always a pleasure.
Agreed Sarah… 🙂
Thank you for sharing your process and sources of inspiration. So interesting the way they can differ from writer to writer. I wrote song lyrics at that age as well (nothing too worthy of sharing) .Free verse is definitely my comfortable space though some form once in awhile is fun to dabble in.
We are of similar mind in this Mish… I had a record recorded by a small label called Fraternity Records. Their claim to fame was guitarist Lonnie Mack. The ‘A’ side was titled Go Mustang”. Owing to the Beach Boys and Jan& Dean, car songs were sort of a big beal in 1963. The ‘B’ side was “Lonely Beachcomber”. Again owing to the aforementioned artists. The funny thing is I was living landlocked in Cincinnati. The only beach you could’ve combed what along the Ohio River, and you sure as hell didn’t want to comb those beaches. they were filthy with trash and pollution. Haven’t lived their for 33 years. I have heard the situation is a little better now?
Thanks for sharing insights on your method.
“Editing until an emotional thread appears.”
You are welcome Tzvi. 🙂
agreed! Enjoyed! Great write! ??????????
Thank you Tricia… 🙂
It feels good to connect with others through poetry.
Oh yes mam… 🙂
If I think about it, I’ll say that form–even if it’s subtle, or forms a pattern only in combination with something else–is what makes words poetry instead of prose. That there’s nothing wrong or inferior about a good piece of short prose. That some people seem to think “poetry” means it’s better than prose, when actually “poetry” merely means it’s different from prose.
More often I think, why be pedantic? Plenty of people have been calling formless works “poems” for a hundred years now, whether it makes logical sense or not. If people want to call their works poems, they’re poems…maybe the written work is a translation of something that had a precise nonverbal form in their minds. Whatever.
I hadn’t heard the song “Take It from an Old Man” before. I liked it. Thank you.
I just write what I write, the way I write it Priscilla, because it projects what I want to say… and I usually prefer a free form emotional, visual approach, because that is how I think. If some rhyme pops into my head, and I feel it strengthens what I am saying… fine. I just find writing to a particular, dictated form less stimulating. I can do it, just do not choose it. Forced form makes how it is said more important that what you are saying — just my opinion, impacting my particular approach. Others can write in whatever manner they prefer. I also usually eschew punctuation and capitalization, preferring to control pace and impact with spaces and dashes that reflect how I would speak it, were it spoken word. Again, just my personal preference in the 60+ years that I have been writing. I put it out there. If someone enjoys it, feels my groove — great!