Miscellaneous Poetry Matters

A new friend and I have been having quite an interesting conversation over email about poetry. She works for a poetry journal and is a very good poet herself. She has been sharing her poetry with me, and I have sent her a few of mine. It's been a stimulating experience, and it has brought me back to a time in my life where I used to write poetry every day -- graduate school. A couple of interesting things have been brought to my attention during this ongoing conversation, and I would like to share them here.

To begin with, I sent her four of my poems. Three of them were written in stream-of-consciousness and one was written traditionally (I wrote, edited, re-wrote, edited, etc). The one poem that she didn't like was the one that I spent so much time on! I never would have thought that, but it became clear to me why I love oral, extemporaneous poetry so much. Stream-of-consciousness is as close as you can get to the extemporaneous poetry of yesteryear. When I write in that fashion, I tend to let all of the thinking go by the wayside and let my heart take over. In essence, I skim off the top surface of my emotions and throw it out there. When I do that, I seem to get to the heart of the poem much quicker, and my use of poetic devices becomes natural and a flowing part of the poem. When I analyze and think a poem through, my brain becomes entangled in the poem which, to me, completely sterilizes the emotional connection that the poem is trying to make in the first place. I have just never had anyone point that out to me, and I think it is a fascinating observation.

During this conversation, there came a natural question: what is poetry? This would seem simple to answer, yet it is a difficult question. Sure, there are the academic answers regarding meter, rhyme, etc., but, still, there are poems that do not adhere to any of those standards. I think of the poems of Sandburg, for example. His poetry does not fit any of the traditional definitions, yet would anyone dare call him anything other than a poet? Poetry comes in all shapes and sizes, and there is no way to truly define it. In addition, who is able to say this poem is good and this poem is bad. All poetry, if written from the heart, will speak to some and not to others. Every poet has had her fans and her critics, and every poem is looked at both highly and critically. So, where do you draw the line? What is the definition of poetry? I say that poetry is the music of language, and it's goal should be to create an emotional response in the reader. But that is a simple definition. We never answered the question, but I think it's an interesting one to think about.

I've enjoyed this conversation, and it has provided a nice balance to the work I am doing for my play. Yes, I am still writing my play, and I am enjoying every minute of the experience. Everything is coming together well, and I expect it to be something worthwhile for production. I am putting everything I have into it, so I'm praying that it will go far. I will do everything in my power to make sure that it does. I plan to continue this course until I am through with the play and am happy with it, then I will seek someone who is interested in producing it. This process is the life I have always wanted, and now I am living it. Everything in my life will change when it goes into production. And it will be a positive change at that!