Tag: writing poetry
Painting with Poetry
You are like poetry
You have many shades
Colorful thoughts never ending
Ideas unique to you
Carefully inspired
On the canvas of your mind
By the gods and goddesses
Of timeless worlds
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – What is the Point of Poetry?
Writer’s Quote Wednesday
Writing challenge from Silver Threadings blog.
“When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of man’s existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. “
John F. Kennedy
I have known a few people over the years who were very intelligent yet said to me that they did not understand poetry. It did not make any sense to them. It was just a bunch of words strewn together with no point. What was the practical purpose?
I have decided to add this statement to my personal list of red flags of men not to date. Please do not take offense if you do not like poetry. This goes beyond not “liking” poetry. These were people that truly did not understand what they were reading at all.
Keep in mind, that… loving poetry and having the capacity to understand the point of it are two different things.
Understanding the depths and richness of emotion in poetry requires a certain level of empathy. Understanding “the point” of poetry at all requires some passion within the soul.
The point of poetry is humanity.
The desire and pursuit of power above all else has a tendency to deaden the soul and darken the spirit.
I no longer intend to spend my heart and emotions on people who have low levels or non-existent empathy. You do not have to agree with a poem to understand that point of it is “to feel something” and to connect with the human condition.
This practice of trying to detach from the human condition by denying one’s own empathy and humanness is something that could be the downfall of humanity itself.
Feeling is at the heart of my writing. Where the pursuit of ultimate power begins to strip away the empathy from men, I believe that keeping poetry alive in my heart and pen will keep empathy alive in me. It is in the human connection that we live fully. This inevitably comes with pain but pain is part of life’s design.
If the ability of being able to see the point of understanding another person’s pain becomes lost. then we are all lost…are we not?
It is better to feel pain sometimes in order to be vulnerable enough to experience deep connection, passion and love. To feel our own pain as well as that of another person.
Empathy also means being able to understand the passion and the love that another person feels. Passion that burns within a soul. Love that feels all encompassing…
That is empathy. That is poetry.
My Favorite Poets and the Poems that I Wrote for Them
After the intro to this post, I have put all of the poems for poets that I have written in the last several months. The earliest of these was written eight months ago and the most recent was written this week.
I love poetry and poets. I have several poetry blogs that I follow. I love to read the romantic, love poetry that guys write. It is often sweet and tender but there is a truth to it also about pain, grief and loss.
I also love poetess writers….yes I did make up that word and I like it. There is something different about female poets from male poets in the way that they pour their words onto the page.
Sometimes I am more in the need to feel empowered and then I tend to read the female poets that I follow. I feel both inspired and also validated by them. There is both a strength and also a softness that seems to combine into a dance.
The female poets that I follow have mostly been through some very dark experiences, even the ones that do not write about it…I can tell anyway.
The ones that do write about their dark experiences do so with an element of grace that seems impossible to put into a piece about the dark side of humanity. Yet they manage to rise above abuse and other dark things, with class and grace.
Of course female poets can write about sensuality and Wow !! Honestly, some of the most powerful sensual, passionate writing I have read are from women.
When I am feeling lonely or romantic, I go to the guy’s poet blogs. They always can touch my heart and make feel…well you know..:) There is also a tenderness with the male poets that I follow..a vulnerability and an honesty that touches me.
I love to see the blending of the past, the present and the dreams of the guys, as these parts of them intertwine in their poetry. Memories from their youth, failures and regrets…lost loves and ones they only dreamt of….
I find myself to enter into the poem itself as the lover, the mother, or the friend that drinks with them to console them. The magic of their writing is the ability to transport you into their world.
So, I love my poetry friends with a great love. I do write them poems from time to time and I do not know if they all have read them. Some of the poems are for the men and some are for the women. Other poems I have written for all of them together.
There are certain of my poems for poets that I had a certain poet in mind when I wrote it but most of them were for everyone of them.
I love all of my poets that I follow equally, but differently. Some I have know for longer than others. Some of them correspond with me more frequently than others or in different ways. I am always honored when one of them reads and likes one of my poems.
So, with no further talking…because I could go on and on ……here are the poems that I wrote for the poets. I have put all of them here for you to see. These are some of my most special poems to my heart.
If you are one of the poet or poetesses that I follow and you see yourself in my poem, then I am sure I had you in mind when I wrote it. There is no need to wonder. You are special to my heart.
Oh, My Passionate Poet
Stroke me gently with your words
Of flesh to flesh
and mind to mind
Heart to heart
So hard to find
Seduce me with your rhythms sweet
Of lovers passion
Souls colliding
Face to face
Stopping time
Oh, poet how I love thy pen
The way it brings my heart to flames
My eyes to tears
My heart to cry
My mind to hear
Spin your phrases, make them sing
Draw my heart closer
To feel your passion
Drawing out mine
Lost from time
Who Will Save the Poets?
The poet
is a Mage
A Shaman
A True Healer
who can
STOP TIME ITSELF
Weave space and reality
Access Wisdom
and
Connect with the Spiritual Realm…
and supernatural reality…
Make Passionate Love
to the Most Beautiful Women
in the World…
Seduce your soul
Heal your brain
Medicate your mind
Make passionate love to you
Transport you to foreign lands…
Accompany you to places
that only exist
in your imagination…
Sing you to sleep
Read you a bedtime story
Explain the mysteries
of the universe…
Make you laugh
Give you things to consider
Help you see things
from a different point of view
Cause you to weep
Dry your tears
Hold you when you’re sobbing
Inspire your creativity
Encourage and support you
Validate your REALITY
Be your friend
Your Lover
Your Priest
Your SAVIOR
But
Alas …
Who Will Save the Poets?
Solitary Poetess
She sits in the dim light of a dusty room
Wrapped in shawls of brown and blue
The soft knitted hat from the yard sale last year
Is pulled down quite tightly to cover her ears
To dull any sounds that the old house might make
That could trigger her brain into fear
She holds a black inkpen in lovely white fingers and
Scribbles out verses about the lonely ghost that lingers
The curtains blow suddenly, like a gust of wind has come
But the windows are all closed and locked tight as a drum
There is no one else there, as for friends , she has none
She lives all alone as a solitary poet
And spills out her pain into words on the paper
In the corners of the room, she stacks up her life
Every day has been written , each page is in order
Till the curtains blow again , though the window is latched
and there is nobody anywhere to mourn her
Write Poetry Defiantly
Write poetry defiantly
don’t think about how they will take it
don’t think about what will appear
in the comments under your post
it doesn’t matter who says what
they chose to step into your mind
they can criticize your rhymes
or worse yet, try to console you…
thinking they could reach you through the pain
Poetry is a product of the tortured mind
great lyrics and great lines
interwoven in the fabric of time
not for the job interview
and not to impress the status quo
not to hide and not to digress…
Hit straight to the heart
your own is brimming with screams
of disagreement and no where to put it
Your heart which breaks over
and over again with no where
to lay it and no where to rest
Write poetry defiantly and truth will appear
intermixed with delusion and dreams
of yourself freer
It is the only home for your mind
the only place for a poet to scream
a tainted place for the readers who dream…
What do they expect?
the ones who come to you
to watch you bleed your soul raw
and react when you are through…
Everyone loves a poet
they are hypnotized by the bleeding
they are not sure what is real
or what is poetic license
But that is for us to know
each one of us in turn
the poets write the words
the readers make them heard
Land of the Forbidden
Do you dare to read the words
bled out onto white pages
with nothing to doubt
no restriction of concept or paradigm
no restriction of what reality really is
What is real and what is not
is at the poet’s discretion…
what is true and what is not
what is reality and what is plot
who exists and who is imagined
We write to entertain your mind
to stimulate your imagination
and tantalize your senses
words that make you feel such sorrow
words that make you smile or laugh
words so powerful you sit and say nothing
for nothing is the right thing to say
don’t look for forgiveness
don’t look for remorse
it is the world of true feeling
it is the world of your pain
the less you admit it
the less you will gain
because something inside you
rings true with each verse
there is something that touches you
in the places you keep secret
we will ignite a spark of humanity in you
Each word from a poet
is a gift to the few
the ones that just listen
with their minds open like a window
where things that you know can fly out
and the things you disbelieve can fly in
It is the land of the forbidden
all wrapped up with bows
To stop your heart and restart it
leaving you to wonder
what you really know
Visions of a Poet
The poet sits alone
In a half lit , dusty room
weaving a passionate tapestry
of darkness and mental torment.
with words that only he
can paint onto the
empty canvas
that sits before him
Words of pain and suffering
depression and fear
ideations of death
Colors of red and orange
Creating fires that burn
in the reader’s heart
and mind
The visions
of the solitary poet
Images from a mind
twisted by trauma
Visions of the
Darkest places
in the human mind
and the human condition
Visions
Flooded upon the
vacant page
Visions begotten
only through
personal torment
and private pain
Annie …on writing…
Writers can touch the humanity of their readers.
Humanity is Messy, Lonely, Complex, Sad, Magical, Mystical, Beautiful, Sensual and Deeply Poetic
As a writer, be as human as you are. As a human, pour your inner longing into your writing.
Writing is the naked task of bearing your soul for all to see…Pouring out your heart for all to feel…Allowing elements of your own perceptions to be perceived by another person’s mind and sent into the universe.
It is not for the faint of heart. True, meaningful, writing is for the courageous of spirit and mind.
If you are feeling fear, then it is fear that should be spilled upon the pages.
If you are feeling passion, that passion should ignite a spark that could set your pages ablaze !
If you are feeling sad, then let the pages of your writing catch your tears.
Writing that comes from the soul, sends an imperceptible energy connection between yourself and the reader. Writing can transcend time itself, and connect humanity in all its conditions.
Messy, Lonely, Complex, Sad, Magical, Mystical and Beautiful
Writers can bring out the humanity in their readers. Humanity is messy, lonely, complex, sad, magical, mystical and beautiful. In order to really touch your readers, pour your inner longing into your writing. Readers can tell when you are putting real emotion into your writing. It sends an energy connection from your soul to theirs.
Humanity
Great writers put their real feelings into their stories and poems. They infuse their own humanity, into their characters. The doubts and questions that haunt their own soul, are spilled into their work.
For fiction writing, the events in the story do not have to have really happened. But if you dig deep into your inner self, you will be able to breath life and humanity into your characters. In great stories the characters are as real as people you know in real life. You feel like you know them, and you have real emotions about them.
Humanity is the lifeblood of poetry, creative writing, and blog writing. If people can relate to the humanity in your writing, they will keep coming back for more.
People do not read a new blog because they want to learn about you, as much as they are searching to learn more about themselves.
They may come back to read your blog, because they care about you and how you are doing. But initially they were searching for something that spoke to them personally.
Readers are seeking to find a connection with their own experiences and feelings. They want to understand themselves better.
Put Your Heart Into Your Writing ❤
Your readers are looking for something about themselves in your writing. This is not to say that you are writing about them directly, but you are putting elements of your own humanity into your writing, that they can relate to.
Great writers will guide their readers into finding the truth within themselves. In order to do this, you must look inside your own mind with courage. You must take a journey into your own soul and see what is inside.
Blogging
Bloggers tend to write about things that are part of their daily lives. You can write about yourself and be honest about your own insecurities and inadequacies.
Transparency and honesty make readers feel safe. They feel safe that they are in the presence of a real human, who can understand and relate to them. You are relatable to your readers because you are not perfect. They will feel that stopping by your blog is like being in the arms of understanding and validation of their own humanity.
Creative Writing
Creative writing is about characters and how they interact with their surroundings and the situations they are put into. If you infuse your characters with real humanity, then they will take on a life of their own.
You can create characters and situations that are not from your real life. But put yourself into them. The elements of longing, suffering, desire, and searching for meaning in life, will give your characters a virtual reality that will capture the hearts of your readers.
Poetry
Poetry is a special kind of writing that paints emotions upon the page. It is free and you are not bound by any rules. It is a beautiful, thought provoking painting with words.
You can begin your “word painting” by splashing a color upon the page that represents the first emotion you feel, when you first sit down to write. Then dip into your color pallet as you paint the reality of the human condition upon the page.
Music, Art and Writing
I am a musician and an artist. I have trained in music for half of my life and have found it to be very expressive. I am also an artist and have spent endless hours exploring ways to express human emotion with art.
I find that writing has elements of both music and art. Writing is a way for humans to connect with each other, in a truly meaningful way. Great writers can connect different generations and different cultures together.
Timeless Universal Truths
Writers can magically unite past, present and future, by writing in a way that is timeless. What does timeless mean? People refer to things as timeless when they are easily understood by people of any generation.
Love is a universal truth that is timeless. Other timeless human conditions are death, desire, longing, joy and sadness. Trust, deception, betrayal, collaboration and sensuality are all timeless realities as well.
When we see old movies, we can relate to these themes in the stories. If we could not, then the classic movies would not be “classic” at all.
Universal truths will speak to people from all different walks of life. The human experience is one that people need to connect with each other about. It is entirely too painful to endure alone.
When you are writing something, picture yourself as the reader. What elements of your own humanity would speak to you, if you were the reader? What would you need from the writer?
GentleKindness 