Poetry: Christensen and Macaluso

Well, it's here. The day I always use to dread in high school or college English classes. The day to work on poetry. Now, let me stop you before you say it. I know what you're going to say. "Don't creative writers like to write and read poetry?" Well, the answer is nice and simple. NOT ALL OF US. To clarify, I think most poetry is beautiful. I like reading some, and I don't hate writing it. But it is not my first choice. I feel as though sometimes it's hard to follow it. I think some poetry gets too deep, too wacky, and too hard to understand. I KNOW. That's the point of creative writing and poetry. But I don't LIKE IT.

My mother was a poetry writer in high school and college. Life has taken over and she doesn't do it much anymore, but I have the poetry book she kept and it's one of my favorite things. I can follow what she says. I don't get confused or overwhelmed. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I just don't have a gift for reading poetry and really appreciating it. But I also lack the gift to write it. I get so stressed out over whether it's formatted correctly or flows well enough. Does it have to rhyme? Do these words rhyme? What rhymes with orange? Do I sound stupid? Will they laugh at me? NO THANKS, I'll pass.

However. Despite my dislike for it, I will say I agree with what poet Charles Simic said, listed in the Macaluso article. "The labor of poetry is finding ways through language to point to what cannot be put into words." Now, at first, I was confused by this. POETRY IS WRITING. How is it not being put into words?!?! But. It's different to use short and sweet lines or words, formed into a poem to describe something rather than writing a short story or novel. I get that. I can't do it well, but it makes sense and I'm happy to read other people's poetry. (Just don't get too deep or get me flustered.)

I think it's best for me to now connect to the Christensen chapter. I LOVE the poem on pg. 20 by Anaiah Rhodes. See, now this is a poem I can read, understand, and relate to. Maybe that's part of my problem, also. I can't always relate? But does that mean I'm closed minded or closed off to other things I don't know? Ugh. I hate this. Anyhow, this poem flows and just spoke to me. It doesn't rhyme, but it's formatted into a unique way that just WORKS. The same goes for the poem by Shona Curtis on pg. 30. Yes, I love the Jewish reference but I love the format of this one, the flow, the meaning, the strength behind it and the way it made me feel. That's important to me in poetry. Like the lyrics of a song, I want to FEEL something in poetry, deep in my heart or soul. That's what really stands out to me.

I hope this blog post wasn't a jumbled mess, but the reality is this. That's how poetry makes me feel. Jumbled, disorganized, and sometimes very confused. I'm hoping to better my writing in poetry, and learn to understand and appreciate the writing of it more. Fingers crossed?

I'll end today with one of my mom's poems, one that I have always enjoyed and am still in the works of processing.

"Why is it that
pretty girls
ugly girls
funny girls
dull girls
smart girls
dumb girls
can all share themselves with another.
Yet, I, who have a little of all
must cry such tears of sorrow."

Comments

  1. DebaSeptember 25, 2018 at 2:41 PM

    Wow, your mom wrote a very powerful poem. Sound like your mom wanted to perfect. I used to be a perfectionist during my teenager years and learned that it is a waste of energy. I finally let it go. Correct me wrong i am wrong interpreting this poem.

    I can relate to your feeling of dreading about writing poems. I, a Deaf person, dread to write one because, in general, not everyone will understand why I write this way. I am a visual thinker and do not depend on sound of everything.

    I decided a while ago not to let this idea of being different stop me from trying to write poems. I would like to, at least, try and see where it will take me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 25, 2018 at 4:24 PM

    *sweats profusely*

    It's these exact kinds of statements that make me incredibly nervous trying to do a poetry lesson with students. Particularly because it's something that I love so much and I want to share all those warm fuzzies but for some reason it generally doesn't connect. I agree that it's important to keep in mind that even among people who are creative writers, a lot of people still go, "Ugh, poetry." This is hard to hear as someone who very readily self-identifies as a poet, but I also don't want to be the teacher that goes, "Well, I enjoy this thing and I'm in charge, so guess what?" *mimes cramming a book down student's throat* I don't want to be that person that's so narrow minded that they can't read a room and realize what their students need to have or get out of a particular educational experience. What I do want to achieve is impressing upon students the value of giving things a chance. The way I see it, poems are the rescue dogs of the literary world. They're complicated. They're not young and cute and eager to please. They're not purebreds. They pee all over the floor when they're scared. They have been fundamentally misunderstood and they're not easy. But once you have an in, once you really connect to the right one, it's the highest form of love because now you get it. Now you can see the beauty in unexpected places.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownSeptember 25, 2018 at 8:11 PM

    Lila I'm glad I'm not alone. I do agree that poetry can be difficult to really understand but there are ways to learn to decode work. I remember in high school I had a common task where we had to analyze a poem and basically summarize what the poems meaning was. I was halfway done my essay and then realized at least 3 more different points that I never recognized until I began writing out my thoughts. It was one of those discovery by writing moments that I think just comes with practice reading poetry! Don't give up!

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