Since I’m a novelist, I am not terrific with poetry, which is why I got Executive Editor, Mariah Wilson, to do a guest post on it. She helps me out with The Corner Club Press and is my overall supporter and cheerleader. Here is her post, and I hope you enjoy!
I’ve written poetry since I was 10 years old. I was introduced to it by my fourth grade teacher. Though I have composed a handful of sonnets, I mainly write free verse. The constraints of form seem to hinder my ability to make sense. Wait? Poetry makes sense? Isn’t it all just abstract thoughts and random flowery passages that we are supposed to decipher and try to figure out what they really mean. Yes and no.
Good poetry makes sense, it speaks to the reader and ignites something inside of them. It could be a feeling, or a memory, or something else entirely. The experience is different for us all. The poet that has been able to move me the most has been Shane Koyczan. I fell in love with his work with ‘We Are More,’ and his poem ‘To This Day’ makes me cry nearly every time I hear it. He speaks to me. He affects me and that is the purpose of poetry. Whether you are reading it or writing it, the purpose is to affect and be affected.
So go forth, pour your soul onto a scrap of paper, or a napkin, whatever is handy, and affect someone. Show the world what you’re made of, what you’re afraid of, and what you can’t let go of.
To close, I leave you with a couple poems that I wrote, in hopes that they affect you.
Candi
Blonde hair a tangled rats nest.
Dirty hands, feet and knees.
Messy business this
building an empire of sand.
Sun pouring down in buckets.
You stand staring at me,
wearing your blue swimsuit
that emphasizes your pot belly.
I’m afraid, try as you might,
digging as deep as you dare-
The Lost City of Atlantis,
is not up your nose.
Kitty Ditty
I reach over,
scratch my sleeping kitty.
His fur is soft
on my skin.
I like to catch him
while he sleeps
rough up his fur chanting
“dirty, dirty, dirty!”
I have disturbed him
he sits up and cleans
where I touched.
I have soiled him.
You can find Mariah Wilson here.
amberskyeforbes.wordpress.com 