Pages

Monday 9 July 2012

Is it really poetry and does it matter?

The poetry course I have been doing with The Poetry School is about to end.  I have uploaded my last poems and commented on others who have contributed.  At the start there were about 35 signed up, yet possibly only 25 took part and over the weeks the numbers dropped until now with the last assignment perhaps six of us uploaded poems, though the forum will remain open for a while for anyone who wants to catch up with any assignments they missed.  It may be that some people did the assignments but didn't upload their poetry.  It takes guts to share your work with others and the dread of what people may think of it, what comments you might receive might put some off.  I do hope the others got something out of it, though I suspect that for some the assignments may have seemed a bit 'off the wall'.  I have to say that though some assignments did seem a bit silly I did them all and felt a sense of satisfaction (and relief!) when I had completed them.  It was fun and I think this appealed to me because I love word play and being silly...thankfully I wasn't the only one!  There was often the cry of 'Is it poetry?' but I don't think that was really the point.  I think of the course more as a poetry generator, a point to start from.  I'll miss it!

Where do I go now?  Well, the new Poetry School brochure is out and I am contemplating.........

I have been experimenting with writing while plugged into music on my laptop.  I find different music encourages different ways with poems - some energetic, some moody, some romantic.  I've written three poems this way.  In the last assignment we were encouraged to invent our own poetry form* (something a little wacky....just up my street).  Due to my love of music my form is for two or more stanzas of three lines. Each line must contain a word associated with music.  I had such fun with this I might write a series!  Why not make up your own form, set your own restrictions and go for it. Do feedback.

(The last assignment included a made up form called 'Wilson' consisting of five short punchy lines that all rhymed except the middle line which had to include a non-rhyming reference to a vegetable! I kid you not.  We had to write one of these.  Mine is below)


Lightning Wilson

Lightning forks the sky
Electric fizz and fry
Like onions sizzling in a pan
Watch those white streaks fly
Earthing, then they die.




No comments: