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  1. poempedlar

    poempedlar New Member

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    How Do You Write a Poem?

    Discussion in 'The Craft of Writing Poetry' started by poempedlar, Oct 29, 2007.

    Sometimes an idea grows in my mind and takes off at a tangent in directions not controlled by me.
    I pick up words and chew them over. I feel and touch and shape and mould them. I mix and savour, dissect and discard them. I find words hiding in forgotten places, unusual words now out of tune. I sift and search and sulk and mope. I gaze into space, chew pencils, can’t eat.
    At last a poem, like a pot thrown by a potter, tenderly coaxed and nurtured, moulded with love and care, takes life and shape and sings with melody. Easy isn’t it?
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, about as easy as creating an oil painting.
     
  3. poempedlar

    poempedlar New Member

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    Yes just as difficult. I paint portraits in acrylic, pastel and watercolour. Not oil so far but I am doing a course in Drawing and Painting which includes oil painting. Even worse than that; I paint poems. So far I have painted,
    A billowing cosmic confusion
    Of russets, violets and blues
    Meandering colours of rainbows
    Sating the ocean with hues

    Also

    Still hangs the moon like a lantern
    And stars abseil in the sky
    While fish skimming by in the moonlight
    Are constantly yearning to fly

    This one has beaten me so far.

    A frisson of gossamer spindrift
    Like dust devils dancing on waves
    Wafts salt laden whispers of sirens
    Seductively oozing from caves

    I can't manage the, frisson of gossamer spindrift, any ideas?
     
  4. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    my work mostly writes itself... i seem to be here just to do a bit of adjusting and polishing after the fact...

    my writing mind's like one of those newfangled public washroom sinks where you don't even have to turn a tap, but just wave your hand under the faucet, for the water to start... i just let it turn itself on and out flow the words... all i have to do is 'catch' them...
     
  5. Etan Isar

    Etan Isar Contributor Contributor

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    I do that a lot maia, but then I go into major editing mode and splice everything all whichways...
     
  6. poempedlar

    poempedlar New Member

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    Etan Isar, good for you. I am sure your work is much improved with a bit of hard work.
     
  7. evizaer

    evizaer New Member

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    Yes! I think that most true poets have that sense of the words coming through them, and not necessarily from them. I certainly feel that way.

    I usually start with an image or a metaphor and the words just come through me from there. Afterwards I see if it makes sense. If it doesn't, i discard or tweak. If it does, I sharpen. Most times I'll write a stanza or two, then sharpen the rest as I write it--harnessing the flow of words from their source instead of letting them hit the page first.
     
  8. Baywriter

    Baywriter Contributor Contributor

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    It used to be easy. Words came naturally. I didn't even need a starting idea. But now . . . Now my poems are forced. I want to write so much, but the words aren't there anymore. Slowly, I am becoming my own puppet. I have no control and yet I am the one manuevering my life in such a bleak direction.
     

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