My Why... why why why...

Why... that's the question... why... whys drive me crrrrrazzzy... my why is this... Why write poetry... why??? I know hundreds... maybe even thousands of people, people who have passed through my life, some life long friends and a huge family... but the weird thing is... they don't feel the burning desire to write a poem... I find that so intriguing... and kinda ... sad... Why? Why don't they write poems.... I mean... how can they not...

I know why I write... my beloved GrandMam started reading poetry to me at the age of 2... I fell in love with the sound of her voice as she read and I fell in love with the beautiful rhythm, ebb and flow of the poems she read... and I fell in love with the "Raggedy Man"... and I cried over "The Wreck of The Hesperus"....

Later, I turned to poetry, as a way to express things that were happening to me, and that was how I survived, reading and writing poetry, losing myself in the beauty of the words as I read poetry to escape my world... writing poetry probably saved my life..

Often I write just because I love words... I will hear a phrase or a line in a song and my mind kicks into POETRY MODE... and then I am DRIVEN to write... for me, it is almost a primal urge... and it can NOT be ignored...

But most do not feel the urge to write their thoughts, moods, emotions or anything else, in a poem...

So my question is WHY do YOU write poetry....why... why why why....

Good question, Fire. For me writing poetry is like an itch that needs to be scratched. I don't itch ALL the time so I only scratch as and when the itch demands.... which is often. Words flow onto the paper - a stream of consciousness.

Poetry can be result of a random thought, emotions, visual prompts, sounds etc. For example, the other evening I was writing to an online friend and I was feeling extremely sad. I am in a lot of pain which means I can no longer walk very far and the op I had back in January to cure the problem only made matters worse.

I was crying with frustration and despair as I wrote the email. My art teacher and friends think I'm always happy and positive because I laugh a lot and am always smiling despite my disability...My online friend can't see me. This prompted me to pen a poem about a clown. It's a little cliched 'the tears of a clown' but I don't care. The poem was a release valve as the tears became ink.

Not everyone should write poetry but most everyone should learn to read a poem now and then.

Being Committed
cuts a board, swings a hammer,
drives a nail, to do its chore.

It is the labor, won and lost
given freely to our inspirations,
for any art-form, every kind:
music, painting, drama, poetry;
whatever the ghoul may be
standing in the inflamed archway.
It's a spin chosen by life-style.

Just a choice between
feeling alive or feeling dead
as life's breath. It chooses
to know the intimate moment
in raindrop and snowflake

It's like blowing your nose,
tying your shoes in the dark,
kissing your lover goodbye
hugging your grand-children
for no reason at all,
changing the diaper on
baby's dirty dandy butt.
Poetry holds your final word.

It's how you cook the beans in
a cast iron pot on a gas stove –
with one or two ham hocks.
It's that simple selection
of ingredients that's used, so
important to flavor the stew.

It is a choice, a dedication
to live a life without question
not in submission, but admission.
It's not exclusive; it's inclusive.

Poetry liberates acceptance
that our small planet lives
and breathes. Forested Mother,
blue-marble afloat in space,
spinning on its magnetic core,
whirling in its elliptical orbit,
drawn toward the sun's light;
it uplifts our being in awe,
awakening pulse, life's melody.

Evoked now we wish to sing
to fields filled with butterflies,
to bob cat's growl & coyote's howl.
This why you want to listen
to chirping morning music,
and to feel the shower spray
sprinkling summer's body cool.

Poetry is life and death in
every breath. Changing as we
grow; it celebrates being alive:
our freedom bound to it
like a rooted redwood giant.

A poet friend
© RH Peat 5/1/2019

Poetry, and writing, becomes a manifestation of my thoughts, memories, and (above all) feelings. It's a passion, and one that is extremely therapeutic. It allows me to take everything inside of me and put it into words for someone to read.

I think poetry is so important. It's incredible, soulful, and liberating to write.

It is freedom from the world, if but for a while...

Anything that I write/draw/create is for the purpose of sharing a story, real or imaginary. Poetry as a medium is both my first instinct and last resort. Before I write a story, usually I'll have written a couple poems about the characters first. And if I am frustrated by every other method of storytelling, I will use poetry.

It's simple for me:

Because I have to, it's my only means of expression and communication.

But after that initial need, I have to chisel and etch, add and delete, move around and shape, and make it as artsy as I possibly can :)

I write poetry to liberate the hidden parts of my mind and to share that liberation with whomever wishes to hear it. I believe it can set us both free. Not everyone understands that through music, art and poetry, you can become much more than who you are and you can inspire others to do the same. It's remarkable that most people resist it. I don't really understand why, unless it's because they want the hidden parts of their minds to remain hidden. They must be afraid of what it may reveal to them. I think we could solve most of the problems in the world if everyone wrote poetry. John Lennon pretty much had it figured out. But then, he also had a lot of money.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PiP

Good question, Fire. For me writing poetry is like an itch that needs to be scratched. I don't itch ALL the time so I only scratch as and when the itch demands.... which is often. Words flow onto the paper - a stream of consciousness.

Poetry can be result of a random thought, emotions, visual prompts, sounds etc. For example, the other evening I was writing to an online friend and I was feeling extremely sad. I am in a lot of pain which means I can no longer walk very far and the op I had back in January to cure the problem only made matters worse.

I was crying with frustration and despair as I wrote the email. My art teacher and friends think I'm always happy and positive because I laugh a lot and am always smiling despite my disability...My online friend can't see me. This prompted me to pen a poem about a clown. It's a little cliched 'the tears of a clown' but I don't care. The poem was a release valve as the tears became ink.

---

Dear PiP, first allow me to say how sorry I am for what you are going through... and I think that pretending to be cheerful and happy... smiling when you want to weep makes one feel even more alone and isolated... I love that you said your tears become ink... and I laughed when you said writing was an "itch that needed scratched".... thank you for sharing your thoughts with me...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bard_Daniel

Poetry, and writing, becomes a manifestation of my thoughts, memories, and (above all) feelings. It's a passion, and one that is extremely therapeutic. It allows me to take everything inside of me and put it into words for someone to read.

I think poetry is so important. It's incredible, soulful, and liberating to write.

It is freedom from the world, if but for a while...

---

"Writing becomes a manifestation of my thoughts, memories and [above all] feelings"
"Freedom from the world, if just for awhile".... yes! Beautifully said, thank you ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord

Anything that I write/draw/create is for the purpose of sharing a story, real or imaginary. Poetry as a medium is both my first instinct and last resort. Before I write a story, usually I'll have written a couple poems about the characters first. And if I am frustrated by every other method of storytelling, I will use poetry.

---

I find that very interesting... poetry is a distilled, intense version of a story... yes? Thank you ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darren White

It's simple for me:

Because I have to, it's my only means of expression and communication.

But after that initial need, I have to chisel and etch, add and delete, move around and shape, and make it as artsy as I possibly can :)

---

Yes, Poetry does help express our emotions, and for me when I write a poem, I can kinda be "removed" from those emotions... if that makes any sense... :) thank you...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TL Murphy

I write poetry to liberate the hidden parts of my mind and to share that liberation with whomever wishes to hear it. I believe it can set us both free. Not everyone understands that through music, art and poetry, you can become much more than who you are and you can inspire others to do the same. It's remarkable that most people resist it. I don't really understand why, unless it's because they want the hidden parts of their minds to remain hidden. They must be afraid of what it may reveal to them. I think we could solve most of the problems in the world if everyone wrote poetry. John Lennon pretty much had it figured out. But then, he also had a lot of money.

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"I write poetry to liberate the hidden parts of my mind"..... there.... yes... that... To liberate the hidden parts of my mind..... wow... that is POWERFUL... I am going to be thinking about this for a long, long time... Thank you for sharing... This is a fabulous quote and I am going to put it where I can see it every day and especially on those days when I try to explain why I write , to someone who will never understand...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RHPeat

Not everyone should write poetry but most everyone should learn to read a poem now and then.

Being Committed
swings a hammer, cuts a board,
drives a nail, to do its chore.

It is the labor, won and lost
given freely to our inspirations,
for any art-form, every kind:
music, painting, drama, poetry;
whatever the ghoul may be
standing inflamed at the archway.
It's a spin chosen by life-style.

Just a choice between
feeling alive or feeling dead
as life's breath. It choses
to know the intimate moment
of raindrop and snowflake

It's like blowing your nose,
tying your shoes in the dark,
kissing your lover goodbye
hugging your grand-children
for no reason at all,
changing the diaper on
baby's dirty dandy butt.
Poetry holds your final word.

It's how you cook the beans in
a cast iron pot on a gas stove –
with one or two ham hocks.
It's that simple selection
of ingredients that's used, so
important to flavor the stew.

It is a choice, a commitment
to live a life without question
not in submission, but admission.
It's not exclusive; it's inclusive.

Poetry liberates acceptance
that our small planet lives
and breathes. Forested Mother,
blue-marble afloat in space,
spinning on its magnetic core
whirling in its elliptical orbit
drawn toward the sun's light;
it uplifts our being in awe,
awakening pulse, life's melody.

Evoked now we wish to sing
to fields filled with butterflies,
to bob cat's growl & coyote's howl.
This why you want to listen
to chirping morning music,
and to feel the shower spray
sprinkling summer's body cool.

Poetry is life and death in
every breath. Changing as we
grow; it celebrates being alive:
your freedom bound to it
like a rooted redwood giant.

A poet friend
© RH Peat 5/1/2019

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Okk now... THIS is why I READ poetry... and why poetry is my passion! The first 2 stanzas really resonated with me... this is a fierce poem... and the last 2 lines... killer!

My words talk so I don't have to. Yet people become so absorbed in finding the profundity of the metaphors they miss the obvious. No one hears because they are too busy talking over each other, but something was said. Not a fair test, I will admit, but it does give one a decent indication of what others' actions and attitudes are like.

I don't talk over the top of other, my words don't stand out. If someone hears, listens I make an effort not to disappear back into the wall because they heard (read) something that resonated through the din of life. I read much, much more than I write and words form the lenses through which I view the world.

Just some thoughts.

- D.