I began to write poetry out of grief and loss, to express the outpouring of feelings that came after my parents’ deaths. But it became so much more than that to me over time. I could use words creatively and combine them in an infinite number of ways. I controlled the form and content, and it didn’t have to fit into any rigid rules or structures the way fiction writing usually does. This medium allows for more freedom of expression and variety of language than any other writing form. Poetry is the genre best suited for deep, highly emotional expression. It is a very subjective form of writing that is emotionally freeing.
Poetry excites us. It is an instinctive, intuitive, feeling form when at its best. This freedom to write how I wanted, in my own way, was like therapy to me. Writing poetry isn’t just about your subject. It’s also about your use of words, whether in a structured and conventional way or in a freeform, more creative way. The word language in Latin means “tongue.” It is literally your style of writing or manner of speaking. Poetry is very much a spoken word form, especially when it’s rhyming poetry. The rhythms are like music and lend themselves to being read out loud as a performance.
My own process of writing poetry is a highly intuitive one. The words just come to me. It’s not something I learned in any classroom from any teacher. The words flow spontaneously onto the page when I’m really into it. Writing poetry is very therapeutic and healing. Free creative expression is used as a modality in many kinds of therapy, including writing therapy, art therapy and music therapy. You can create your own world in any form you like. Here are just some of the forms that your work can take. And here are some others:
Concrete poetry that is done on the page as a more visual thing, with the words actually written typographically in visual patterns on the page
Ekphrastic poetry, where you describe a visual work of art
Acrostic poems where the first letter of each line spells out a name or word
Free verse poems that are very improvisational and irregular with no formula or pattern -- rather, you set your own tone and tempo
Haiku, a traditional haiku uses a total of 17 syllables spread over three lines of text
Epic poems that are really long narrative stories
Ballad poems based on legends or folktales
Then there are the rhyming forms. And here are some more: sonnets; villanelles; cinquains; slant rhymes; end rhymes; a triplet; a terza rima; a limerick; monorhyme; enclosed rhyme; simple four-line rhyme; a coupled rhyme; and an alternate rhyme; not to mention all the creative ways you can alter or use those forms. And there are many more forms besides these.
As you can see there is a lot to work with for those who enjoy the variety, freedom of self- expression, creative forms, and emotional release of writing in the poetry genre. You might ask why write poetry? I would answer with another question: Why not write poetry? Why wouldn’t you use this genre when it does so much for you creatively, artistically, and emotionally?
I suffuse my poems with feelings, whether sad, happy, angry, joyous, grieving, loving, mystical, religious, hateful, peaceful or glorious. It doesn’t matter what those feelings are, so long as they are deeply felt emotions you can release into words on a page. And the best thing about it is that it’s yours alone. You own the poem and you own the feelings that went into it. And that is a healing and freeing independent feeling. Difficult feelings to deal with sometimes disappear once you’ve written them out in creative words in a poem. That creative process seems to transpose the negative feelings, almost as if by magic. I know of no other writing form that does that. Poetry is a very powerful writing form because it reaches our emotions both in writing and reading it. It is a subjective and emotional form of writing.
There are programs for poetry in prisons, hospitals, and nursing homes. There are programs for the disabled (both children and adults), in grade and high schools, and adult education classes. Poetry also has implications for resolving conflict between warring nations and religious conflicts in countries.
I encourage all of you to try it out by writing your own poems. Choose any form you like or no form at all. Use any choice of words and phrasing. Just make it your very own creation. I believe you will be rewarded in numerous positive ways for your efforts.
Thanks for reading.
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