you went looking for shelter in all the wrong places
after talking to a friend about poetry, i thought about how different and varied poetry can be. she categorizes her own poetry by good, ok and bad, while i categorize by the month i begin a poem (even though many aren't finished till months later).
i used to write short poems. some even two lines. now i am challenging myself to write longer "more epic" poems. i don't think i'll goes as far to make a novel length like the odyssey but definitely walt whitman length---"pioneers, o pioneers".
before i had written poems from characters' perspectives. such as, "i want to write a poem from the perspective of a serial killer. what would his thoughts be?" another poem was inspired by the thought, "what would the thoughts of someone dying from an overdose on a bathroom floor be?"
back in may of 2009, however, i wrote a few poems inspired by songs i heard. inspired by the lyrics and the melody. the first was from the new pornographers' challengers album, "the spirit of giving." --remember the wolves that you run with are wolves don't forget.
unfinished # 1
because in the circles he makes
and the circles he breaks
are wolves masquerading as lambs
the other was inspired by coldplay's "lost" on their viva la vida album.
it made me think about life plans, including my own. what directions do i want to take with my life plans and how am i going to accomplish what i propose? it made me think about analogies to people's indecision and hesitation in choosing a path or goal for life, and about robert frost's "the road not taken." people want to take the safe course--afraid of failure and difficulty. frost heeds to take the road less traveled, be courageous, but we all flounder over the choice.
robert frost
most times I find myself traveling down a road
then that road becomes two paths
which one do I cross?
should I heed robert frost
and take the one less traveled?
indeed my heart tells me so
but something in my head says no
so which way do I go?
nd so I’m here waiting for a sign
and I’m here against the hands of time
for a sign that’ll never come
only I can take the plunge
because it’s my race to be won
and my race to lose
so which path do I choose?
and times I’m just a fish floating down the stream
wondering what all of this means
where’s this leading me?
then the stream becomes two causeways
so which one do I take?
my heart says take the one that’s fast
but my head says take the other path
and I’m here waiting for a sign
yes I’m here with the ticking hands of time
for a sign that’ll never come
because only I can take the first plunge
because it’s my own race to be won
and it’s my own race to lose
so which path do I choose?
this music-inspired phase is under a larger umbrella phase of simple poems. before i wrote with a lot of description--bordering on purple prose. then i moved into this simple poem phase where i expressed coherent ideas without the flowery description. my current phase is now purple prose. i am trying to write poems like classic poems: yeates, whitman, wordsworth, etc. they are also longer and more about love or rather musings on what it is like for someone in love--i've never been in love.
"you have never been in love, until you've seen the sunlight thrown over smashed human bones. we are the pretty petty thieves."~morrissey's "the first of the gang to die" from you are the quarry.
i used to write short poems. some even two lines. now i am challenging myself to write longer "more epic" poems. i don't think i'll goes as far to make a novel length like the odyssey but definitely walt whitman length---"pioneers, o pioneers".
before i had written poems from characters' perspectives. such as, "i want to write a poem from the perspective of a serial killer. what would his thoughts be?" another poem was inspired by the thought, "what would the thoughts of someone dying from an overdose on a bathroom floor be?"
back in may of 2009, however, i wrote a few poems inspired by songs i heard. inspired by the lyrics and the melody. the first was from the new pornographers' challengers album, "the spirit of giving." --remember the wolves that you run with are wolves don't forget.
unfinished # 1
because in the circles he makes
and the circles he breaks
are wolves masquerading as lambs
the other was inspired by coldplay's "lost" on their viva la vida album.
it made me think about life plans, including my own. what directions do i want to take with my life plans and how am i going to accomplish what i propose? it made me think about analogies to people's indecision and hesitation in choosing a path or goal for life, and about robert frost's "the road not taken." people want to take the safe course--afraid of failure and difficulty. frost heeds to take the road less traveled, be courageous, but we all flounder over the choice.
robert frost
most times I find myself traveling down a road
then that road becomes two paths
which one do I cross?
should I heed robert frost
and take the one less traveled?
indeed my heart tells me so
but something in my head says no
so which way do I go?
nd so I’m here waiting for a sign
and I’m here against the hands of time
for a sign that’ll never come
only I can take the plunge
because it’s my race to be won
and my race to lose
so which path do I choose?
and times I’m just a fish floating down the stream
wondering what all of this means
where’s this leading me?
then the stream becomes two causeways
so which one do I take?
my heart says take the one that’s fast
but my head says take the other path
and I’m here waiting for a sign
yes I’m here with the ticking hands of time
for a sign that’ll never come
because only I can take the first plunge
because it’s my own race to be won
and it’s my own race to lose
so which path do I choose?
this music-inspired phase is under a larger umbrella phase of simple poems. before i wrote with a lot of description--bordering on purple prose. then i moved into this simple poem phase where i expressed coherent ideas without the flowery description. my current phase is now purple prose. i am trying to write poems like classic poems: yeates, whitman, wordsworth, etc. they are also longer and more about love or rather musings on what it is like for someone in love--i've never been in love.
"you have never been in love, until you've seen the sunlight thrown over smashed human bones. we are the pretty petty thieves."~morrissey's "the first of the gang to die" from you are the quarry.