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 The Poet - A tc Article (Part One) February 19, 2005 7:13 PM

THE POET (Part One) To be a poet is extremely hard – for some. Some find it hard to let the words flow because they either don’t fit, rhyme and have any tangible bearing on what is being written, the theme; Being a poet is not about working hard, racking one’s brain to bring out what all poets see as ‘the finished article’. If words flow and sentences moreorless put themselves together without you having to strain the grey cells, then, you’ve cracked it [basically]. It is a natural philosophy followed by a natural process. If you are finding your ‘subject matter’ is having to be ‘pushed’ out then you will, almost certainly, be dissatisfied with the result. It doesn’t really matter what anyone thinks of your poetry, whether good or bad. Unfortunately, there are those out there who claim to have the ‘knowledge’, that they’ve been to uni’ and know better than the writer because a degree says so. Hogwash! Nobody knows the work better than the author; after all, it was from their mind it evolved and just because somebody says it’s not been done properly or followed a general guideline, it’s no good. Don’t listen because these people are so sad that they have nothing better to do than slate everyone else because they have a position that dictates the same. Sometimes this is difficult because if you are looking to be published, it is these people who will try to dictate to you how you should be writing, what styles to follow and all that other crap that goes along with it. Myself, I am a free verse poet. I follow absolutely NO guidelines. I don’t think about sonnets, haiku, metre or any other ‘type’ you could quote me when writing; I see myself as a ‘natural’ poet. I write WHAT I feel and certainly do not sit and wonder how I am going to verse anything or in what particular order. Most poets are the same. It just comes ‘naturally’ and is left in that order. I hate to change anything so basically I could be termed lazy on that note, however, when I’ve written poetry, even my old stuff, I look at it and think maybe it’s rubbish, middling or good to excellent. When I’ve dispatched stuff to publishers in the past, I used to get rather terse letters back saying and I quote from one “the world is not ready for this type of poetry”, which to me is another way of saying either they didn’t understand it or it was crap. Either way, I still would not ‘knuckle’ down and learn new styles. If I’ve written a poem and maybe don’t like a particular part, I will ask for opinion and wait to see what thoughts are given. If I think a poem is particularly good, I wait on others comments but do generally feel they will see the same as I do and that has happened often, more especially in the last year. To me, that is all the inspiration I need to continue. That is what I meant about ‘flowing’. Poetry to most comes straight from the heart. In the many groups I am a member of, I have seen many, many examples of poets who do not stick to any tried and tested methods and yet they are usually the most entertaining. Because they’ve been written from the heart, they are also the most sincere. I’m not criticising ANYONE, that’s simply NOT the way I do things because, basically, I don’t like it when my poems are ripped apart and I am analysed for why and how I’ve written a particular piece. No amount of analysis or post mortem could identify why I’ve penned a certain piece and I believe all good poets are the same, diverse and mysterious. I’ve seen Keats, Shakespeare and Browning, to name a few, have their work dissected and having to give reason why they wrote it. Who cares why they wrote it! Just enjoy it . . . Cont/d >>  [ send green star]
 
The Poet - A tc Article (Part Two) February 19, 2005 7:16 PM

Some people may not like my poetry. That’s fine. It’s OK by me because I don’t expect everyone to understand or even be entertained by my style[s] and themes. Any feedback is usually good because it has attained a reaction and it is what we most need, good or bad, so subject matter is of paramount importance. If you’ve read even a few of my poems, you will see that I am quite diverse. This is because I like to reach a varied audience. I do not have a ‘target’ audience; I want to appeal to everyone. I know that may sound egotistical but after years of rejections, I always felt I had something that people liked. I now know I have because of the new friends I’m making on my group site [here] and in other groups I am a member of as well as varied other web sites. Here at home, I have friends and family who have read my work. Some are elated at reading my words. Others admit they simply don’t understand. But the main thing is, they have all been entertained, moved [by any emotion] and again, that has been the aim. This is of course when writing takes the form of ‘writing for an audience’ as opposed to writing for yourself simply because you enjoy it and it has immense healing qualities in purging the soul of the negativities of life. I find it calming and much like a chemical anti-depressant, relieves stress and allows one to face up to those negative energies on which we all waste important moments of our lives concerning depression and other linked conditions. I’ve always suggested to everyone to write poetry if they are feeling depressed because it can act as a catalyst to a freer mind. It also becomes a mirror of yourself. You write the things that have bothered you or things pertaining to some associated conditions, [largely ignored by the medical profession] and feeling as if the world is on your back and gnawing away at the fabric of your soul; When things are so black you cannot see any way out and when everyday worries become the biggest bain because of all a sudden you can no longer handle it; and of course, all these things are ONLY happening to you. By writing all the emotions connected, you create a non picture mirror, reflective inasmuch as allowing you insight into your own soul. Reading it back to yourself will, well, should, give you a lift because, as I have found, by reading what it is you are really thinking and worrying about, tells you that it really isn’t as bad as you first imagined and sometimes realised that there is ALWAYS a way out and that there IS someone who WILL help you through this, that person is usually, yourself; I know with myself, I am my fiercest critic but, even as judge it is because poetry is an extension of the soul of the poet [in real terms]. If you write something that pertains to personal knowledge of yourself and the feedback brings about others writing likewise poetry that can aid you in either your writing or your personality/psyche then that can only be good, as well as important lessons maybe, to others. I’ve seen low; I’ve seen the pit of hell where the walls are flaming and someone’s nicked the ladder and Old Nick is standing there laughing like a lavatorial bucket. When those rose coloured glasses you threw away once are now the only thing you beg for and when your life hangs in a cradle, balancing on which one of your next emotions will make the decision for you, stay or jump; When that hell hole actually looks inviting because all the pain is somewhere above you and out of sight, that’s the time you come in for self analysis and really don’t know which way to walk, what path to take. Then, there is a light. It’s quite deliberate, it’s your faith. You look up and see, from the light, the ladder being handed back down. Suddenly you believe that God [or whatever else your faith has a solid hold of] has stretched out His hand and is reaching in to help you out. It’s not God but if you believe it is, then that’s OK, it’s whatever gets you through. It is an extension of the subconscious, your soul, and the very depths of your inner psyche acting out a scenario that you weren’t aware you could ever sustain. You have control. You have love and love of life. You have others who love you. You knew that all the time, but just for a while there, you were distracted by hopelessness and the real and sheer futility of life. You see there is a way back from the precipice you hung on to many times before and probably will again, but, for now, the journey with your soul must begin again and cast out the demons that have brought to this inane excuse for sadness. You then question your intentions . . . . . . Then write them down and see how silly they were, you were to think of yourself as such a low and inestimable person. You always knew you weren’t but it’s just yourself you have to convince now. Everyone else is already convinced. They’ve seen what you write and know. Cont/d >>  [ send green star]
 
The Poet - A tc Article (Part Three) February 19, 2005 7:17 PM

It has been said, on more than one occasion that anyone involved in the arts have to be slightly ‘loopy’ or simply not up with rest of humanity. In the past couple of centuries, poets have been branded ‘mad’. Why do you think that is? Do you believe it is because they WERE lunatics or something else. Reading the works of the old classical poets could deliver such an assumption but in all of us, there lies a little madness. If we didn’t have that, we’d all just boil over. In some it is slightly more prominent than others [like me!!?] but that doesn’t make them bad or round the twist, it means they were and are, human. It’s all about application. Poets apply themselves to their gift of writing. They explain their lives in verse that other poets understand. Other poets see good in the work of many who have been ostracised by society in life’s little elite niches and savoured clichéd arrangement they call life. You, as poets, have nothing to feel guilty about. Nor do you have to push yourself to someone else’s idea of perfection just because they say so. And, you do have the perfect stop valve. A lot of people who suffer from, let’s say, depression, turn to drink to block it out; or in some extremes, drugs. Others never get that bad. Those who act in the former will NEVER solve it because they are just hiding behind a mask they feel they’ve erected and believe they are coping with it. They’re not because, pills and booze are not a cure. Counselling helps but, if you think about it, you are telling a counsellor only that which you could write down. He or she is giving you answers that most probably are not the right one for your situation. This is because their training cannot possibly cover every avenue. You can! By writing it down and facing it you are practically halfway to a cure. Of course, you might and some of you probably will, disagree with almost everything I’ve said but I can only speak from experience. I know what others have gone through and I know the results of those I’ve ‘advised’ and how they’ve learned to cope. Naturally, it doesn’t work for everyone but it doesn’t hurt if you give it a try, does it? Back to poetry without all the analytical processes and reasons for depression etc. As I said before, I don’t write in a regime. I have no set patterns, no set styles and no set themes. I have been asked to write rhyming verse for maybe, a contest, and do it in under twenty or thirty lines. Unfortunately, I don’t write like that and I won’t say cannot because that can be defeatist but rhyming is difficult for me on certain subjects or themes. Sometimes I have written a couple of verses and have found I’ve run out of rhyming words to be able to continue, not because there aren’t any but because the way my flow has appeared, I would have to think of words to rhyme with words that maybe shouldn’t have appeared, plus the fact I have an awful short term memory which is more a medical facet as opposed to anything else so hypnotism probably wouldn’t work before any one suggests it. But this is why free verse is a far better vehicle for me to work with. When I was younger I could write rhyme but as I’ve aged and this medical anomaly has fettered many grey cells, it has been harder. However, I believe a lot of that is about evolvement rather just age or illness. Everyone evolves in some way. No poet would write the same sort of stuff for their entire career. There is always the opportunity to go off at some tangent whereby new influxes of inspiration flood in, just as life works in phases. That is how it has happened with me. At seven I was writing what most seven year olds write. At eight I had stepped up a couple of levels. At twelve I was writing as a sixteen year old and at sixteen like a 30 year old. At 32 I was writing like a seven year old, so you see what I mean. Even now the material I was writing has changed considerably to what I was writing just a year ago, so phases evolve rather quickly. Of course, it also depends on what theme you use but if you’re diverse, it won’t matter because, as poets will sincerely tell you, they can write on practically any subject. Poetry is an art form that has been and is, often misinterpreted and even more frequently, misunderstood. But, it IS a medium that can be easily read and be simplistic thus attaining all kinds of people to read it. It requires no great degree of intelligence [despite what those with masters etc, may tell you] to read it or indeed to write it. And it can act as terrific building blocks for your position in life or society. Sometimes, poems will say quite different things to different people but that’s OK, without trying to or indeed, appearing to be pompous, I have had a few people, on reading my work, commenting that I’m too intelligent for them and/or they don’t understand my poetry because it can be too complex and the thread soars above them. With this, I have to disagree, mostly because when I write poetry I write it because, whatever form/theme it takes, it is a natural product [from me] while at the same time, it is for everyone and I realise that everyone will read it differently to the next person. The purveyor is the catalyst. Some will have seen a ‘secret message’; others read a completely different criterion than to the one that may have been intended, if indeed a subject HAD been intended. Cont/d >>  [ send green star]
 
The Poet - A tc Article (Part Four) February 19, 2005 7:19 PM

Often I have written verse ‘subconsciously’ only to read it afterward and then see what the intention behind it was. If you look at what you’ve just written as if you are driving your car. You get into your car and start it up, then put it into gear and drive away while all the time, messing with the window wipers, tuning the radio or inserting a CD, fiddling with the heater, ensuring the rear screen heater is working whilst looking at what the other fella’s gonna do just as you drive off. All that is done ‘subconsciously’. Driving is done ‘as is’, a natural instinct you have learned. Writing poetry can be the same. Usually what I’ve written when it’s done this way can be strange. My wife Jan, bless her, often says of my scribblings at night “How do you know what you are writing?” This is because, quite often, I will be just ‘dropping off’ and words just ‘pop’ into my head and as someone with a short term memory , I have to write it down then! As a person who also shares the experience of many of that great invention, spectacles, I have a job to see and more especially, when it’s dark. So I usually, well, most of the time, bypass the spectacles, pick up my clipboard which is on the floor beside the bed, and my pen, then write! This bemuses my wife because she says there’s no way I can see what I am writing, mainly because it’s dark but moreso because I haven’t put on my glasses and my head is usually still on the pillow. She will look at my board in the morning and reads lines of sentences, phrases ands single ‘keywords’ and all have been written ‘blind’, but they are almost legible. Driving is the same sort of application and quite often yes, I drive with my eyes shut. One has to because of all the nutters on the road!! Writing ‘blind’ is like typing on a keyboard. You know where the lettered keys are. With a pen, one has to ‘feel’ the words and letters. The way you move your hand and fingers is an instinctive and automatic movement. The images are in your head and the brain emits a message to your hand and lo and behold, you write. Simple really, if applied properly. I was reminded only recently that, when I was at school, I was forever scribbling something. An old school friend works with my wife now. It’s funny what you think people notice and what they don’t. I always thought this school friend sort of ignored me but apparently, she didn’t, or else she wouldn’t have noticed what I was doing and yet, I had actually forgotten that I had done it and mainly, probably, because all those notes I had scribbled then were confiscated by the tutors or they simply disappeared as I grew up. I know I DID lose an awful lot of early work before I met my, now, wife. When I moved from a flat I shared, most of my gear etc. was chucked into bin liners, the black type, you know what I mean. It would seem that somehow, on their transition to my fathers backyard garage, where I stored some of it for a while, the bags containing the notes, were inadvertently thrown out as refuse [well, if one will put good stuff into a black bin liner!]. It was no-one’s fault but for me at least, those notes would have been “educational”, to show me the transition from kid poet to man genius, sorry poet, had evolved. Notes and poems from way back then when I began this sojourn that has, thus far, led me to here. Still, one never knows, I could yet be lucky and may well rediscover them; after all, slates are not biodegradable, are they? Cont/d >>  [ send green star]
 
The Poet - A tc Article (Part Five) February 19, 2005 7:21 PM

So, what is it I am saying to you? Well, I would say it’s my message to all budding and established poets alike, or even just the odd few who may have a slight penchant for writing poetry, just do it! Simple really. And, it doesn’t matter who or even what you are writing for or about, that which you pen will always, always, be for you. The common denominator is you! And you are the judge too. Only you have the complete right to criticism. I’ve seen many fall by the wayside because cruel criticism kills and it’s unjust, as I explained at the beginning of this piece. Returning to one of the main reasons for writing this piece was about “conditioning”, that is to say, to block those ‘pop-ups’ just like msn or yahoo does. It can sometimes, be a bain, a real bummer to attempt to condition how you write. As I explained earlier, I find it difficult but, I’ve an excuse, I have a short term memory problem, but it can easily be achieved and again, my favourite pledge, ‘application’. We all, as poets, get ‘pop-up’s’. To learn to put them to the back of your mind, in a dusty room called tomorrow. Once attaining this method [creating a room in your mind] you can then ‘condition’ your mind/memory to release them at a time that is suitable to yourself [and your life]. Picking a given time of the day when you know you won’t be interrupted or distracted; give yourself an hour or even two, summon these ‘memoirs’ and write them down or type them into your pc. I know it sounds awfully ‘schoolish’ but if it can be achieved then the result can very often be, less rushed and the attention does, more often than not, conclude in a superior creation. Of course, I cannot guarantee the results for everyone, if indeed it does work. I do it sometimes and it works for me and the key is ‘keywords’. If the entrails of a poem pop’s into my head, it’s difficult for me to ignore so, at that precise point in time, I may well compose the whole poem there and then or just make notes, problem is I make such extensive notes, I may as well have composed the whole piece, but do make notes all the same. If it applies to a story or an article, a narrative or the chapter of a novel, I can, and do, condition myself to go back and forth from it because so long as the gist of what you are composing is already written, the thread is not too difficult to restart, even it means reading the last seventy-odd pages you just finished again. The one problem about conditioning is this, knowing when to stop, to ‘condition’ a cut off. I do. And I don’t! I wrote one children’s adventure novel in one evening. One hundred and eighty one pages, not bad, it could have been longer, it should have been longer! It was never published. It sits with a couple of other manuscripts not to have seen the light of day for almost a decade. So knowing when to stop with poetry, should be easy? I often work from notes and keywords. Keywords could be the title and/or the gist, theme whatever, of the poem’s body. You need strong keywords to be able to re-enact the flow of which entered your head but you could not, or would not, write the piece then and there. By conditioning, you take control. You are basically telling your creative side that ‘you ain’t coming out till is say so, right!’ you get my drift? Then, when you come to the time you’ve allotted, you’ll find the ‘brakes’ are hard to push, again, if you set out to write just so much, as if writing for a magazine or other publication, where a set amount of words or lines are required, then it’s easy to follow. What I said earlier about following guidelines etc, doesn’t’ work for me, I would have to say that I condition myself in that respect but I do find it awfully difficult to keep to a stringent guide, so it can be left then to editing. Not something I like to do but if it means the difference between a chance to win £10 grand and nowt, I’ll edit! It doesn’t make me a hypocrite, I just move the goalposts slightly [well, politicians get away with it?]. this is, as I explained, because I sometimes cannot stop, the problem when one cannot stop writing one piece, is keeping it tangible and fresh. When you’ve written it and it’s twenty lines too long, YOU know which to omit; And the time it takes to write something? I’ve loads of half done poems on hundreds of bits of notepaper all over my study. A few days ago, I decided that some of these ‘half written’ poems were not waiting for completion, they were completed! They are just shorter. On other poems I’ve actually taken three years to write just one! And then it’s not finished yet! I wonder if it ever will be or it is already finished, it’s only me who doesn’t see it. And I ask myself, what about the joins, will they be noticed? But then, does it matter? I am the judge and I hold a singular court of my own work. I expect or at least, believe that every other poet does too. But, it is ALWAYS nice to get appreciation and feedback on your work from your peers. If you are just starting out or feel you are not of a standard to match many you’ve read, then you will learn from the experience simply because that is what YOU require. Pointers that show you direction or inspire you are always good, it is inspiration, naturally, that builds poets And poetry. We all have own ideas about what makes a poem, which is why we comment on others work we have found interesting or particularly moving and, in the greater scheme of things, as far as poetry is concerned, we are a select community, undivided by class, stature, creed or religion, we all have but one aim, to entertain. I hope I’ve entertained with this opinion and remember, it is ONLY an opinion and it is mine, no-one is forced to adopt my ideals, they are mine and they work for me. But if you gain anything from it, then that’s great. Thanx for reading this far anyway, whether you agree or not, it’s OK... Cont/d >>  [ send green star]
 
The Poet - A tc Article (Final Part) February 19, 2005 7:22 PM

I’ll now quite probably, get critics and criticism galore, all out for my blood, hounding me down, but hey guys, do I care? It won’t stop me writing; it won’t stop me sharing it. If people like it, it won’t stop them reading it, so who’s the daddy now huh? This has been your very own ‘tcmoon’ signing off from radio tc. . . oh I’m sorry; I thought I was doing the radio prog. Bit silly really, I don’t have a radio prog. Oh well, who knows what the future holds . . . Copyright tcmoon 2005 All Rights Reserved Your feedback would be most appreciative. Thank you. tc  [ send green star]
 
 February 19, 2005 9:15 PM

Drink not from my aromatic petals Lest you taste the transparency of my dew. Decorate not your duality with my leaves Nor deny the place they grew. Pluck not my thorny crown Nor bruise my fragrant way. My beauty lives from stem to ground Not just in my bouquet. To change the world is easy. Simply unseat every president, and replace him with a poet!  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
 February 20, 2005 4:00 PM

You have hit upon the true poet, tc, with this article. True poets are free. They listen to critique and write as they please. I agree with the natural flow of words. One can not stop it if they wanted to. Writing it down even if one isn't going to share it with anyone is a good way to journal and see your progress into the different modes of style. Have many who have the words dancing around in their heads slept well? I too, have awoken to grab the pen and paper and blindly write down before I forgot the words,so I can get the gist when I'm fully awake. I have found though during those times I do lose sleep because I can not go back to sleep until I am satisfied with what I've written down and I usually end up putting the light on,sitting up and finishing at least the full draft. I am single and don't disturb anyone but myself, lol. Well, maybe my dog who looks at me as if to say what on earth is so important to lose sleep about? But, he turns around and buries his head under the covers somewhere as if to say... so be it mistress, but I plead that I've done my duty for today and will now take my rest. LOL. I also have tried to write my poems in so many sentences to fit for publication. I have many poemsprose that I just will not do that to. They are finished! You hit upon many things in this article to represent your feelings of who a poet is. Thru it all you kept the theme and identification that a poet can not be measured and he is free to write his soul on paper. Thank you for representing us true poets.  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
Good article. February 20, 2005 4:42 PM

I enjoyed reading your article. It brings to my mind my school days and that dreaded question in English class when we were asked to decide what the author of any given poem meant their poem to convey. I never understood that question and still don't. Until we have lived the life of the author, we have no clue as to the true meaning intended within their words. Where we are at in our lives depends on what we take from any given poem or writing at the time we read it or re-read it. An open mind is certainly an asset when it comes to truly appreciating what we read. Acceptance of our individualities can begin within the words we share.  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
YEA 2 these articles about poets!! November 05, 2005 11:00 AM

"I am a free verse poet. I follow absolutely NO guidelines."

YEA!!!  Me tooooooooooooooooo!!

As per the poem shared above in this thread I am inspired to lay this one on ya`ll:


THEY TOLD ME I HAD TO NAME THIS POEM SOMETHING so I picked 'The Promised Ground' out of the air just 4 them...  LOL

A change of name, a change of place, another suit of clothes
From living sun to roots of trees
Same source but different goes

So?  Why not bask and BE eternal now

And be awake to see the all we're meant to be?

`Lo, what we make of our own 'unknown' is key
When stopped are the battles in our own 'creativity'

Then...we can step back and be the ALL revealed as harmony.

"YES LIFE" has its song so long attended
by right of mind use we are con-core depended,
on attraction of each our own Being number
amidst the ALL sum told is ours to see to hear; behold!

While symbols crowd cornicopia found
calling to their own both far and near
a realization laughs and laughs within us clear.

For to know is to do the W A Y of happiness.

No matter what any others choose to make
Our inner outer flame is ONE awake!

The harvest of our chosen strain come through
Humanity is me; humanity is you....


  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
great article ron...I enjoyed it... November 05, 2005 12:31 PM

I dont Know a lick about writing poetry...I write it as it flows, often its like taking dictation..I just go with the flow...Probably why it took me so many years to share my poems...

I too have poems everywhere...or ideas, if i dont write them down i lose them...

But Ive graduated to notebooks....There much more organized and it stays together better...lol...

Thanks ron I enjoyed that...hugzz..jaz

 [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
Great, Ron October 10, 2006 5:12 AM

Hi Ron..I can't tell you how  refreshin' and stimulatin' it was to read someone's common-sense approach to writin'. As you know, I've been strugglin' with inner demons most of my life. I was encouraged to write some of these down in poetry form only about four year ago. At first I was very hesitant, after all, what did I know of poetry ? absolutely nuffink! In some of the first pieces the rhymin' was so forced I now cringe when I read it. BUT.. the theraputic value was fantastic! At last I could pour it all out without bein' face to face with anyone. At first it was difficult. limited education bred limited vocabulary. I was, and still am, useless at what I call "flowery" poetry. I couldn't write a love poem if my life depended on it! But there are things I want to say and points I'd like to make. So I developed a style of my own, short, blunt lines, the way I think. No wasted word or "flowery" descriptions, just as I think. And I experimented with non-rhymin'. I developed a habit of usin' an apostophe at the end of words that should end in g. Again strugglin' to form my own style, creatin' impact. I've been told my poetry is like bein' punched between the eyes,  if so then so be it.

I would say to anyone who has somethin' to say, whether from the heart, to shock, to entertain, or just to release pent up emotions, then JUST DO IT! It doesn't matter a fig if anyone likes it or not, YOU will get as much out of it. It doesn't matter if you can't spell, form sentences properly, or even express yourself "properly".You never know, once you start it just may become it may just become addictive.

Again, Ron, well done, mate. If I knew how to send a star I would

Kind regards...Driff

 [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
Whoa, I got to read this all over again October 11, 2006 7:34 PM

so thanks Driff, for bringing it back to haunt, I mean, to the fore...

[ send green star]   << thats how easy it is, not that I'm touting no, noo noooo

I wrote this a couple of years ago after being a member in many groups both on MSN and Yahoo and ran the gauntlet of edyoukated people (they said) who ripped what I'd written to pieces making me verrrry unhappy. One guy went so far as to say I should send everything I'd ever written and either send it to him so he could 'correct' my misuse of language, grammar and themes or stick the lot on a bonfire and watch it burn. He called himself 'Jesus' so I guess that really sums the guy up.

But no way was I going to be beaten by some inbred ingrait whose passion was sitting in the hills (as eyes) watching people drive by in trailers and RV's wating to ambush them and take 'em back to his sister/mother/wife (well, she gotta be one - or maybe all- in one!). He riled me up and for a while, a long while, I never wrote. Then came this article. I wanted to tell it like it is. I wanted my point made, not just for me but for others like me (this guy wasn't exclusively my critic). Remembering how it was back at school and tutors arranging projects for students that involved dissecting Shakespeare (Yes it was in English lessons-not biology). Shakespeare is/was an enigmatic icon that some doubt actually existed (I went through that too) so how and why should we be expected firstly, to decipher what some bloke wrote about 400 years after he died and secondly, how could we know? Unless by some freak of nature, Willie boy had been resprung into a modern age. Consequently I tried the tutor's patience (four in all) because I refused to do a 'number' on Shakey.

We are, as poets, ourselves by all that is sacred, enigmatic 'machines'. We are programmed, like every other facet of life, to do what we do because, tho' sometimes we may fail to understand ourselves, it is our 'conditioning', our life's blood; our way and that is that basically. I started writing (and reading) at two years of age (we never had a telly) so by that token, felt a step ahead of some of my peers and as we all grew up, they felt threatened by it and me, some still do. But there was no way I could change who I was or stop doing what I was did, it was in me, it was my life and to a degree, still is.

Even now I'm thinking of my next task and the one after that. Thats how writers work, and poets are writers in the same framework only our presentation is different.

You all mentioned how and what writing poetry does for you. It pleases me to see such pride and meaning. And the therapeutic benefits are on show for all to see. I wrote initially, for me, to get feelings, emotions I was going through, down. It wasn't a career, it was a hobby and to a degree, it still is but I have gotten a lot of encouragement from friends and people I've met over the cyber rainbow, to publish.

Twenty odd years ago I sent a manuscript to hoi-polloi publisher. I didn't know they were so snobby and elitest at the time. Anyway, the manuscript was shredded, in the literal sense not physically and I was gutted. Since then I have had many hundreds of poems published singularly and in many many books across the globe (and under many guises). Only now, or recently at least, have I decided to venture out again only this time, self publishing. It costs a bit and I don't have a lot but it's time to fulfil that dream I think and so I'm going for it. It will be a case of 'what you see is what you get', all the layout, design and content is mine. I didn't want 'professionals' telling me what to change and where. If that happened, the publication wouldn't be 'the real deal', so, it's a gamble but I hope it pays off.

Keep 'em peeled for a link.

So, once again, thank you for replying to this article. I hope it gave you that 'certain something' that makes you feel important enough for yourself (it doesn't matter what others think) and inspires you all to go on creating, whether it's for an audience or just for yourself. That, at the end of all is, the most important thing. It works for me.

bless you all and thanks Driff, mate...

 [ send green star]
 
not eligible October 13, 2006 12:08 AM

oi !!   wot have I done?? says I'm not eligible to send a star! Feel totally rejected now    Just kiddin' mate     Guess we have to be in here a certain time first ?

More POWA to the pen, Ron....Driff

 [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
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