Why I Write Poetry
This art form holds a special place in my creative heart. Writing poetry is all about capturing emotions, creating vivid imagery, and using language which resonates and conjures questions/reactions. And we do all of this “simply” by utilizing words and structure with intention. It was my first writing love, and I don’t even know how many journals I’ve filled with my poetry over the years. I’m aware it isn’t for everyone, but I hope I can explain clearly enough why there’s nothing quite like writing poetry for me.
Why Poetry?
Capturing the Ineffable
Poetry is the language of emotions, sensations, and experiences that often elude prose. It provides a unique avenue to capture the nuances of feelings and experience. Through poetry, I hope to articulate things that are usually only felt. Some truths are best conveyed in the unspoken, and poetry is where the unsaid finds a voice. It's about expressing what may be difficult to articulate directly, allowing metaphors and symbolism to convey truths instead. Oftentimes, emotions and difficult topics cause a sort of internal chaos… Putting that energy into something as concrete and tangible as the written word, can help us embrace and understand those parts of our experience better.
Distilling Emotions into Essence
Emotions are complex, multifaceted, and at times, overwhelming. Poetry serves as a way to distill these emotions into their essence. It allows me to explore the depth of joy, sorrow, love, and everything in between, where every word matters. I take it as a challenge to whittle away at my words until I’m left with the truest, most clarified version of the thought or feeling I’m wanting to communicate. And for over-writers, like me, being pushed to choose each word with careful intent is an essential skill worth developing and practicing.
Painting with Words
Poetry is art, and words can be just as powerful a medium as paint, or clay, or fabric. I know I use a lot of visual art metaphors, but that’s because I’m also a visual artist, so my mind just naturally draws those parallels. But truly, poetry is about creating powerful sensory experiences through language, with only words for color and structure. Whether it's describing a sunset, a fleeting moment, or the essence of a person, poetry allows me to express with words on a page like I would with my paintbrush against canvas.
Rhythmic Expression
Poetry is rhythm. I feel it like music. Whether through structured forms like sonnets or free verse that moves at its own pace, poetry is all about sound and cadence. Musicality is inherent in language, and poetry is a fun way to explore that. Perhaps my lifetime of music lessons and love of all things music is another reason poetry speaks so strongly to me, but when something flows as it should (or as it must), my body responds the same as it would to a beautiful chord progression.
Inviting Reflection and Contemplation
Poetry encourages reflection, inviting us to pause, ponder, and immerse ourselves in the layers of meaning in each word and each verse. Through the ambiguity and often intentional openness of poetry, readers are invited to contemplate their own interpretations, fostering a deeper connection between those of us who write, and those who read our work. While some poems are more literal in nature, or have a named intent, it is still art, so even in those pieces, we can find our own meaning. In fact, a good poet wants us to. I know when someone reads a piece of mine, I hope it inspires something in their own hearts and minds, even if its something I’d never considered when penning those words.
Connecting Across Boundaries
Poetry is a universal language that transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries because so often the focus is on feeling. Through verse, we can connect at the heart of human experience. Even when it deviates from the deep and profound into the absurd and silly, there’s nothing quite like the connections formed through playing with language in this way; connections with ourselves, and with others.
Honoring the Power of Language
I’ll keep this last one simple, even though I think it might be on of the most important: Poetry is a celebration of language itself. It's about reveling in the power of words to evoke emotions, make connections, and convey intricate thoughts. Put simply, poetry is magic. It’s alchemy. And I think that’s really fucking cool.
I’ve loved poetry since I first discovered it in elementary school, but I know some people find it difficult to engage with. While I understand that, I’m also one of those people who believes that everyone can love poetry if they find the poet or work that connects with their own hearts.
As a writer myself, I know many others in the writing community don’t enjoy writing poetry. Again, I understand that, especially when we’re taught certain ways poetry “should” be written. I look at it like any other form of writing, though: It’s important to learn the rules and understand the structures, but then we are able to freely play. I can learn how to write in iambic, trochaic, or spondaic meter or understand when to employ alliteration or assonance to create the sound or musicality that I want, but ultimately it’s about using words to convey thought-provoking or emotion-conjuring concepts. I think, even if a writer’s greatest desire is to write genre fiction (for example), understanding poetry is still such an asset! When I’m reading an especially well-written novel that seems to sing and dance off the page (Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki comes to mind), I always wonder if the author has any poetry writing background. It’s the same when the author expertly employs metaphor, communicates breathtaking imagery, or uses synecdoche in a meaningful way. These poetry basics only make us better writers, even as we’re crafting our novels.
All that to say—Poetry is for everyone! It’s just about finding the work that speaks to your soul. And as novel writers, applying concepts emphasized in poetry writing can only make us better.
Happy reading and writing!
