Journal #9: "On Poetry"

I've always had a fondness for poetry. To me, it is an entire art form all on it's own. It is sometimes a challenge to write. Especially for a person like me, because I can be a perfectionist when it comes to my passions. I do believe that poetry is important in the big scheme of things. All art is. Poems can express deep feelings, or silly ideas, or perhaps some of them weren't even given meanings. Maybe they were just written for the sake of loving poetry. I'll admit, I didn't think I would be able to write as many poems that had personal meanings. Once I realized that I had so many ideas for expressive poems, writing the poems became a better, more important experience for me. With that in mind, I didn't really mind how many poems there was assigned. Each poem can be made special and unique all on it's own; or, if wanted, can be a complete imitation, like our "Imitation Poem" assignment. I think getting us to write our own versions of all of the chosen poem types, those individual art forms, was a great idea, and an even better experience, even if you don't like poetry.

Song lyrics come out of poetry. Clearly, song lyrics are important and mean a lot to me in my life. I think that's why I preferred writing the "lyrical" poem more than any other during this course; as I was writing them, I could imagine myself singing them and adding melodies to the sentences. It inspired me to keep writing them, and even finish a lyrical poem that I had written a long time ago, before being in Writer's Craft. Some people find writing poetry difficult, boring, and exhausting, but I think that those people just haven't found their muse when writing poetry. Sometimes it is hard to write poems; whether it be a creative block or lack of direction. I found that, also, when attempting to write certain poems during the course. I'm glad that I gave them all a chance, so that one day, I can look back on them and enjoy them. Even better, someone else can look back on them and enjoy them.