I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.
- Socrates
Being the highly strung emotional tweenager that I was, poetry was a way in which I felt I could express myself freely, airing my grievances with no restraint. One poem that was published in the school yearbook (oh joy, my awkward adolescence immortalised forever) reflected the hurt I felt when a friendship that had been very important to me ended.
We were best friends
but she betrayed my trust.
I tried to reignite the friendship
with a monumental gust
of fire-tending oxygen
but she waltzed right out the door;
she blew away seven years of friendship
when she blew away everything I stood for.
I still find that in times of sorrow I write poetry - it seems to help me process things in ways that are perhaps beyond my understanding at the time. A lot of the poetry I wrote at the end of last year - a particularly dark time - I ended up burning, but it's good to have that release... and sound elegantly ugly while doing it.
Do you write poetry? When do you write it? Does it help you?
Its good to know what helps you release tension - i've given writing poetry a go but i just cringed everytime i wrote a line, not the best way for me to do it :) Lovely poem by the way, you are incredibly brave to let people read it.
ReplyDelete@PaperDoll - It's out there in the public domain (albeit a school year book) so it feels a little safer to share... I'm glad I burnt the stuff from the end of last year - wouldn't want anyone to read that :D
ReplyDeleteOh, that's lovely :) And actually, I've never really been a poem sort of gal - I used to fill billions of notebooks with my scrawlings, but I've never really considered writing poetry before!
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