| Artistic View
Although I have only been writing poetry for about three months at the time of this statement, I have been reading it for many years of my life- short as it may relatively be to others. It’s from this perspective that I have written poetry and is how I will write about poetry as well. I tend to see any art which essentially is visual utilizing any type of marking system (letters, numbers or brushstrokes) as being an attempt to both communicate and achieve a degree of permanency that implies immortality. The second being determined in part by the success of the former is the key to the success of a work, of course. The best poetry is short, concise and leaves a mental imprint. A “visual” of sorts that allows one to in an instant “grok”* the meaning of the work. In my mind, poetry should have the essential time-space elements of a painting. And like the best of visual arts, poetry should also be viewable many times with the same or deeper enjoyment than the first view of the work. Poetry should be intelligent, both in form and content. Subject does matter. Form does too. And all rules are breakable. As long as it is in the betterment of the world through a genuine expression-otherwise it’s rather like talking crap about Jazz. Just don’t bother. Until you can do better, keep it to yourself, dear. Great poetry is like sex, breathing and all the other natural activities in which we so blithely indulge ourselves. And it is possibly even greater than all of us. So- what does this mean in terms of my own expressions in the verbal/visual written arts category known as poetry? I am far from where I was and from where I want to be. I dangle participles, I enjamb too deeply, I bore the reader with endless details, etc., etc. But my goals for writing poetry have been met in most ways. I wanted to learn how to write poetry from an expert so that I could possibly know how to teach it to others—an apprenticeship rather than a class. I’ve learned more of the formal aspects of poetry- meter, rhythm, and syntax. I've learned that my interest in poetry was not limited to being a reader- a great gift that will help me immeasurably along this blithe little path I am upon. I tried to learn and immediately translate that knowledge into something valid. This has met with various degrees of success. I have read endless hours of dead old white guy poetry and I have responded to several aspects of poetry from the viewpoint of an activist- “ The Good Book” (which, incidentally is the first poem I have ever written), and “Genetics, Jeans and Justice” and a poem that is still being revised- A Modest Proposal. I have responded with poetry that was from a modern woman perspective- La Belle Dame Merci, At the Last Moment, Memory and Be are all rotating around issues of female sexuality ,and related issues.Yes, they are erotic and are not intended to be read by the weak of heart. A couple of the poems have merely been silly in tone-while learning the proper form. “The Required Sonnet” “Rimbaud” and a few of the others are exercises with rhythm and light-hearted pacing- call them odes to my Irish heritage~ Enough for now. Enjoy your life. Write on! ~Rajean M. Gallagher *(See Robert Henlein for a full definition of this word.) |