Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Last Sunday, 27 June, 2010, Prince Albert Hotel, Gawler. The fire was warm and so was the friendship we shared!

Friendship, and fantastic poetry were in abundance as I greeted new friends and old, hugs all round and a good time was had by all. I was amazed at the high quality of the poetry read on the day. Amazed and excited.

If this is the quality of poetry being written currently, then No, Poetry is Not Dead! Poetry in Gawler for Poetry @ the Pub is Alive and Kicking with Life and Vitality.

If we continue to get this quality of poetry for the rest of the year, then having to pick the very best for the end of Year Poetry Anthology is shaping up to be a difficult but very enjoyable task!

I thank all of the wonderful people who shared their Sunday with us, and to my dear friends who couldn't get there I say "Make there in July - you won't regret it".

John Keats Bright Star

I watched the movie with my writing group the other night. We were all deeply affected by this tale of love, life and death. So young, so talented, so misunderstood.

John Keats wrote some of the finest poetry ever, but his talent was unrecognised during his too short life. He died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-five before he was able to wed the love of his life Fanny Brawne. Some of his loveliest poems are written about/for Fanny.

If you are still trying to become recognised in your literary writing, take heart, some of the very best in the world were also not lauded during their lives. If you keep writing and keep living, it may happen for you while you live, but know that your words will give you a form of life after death. You must keep sending your writing out there though.

If you keep your writing tucked away in a drawer or on your computer, you greatest work may be destroyed after you die, with you remaining just a fragile memory for just a few people. Send your work out, self publish, blog, but keep getting those words out if you wish to remembered/admired after your death.

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What to Write Poetry About

So many times when you try to write poetry, you end up staring at the blank screen or page and your mind is every bit as blank as they are. Nothing happens because you can't think of anything to write about.

I have found a fantastic source of poetry material, something that won't dry up for a long time. And if you follow this idea, and run out of material, you won't care, because your life will better for having done it!

This idea came from a page on Oprah's site, a piece by Mike Robbins, who seems to often write and be on this website/show. I say 'seems to' because I don't watch Oprah or go to this website often. I don't mind if you don't believe me, because I know the truth and if you choose to not believe me, it won't affect how I feel at all.

Anyway, this is the page here

Feel free to go and have a look. You may feel differently about it than I do, but I'll tell you this - I loved it! I immediately posted it to my Facebook page with this comment:-

I just read this and love it deeply already. I have many flaws and I try very hard not to hate them. I am overall a good, but flawed person, just like everyone else. I love my flaws, I may try to write a poem about each and every one of them. It will be a middle sized collection by the time I've finished - I'm not big enough to have a huge collection of flaws!

So that is my plan for never running out of things to write about - Mind map one of your flaws, that is, write down anything that comes to mind when you think about the flaw. Don't edit your words, just get it all down on the page. Next, leave it for a while, or get onto it straight away if you want to. Different people work in different ways - whatever works for you is the right way!

Then, pick out the words and/or phrases that strike you as something true, then write them down and do a mind map on those too. By now you may well have the makings of a poem! If not, keep mind mapping until you feel there is something there to work with.

Write down the poem, think about it, edit it, think about it some more. When you are convinced you have it shaped into its best shape, leave it a bit longer. Then come back to it, edit it if necessary, and voila! You have a poem.

If you are the same as most people you have lots of flaws, and you have a nasty gremlin in your head who tells you about your flaws quite often. Now you have a double tool - you will be finding things to write about, and you will be silencing that nasty gremlin. I love these Win/Win situations!

So, next time you want to write poem, but can't think of what to write about, take the common advice - 'Write what you know'. What you know better than anyone is yourself. If you follow my advice you will be learning more about yourself and you may well be collecting a deep and meaningful collection of poetry.

Even if what you write is only relevant to you, it won't matter, because you will have been learning about yourself and becoming more mindful of the things that are true for you. This sort of creative writing therapy can be a great help in showing you the direction your life should be going.

I wish you happiness in your journey into your own mind!

Some Simple Ideas on Writing Poetry

There are many different types of poetry. I counted 50 on a quick search of the internet. You may have heard of Haiku and Limericks. There are the more obscure types too, like Terzanelle and Sestina. Learning different types of poetry though, isn't nearly as much fun as inventing your own, so here are some ideas about that.

Types Of Poetry - Playing With Stanzas

What is a stanza? A division of a poem consisting of two or more lines. How many ways can you structure a stanza? As many as you want. Look at this stanza from the poem, "Gratitude:"

So there is nothing to say

There is nothing to say

There is nothing

Nothing...

But gratitude

Each line is a smaller part of the previous line. In this case, it quiets the mind in order to emphasize the last word: gratitude. However, this idea could be used in many ways. You could start with a line like, "She watched the birds come in from the sea," and it can reduce to, "Come in from the sea;" "From the sea:" "Where Michael was left alone in the storm."

Each stanza could have lengthening lines. Lines could be varied in length to create a picture on the page. Playing with stanzas is a fun way to create new types of poetry.

Ideas For New Types Of Poetry

In the poem "Do Not Believe In God," each stanza starts with one of our senses: "See God... in stars and sunlight... and the face of your lover;" Hear God... in wind and waves... and the music of the birds." All the senses are covered. How could we use this general idea? By starting each stanza with a different verb or adjective? By starting each stanza with a different person's name? By having each stanza get smaller or larger as the poem progresses?

How many ways can you play with poems? "Dream poems," could be a type of poetry that puts actual dreams into verse. "Dialog poems" could have stanzas or lines answering each other back and forth. A series of poems could use all the exact same words, rearranged, with an entirely different outcome in each. There are endless types of poetry you can create.

Steve Gillman has been playing with poetry for thirty years. He and his wife Ana created the game "Deal-A-Poem," which can be accessed for free at: http://www.dealapoem.com