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Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York. I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...

Poetry Friday 'Storm On The Island' Seamus Heaney

Given the fact that we recently celebrated St Patrick's Day, it seems appropriate that I take this opportunity to continue the Irish focus and recognize one of Ireland's leading literary figures... Seamus Heaney was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland in 1939 and died in 2013. He became a multi award winning poet. His first collection of poems, 'Death of a Naturalist' appeared in 1966 and helped to establish Heaney as one of the major poets of the 20th century. From that first anthology, I have chosen 'Storm On The Island.' This poem tells us about the stoic resistance of people and structures to an incoming storm. The island is not named. Poetic scholars believe this is a poem that can be taken literally, as a monologue on the life and attitude of island people facing a storm, or it can be understood as a metaphor of political struggle on the island of Ireland. Heaney knew both worlds. The poems of this first collection are grounded in the soil...

Silence In the House Poem

I have been pondering the notion of silence since reading Mary Oliver's short poem,'The Old Poets of China.' Wherever I am, the world comes after me. that I do not want it. Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist. It offers me its busyness. It does not believe Mary Oliver I am not uncomfortable with silence. it is something I savour. Silence can be an elusive thing to find in our noisy, busy lives, but there is value in seeking it out. Silence can be restorative. It can deliver a sense of peace, clarity and understanding. Sit and listen in a quiet place, both inside yourself as well as immediately around you. It may conjure thoughts and ideas for your poetry. It's sometimes amazing what emerges from the silence surrounding you. Awake In A Silent House At midnight Our house is a nest of dark rooms Still,wrapped in silence Inside my head though Thoughts dance wildly in circles They...

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