While away in Bali recently, I had time to write quite a lot of new poetry.
A couple of the poems that emerged in my notebook clearly fell into the category of 'ars poetica.' This term trranlates to 'The art of poetry.'
Such poems examine the role of poets themselves as subjects, revealing their relationship to poetry, and the very act of writing.
This type of poem goes all the way back to Horace who actually called his poem 'Ars Poetica.' It was written between 20Bc and !3 BC and outlined the principles of poetry as he saw it. Horace was both a poet and a critic.
'To write about poetry is to believe that there are answers to some of the questions poets ask of their art, or at least that there are reasons for writing it,'
Michael Weigers
Our respective processes as poets are worthy of consideration. They often prove to be quite revealing. We can find commonality and uniqueness from such investigations. So, here are the poems for you to consider.
Wish You Were Here
Seated at a café table
Wearing my holiday hat
And a casual shirt
To set the lightest of moods.
The local weather
Frequently slips into a line somewhere
If an appropriate adjective for the prevailing conditions
Pops up in time.
My time in this place
Is compressed, finite
A slice of time
With focused feelings
And postcard imagery
Swirling in my coffee nourished mind
Until I return to more familiar haunts
Loaded with holiday highlights
And words to fix memories in place.
Words Flow
It is easy
For me to enter
This world of words
And ideas.
I sit down,
Open my notebook
Uncover the pen slightly above the expectant page
Lower it confidently
In a deliberate arc
To make contact with the paper’s unmarked surface
And before that first line is barely dry
The next line is nudging its way out
-Some days…
Sounds like an enjoyable and productive vacation. I can really relate to that second poem--some days!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay. It was both relaxing and productive. The mind cleared, leaving space for new words to emerge. Quite rewarding time.
ReplyDeleteIt is something all poets must feel, that moment, over a page, waiting for feelings and sights and sounds to somehow become words. Thank you for sharing a bit of Bali. Must be a beautiful place.
ReplyDelete"To fix memories in place" is a joy to me when I travel & write. That act of pen to paper sticks mightily to the brain for a capture. Thanks for writing about poetry, Alan, feels like your Bali vacation was a lovely start to 2023. I love "The next line is nudging its way out."
ReplyDeleteI'm so with you on the ending of that second poem. "Some days..." And then there are all the rest when either nothing or nothing that resembles poetry is what comes out!
ReplyDelete"To fix memories in place" ...this! I kept my notebook close when I traveled last summer. It sounds like you had a wonderful adventure.
ReplyDeleteYes, I love those 'Some Days.' They keep me writing...hoping for another one. Wonderful poems, Alan. I'm still envious of you being in Bali. That little photo of writing by the pool looks like a bit of heaven. Now, I sit with the expectant page. Maybe I can pull some holiday images from it for writing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful vacation! So glad you got lots of writing done in such a beautiful locale.
ReplyDeleteYou are brave, Alan, to enter the world of meta-poems. I'm sort of like that pre-teen, clueless adolescent that prefers -at this age- to write and move on. Your word-world is like a roundabout that I see as I approach... I delight in that core - and then gladly give way as I skirt the center.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading both of your poems. I've been thinking more and more of traveling. Your post reminds me of how important it is to gather up new images, ideas, and experiences. I really liked the ending line of your first poem "And words to fix memories in places." How lovely that poetry is (or can be) a loyal traveling companion!
ReplyDeleteAlan, your words speak to me. I can only imagine how lovely your vacation was:
ReplyDeleteWith focused feelings
And postcard imagery
You have inspired me to find poetry in my upcoming vacation with the family and grands to Disney World and the Disney cruise.
Your Bali getaway sounds wonderful! I love the truth of both of your poems. Yes, we have an abundance of "words to fix memories in place." So glad you had "some days" to "enter the world of words."
ReplyDelete