This week I'm sharing another Ars Poetica poem. The term loosely means the art of poetry.
The resultant poem is essentially a reflection on the writing of poetry. This ancient form goes all the way back to the Roman poet, Horace who first championed the form. These poems involve the writer examining aspects of poetry's purpose, methods and nature.
Ink In The Heart
There is no ink on my body
Not a single tattoo
I carry my ink in my veins
Allowing it to escape through chosen words
Laid down in poems
A river of inky thoughts flow forth
Line by line
Trickles and torrents
Across a broad landscape of hungry pages
Thought transcribed
Fertile revelations
Pure and heartfelt
Happy, angry and unharnessed
They spill and spread out.
This enduring relationship
Reveals to friend and stranger
The strength of an inner call
To which I willingly respond-
Write,
And continue to write
Let the ink flow
Reveal the words of the poem.
Alan j Wright
It is Poetry Friday and our host this week is Janice Scully. Janice is celebrating US Women's History Month and highlighting women poets. She shares her poem about nurses.
Yes! This is wonderful, Alan. I love how you talk about tattoos here too. Nothing wrong with tattoos, but I can imagine some young people reading your poem and thinking about how they can reveal themselves in so many ways, including in poems. Thank you for your trickles and torrents.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your considered response, Laura. Your thoughts have challenged me to think more broadly.
DeleteThis is Janice. The use of tattooing as a metaphor for writing poems rings true. The happy, angry, unharnessed can be expressed on any writing surface and your poem reveals this choice.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janice. I am reminded how versatile ink can be in creating opportunities to exxpress one's self.
DeleteI love the contrast between ink ON and ink IN. A tattoo is a static statement, but using the ink within us allows for so much more variety of expression! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI like your summation, Mary Lee. I wholeheartedly agree.
DeleteSuch a thoughtful poem, Alan. I love the line: I carry my ink in my veins/
ReplyDeleteAllowing it to escape through chosen words.
Thank you, Rose. I appreciate your kind remarks.
DeleteThis is a lovely and thoughtful poem, Alan. I especially love the line "A river of inky thoughts flow forth" because it feels so connected to the heart.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda. Your remarks are much appreciated. I have long been fascinated by the ink within us.
DeleteYour poem reminds me of the Maya Angelou quote, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." The ink must escape!
ReplyDeleteTabatha, I am unfamilair with this Maya Angelou quote, but i find it quite afforming, so thank you so much for bringing it to my attention.
DeleteThis is a powerful piece about the passion of writing, Alan! Thank you for sharing it. I have some words inside me today that I will now go and let out on a page. It's an important thing to do when feelings are strong or and idea haunts you - get the words down - let them spread out on the page - wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol. May your own words spill upon the page as you would hope for them to land . Your response says so much about a writer's motivation.
DeleteAlan, I especially love this line: "broad landscape of hungry pages" — so much ink to spill.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. Hoping for more inky experiences in the days ahead. I'm always imploring young writers to 'feed' their notebooks, so I must praactice what I preach.
DeleteMy words do feel like water - sometimes they flood the page, tumbling out of me, I feel like I only have to turn on the faucet and out they poor. And other times, it's like there's a drought, the words are all dried up and I have no idea when it will rain again.
ReplyDeleteJane, you provide an equally valid metaphor by invoking 'water.' I have often thought like this regarding the process and particularly the mercurial notion of inspiration.
DeleteBeautiful Alan, you capture so much there about a poet, writer, and the call of writing! I especially liked this line , it's so visual, "Across a broad landscape of hungry pages" it makes me think of all the notebooks I've filled with lines of words and thoughts, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your considered response, Michelle. Much appreciated. Our ever hungry notebooks do indeed crave our words.
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