Blog #2: Poetry

Writing about poetry got me really thinking about imagery for the most part. Since that was the main focus of my explication paper, imagery was very fresh on my mind. So when it came time to write my "Wrecking the 1st Person" poem imagery was still my main focus. More than structure, rhythm, rhyme, meter, and other such poetic devices, I think that imagery is the most powerful aspect of poetry. In my "Egypt" poem I focused a lot on the images of the desert and of the chaotic and violent situation. Colors, actions, and sound played a large part in the poem's effect. That is why i had everyone walk around in a circle. I wanted people to sense the closeness with a large group of people and also to hear the footsteps of everyone around them. Closing the eyes helps people to focus their senses so they can see and hear the images but also it contributes to the sense of chaos because they are not sure what is happening around them. That poem came from an experience I had in a rural marketplace in Egypt where tourists never really go so my fiancee and I were quite a spectacle. A crowd of children began following us that grew into a crowd of adults as well. It became a mob mentality quickly and people began touching my fiancee in inappropriate places. Consequently, my elbows began swinging in people's faces, it was scary.

For my "Found" poem I did focus more on rhythm and structure but I didn't like it nearly as much. Putting the nursery rhymes together was fun and interesting but the end result was too repetitive and a little boring I think.

Writing about poetry and writing poetry are very different things but I do think that they compliment each other. Writing about poetry gets you thinking about the elements of poetry and how they affect the reader. How the sound and images and other aspects work to make meaning for people. Having all those things in your mind when you sit down to write your own poetry allows you to utilize those aspects and make much more interesting poetry. I think. On the other side, having written poetry you have a deeper understanding of what goes into it and can therefore comment more appropriately on it.

Both of these assignments would be great creative assignments in my own classroom because they allow students to be creative but not take full credit for the work and therefore not have that intimate relationship with it that leads to shyness. Especially the "Found" poem. Its like being a DJ, taking other things and mixing them into something new. I really enjoyed doing these poems and hearing everyone Else's as well. Doing the presentations in class was great but I wonder how that would fair in a high school classroom, or even worse, junior high. Those students might be less inclined to participate in something like that.