"The world is made of stories, not of atoms."
- Muriel Rukeyser
A poem is not a list of facts... it is an illuminating dance of relationships.
Poetry involves both creative exposure and creative hiding.
A poem is a reply to the unseen and unheard that gnaws in the darkness of one's ignorance. A poet is a person who cannot ignore the gnawing, who must address it, deal with it, play it out, and does so in the form of word images and sounds.
The poems that are worth making start from the poet's own experiences.
In finding the poem, in facing the terror of the word, the poet must be aware not only of what s/he is trying to communicate, but also what s/he/ is trying to hide.
A poet must examine her/his values - what s/he believes and disbelieves, what s/he loves and doesn't love, what is admirable in human life and what is not so admirable. In short, a poet finds and tells stories that are true to him/herself, and tells them completely.
There is no way of controlling this. One must simply write and speak and remain open to what the writing and speaking is telling you about the world of the poem that is trying to birth itself through you! You mustn't think that you have any power over the poem. To the degree that you do, the poem will be unable to find its truest expression. Creativity is the art of relinquishing control. Poetry is what happens in the process of cultivating your neuroses.
The composition of poetry happens from the inside, out. Often, we don't know what the poem we are making is trying to tell us. If we did, we wouldn't need to make it. The journey into the poem is a journey into intimacy with the poem's subject - ourselves - short of which there can be no emotion, only emotional cliché. Writing a poem is a voyage of discovery - self-discovery.
"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow thetalent to the dark place where it leads."
- Erica Jong
Take fear and torment, isolation and doubt, as your lovers. To be is to be anxious. To be creative is to endure the anxiousness - to use it, shape it, transform it, into something that transcends anxiety.
An appreciation of the inspiration and obsessiveness of poets who have gone before can help break down the sense of isolation. Those who have gone before have drawn from the same pool you will draw from, and those who come after will do the same. We are family. We are part of a tradition, whether we know it or not. There is courage to be found in this realisation...
Poets must be courageous. Without courage where does one find the strength to confront the unknown? - to consider something from a unique or unexpected point of view?
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