"A Poet's Self Analysis"

[Templar]

I dont know where my thoughts come from.. Or why I think them.

Almost all of my poems deal with death, fate, and forgiveness, yet in real life I am a very happy and fun to be around person, I actually am pretty stupid as well, I find myself doing jackass gags all too often :/

Anyways, I have noticed that most of what I write about has something to do with some sort of conflict.

I have never been able to write about anything non conflict related, I'm not sure why, I just have no writing ability I suppose.

I guess the only reason I really think about what I do so much is because today people arent thankful enough for what has been given to them.

And in the cases with my writing about Samurai' is because of their teachings, it really teaches anyone who reads it a lesson about the age old saying "With power comes responsibility", and in the case of Samurai they were so deadly that if they were to lose their concentration, and become power hungry, they would eventually slip up, and when they were taking in their last breaths, they would look back on what they had done, and think why had they forsaken their teachings, then die a sad and lonely death

[Dreamer]

Martin, Just like you to make me have to think.. and Ben.. I just don't know about you.. Great Thread too anyway.....

How do I create....

It seems that my poetry and writing comes form that same mysterious place everyone elses does. It's like it is just floating out there and mind grasps a corner of it and automatically start reeling it in and spinning it into the fabric of a poem..

I am sure I have said it before, my inspiration comes at the most inopportune times. When I am submerged to my elbows in dish water, in the shower or driving down the road. All times when my mind is free to roam a bit unchallenged by daily interuptions. I write from the inside, things I ponder about. The words seem to just put themselves together and I am just a vessel used by them to put it on paper or in type. It becomes a need to write them down. If I don't I actually feel a loss. Like something just passed me by.

Who am I as a Poet....

I would have to say I am an observer. Everything has some sort of story to tell and I feel it is my given talent to translate and tell it. I think it is like the job of a story teller, minstral, and/or bard of long ago . I want to tell the story of life around me, the people I meet and things that cross my path in life's journey. I try to express my feelings in a way that others can understand. As a poet/writer I feel it is important to have someone feel or learn something after they have finished reading.

Why do I write the way I do..

Kind of a cross over of the last question. I like to use the metaphor and rhyme. Rhyme seems to be natural for me. (I blame Dr. Suess and nursery rhymes) Metaphors seem sort of a way of cushioning the truth a bit. I write about real life events going on around me. Close friends would feel offended if I was to talk about them openly. It would also lock the poem into the specific meaning of the poem. Being right out and open in a poem is okay for some writings. Ones when you are trying to make a specific point. I like people to think. Writing metaphoically allows people more freedom to use their own life and thoughts to find a meaning in the poem that works for them. Thus becoming part of their art too. Metaphors also are a way of playing with words to me. Using words in ways they might not have been used recently, making it sort of a puzzle.

Those who have known me a long time know my dragons are metaphor for my daughters illness and the knight symbolizes my internal fight for her sanity and my inward and outward fight with how the system deals with people who have these sorts of problems happen to them.

Yet speaking of dragons and knights can mean the fight of good and evil, and to some just plain.. knights and dragons. But to each person they find their own meaning hidden in the metaphorical puzzle.

I also write that way for protection of whom I may be writing about. Their privacy is masked and not outwardly announced. The "I" can be hidden in the "you", or the "you" can be hidden in the "I". So my writings aren't always about MY life. "I" becomes the perspective of whom or whatever the current narrator is.

But I also like playing with the various forms and styles of poetry. Experimenting with the ways words work. Keeps it fun. So whether I am making a statement, sharing a story or just plain writing for the whimsy I write to share part of who I am with the world now and maybe who we were to the future generations. (If my work lasts that long) Giving them a peek at what life is like from my point of view.

But underneath it all, I basically write for me. Cause it's what feels right.

[Leah06]

has anyone heard from martin latley?

[shanz]

who am i as a poet huh? well, I've come across looking at this question time and time again in this forum, but can't seem to find the answer to the question, no matter how hard i look for it. and I've realized, that i can't find the answer only because it is my poems who make me who i am. the rush i get when i write, the ease and breeze of how the mind flows when i go into "writing mode", the way the words come out, they just flow naturally, and along the way, help me show myself who i am, and who i want to be. this is the same for me with art. i melt into whatever it is I'm working with, whether it be clay, pastels, markers, crayons, forks (dont ask) or anything.. I'm in a zone until I've finished it, and then when i stand back and look at it, or stand back and read it, i see something of myself that wasn't there before. whether it be a piece of my heart and soul I've never seen before, or a point of view of something i didn't think i had. through creations of poems and artistic things I've done, i've learned a lot about myself, and also given myself new questions to try to answer about life, and feelings and emotions that it will take me through. i intend to write about every single one of them and learn from them as well. I used to hide inside myself. Keep everything enclosed somewhere in the back of my head, or heart, or where ever, and poetry has been my light, my release, my break through to begin enjoying things in life, and things about myself.
As for how I create my poetry, well that stems back to it creating itself. the words just seem to be there, at the end of my pen, or pencil, or whatever it is that I'm using at the time to explode my "writing mode" down onto paper or screen. they flow from the heart, or maybe the soul, or maybe just some weird place in the brain, who knows, but they are just there. i constantly have something to write with on me. i walk around daily with scrap pieces of paper in my jeans and a pen in my ear. i just never know when the "writing rush" will happen. Sometimes I get a random thought or feeling, and words about it just follow, and flow into a poem in my head. I feel sometimes that if I don't write them down, I'll explode. I kind of feel like if I let this feeling or thought pass me by, that I'll never feel or think the same way again. Sometimes I feel like I have an obsession with writing or creating art. When the rush hits, there's no escaping it, or releasing it, until I've grabbed a hold of a piece of paper and a pen, or whatever art project I'm working on, and dive into it. I strive to write, I strive to hit home with the feelings I feel or thoughts I have when I create them into poetry or art. I strive to keep dreaming, keep writing, and keep believing in myself and what my poetry and art shows me about life and myself along the way, and that's who I am as a poet

[bingholic98]

Martin I just write what I think of. What has happened during the day and what it made me feel or others feel.

[Xeracy]

I really wish that I knew the entire answer the question, but I know a few things. Too me, "art never comes from happiness". Points if you can guess the book that that quote came from. Poems, I think, are a great way to soul search. I mostly just get more confusing questions out of them, but it's awesome to be able to see and plot what you were thinking at a moment in time when usually you couldn't do so otherwise. That's kinda why I like to call myself a poet. We/I are a rare bunch that love to look into each others souls through the art of words. It's very difficult to write, very difficult to interpret, and very rewarding.

[Leah06]

good advice/words of wisdom


i miss seizure!

[LinzAy]

I miss his poetry and smart ass ways on this site too..... Thankgod I still talk to him.......

[Leah06]

i talk to him to but i really do miss him on dreamers

[Dreamer]

The quote is from a book called Choke If I remember correctly he also wrote the Fight Club