"A Poet's Self Analysis"

[Martin Vann]

Where do poems come from? Why do we write the way we do? What are the outstanding characteristics of our poems? As a self-porclaimed Poet, WHO AM I?

I happened to ask these questions of myself today and wanted to get some answers about me and, I WANT to know, how do you come up with your poems, how do you do it, what is your process?

To find answers to my questions about myself, I went to my area of poems on Dreamer's site. I looked at all the titles and HEY, this can be very revealing, give it a try. Its very interesting what you will see by looking at the titles of your poems.

I have written poems with titles from "Verbal Intercourse," to "Little Flower On My Car Window." Now, you may see, what I'm getting at here. Verbal Intercouse sounds interesting, it indicates sex, but Flower on someone's care window? give me a break!

I think, my basic poem writing process is what I call the, Blind Man's Cane process, yes, I made that up.

This is how it works for me I think, I subconsciously of course, take my pen and just sort of stick it out there in the woorld and move it around until I touch something, like a blind man would do with his cane.

Then I decide if, I need to go around it or, theought it. If I decide to go through it, then I began to write about it.

Honest, I seldom know where my words will go, but once I start, the words began to flow. Sometimes, I just hear a good line, then I may write it down and see where it goes. Sometimes I think of a cool title, then I see where that may go.

One thing I do not do is, I never come up with a good title and then, try and force a poem around it, that doesn't work for me. I think poets have a magic of sorts, the words come from somewhere, I just don't know where, they come from. I don't feel, that I force them to appear and rhyme and make sense and so forth.

I noticed by viewing the titles of my poems that my characteristic I think, is to think about a common theme, then I write about it in the abstract. I will as an example, instead of using the wword rape, I will somehow, turn it into "poetice Penetration," as in a poem called, "The Black Knight" quite weird, isn't it, this process?

I find that I alwo enjoy reading your poems, then without great effort, when I reply to your work, I become part of it and my reply is often an extension of your own poem. Its as if you allowed me to co-author your poem, adding one more little thought. I do this because your poem made me feel as if, I was a part of your peom and understand it from my own perspective. To me, without thinking of doing it as a compliment to you, I'm sharing the results of your own work, back to you, and not at you.

That is all I wanted to say and I do hope that you will reply with how, you seem to be able to create such beautiful poetry and Who are you as a poet, where does your material come from, why do you write as you do.

Hey, have a great day!

Martin

[Leah06]

Wow, this is a hard thing to think about. But ill try my best.

How I Create My Poetry:


I dont really know how it happens, it just comes natrally. Its like fate, you cant see whats happening or why, it just dose and its the right thing thats ment for you. I guess my process is life and just doing my own thing and all of a sudden it comes out of nowhere. And i pull out the first pice of papper, magazine, napkin, or whatever i can write on and let it all flow freely out of my head onto the object i am writing on. And everytime i write it hase some sort of thought or story behind it. Sometimes ill just be thinking and it comes to me from my heart or from a conversation im having. And when i write it feels like im doing the right thing. It just feels like i was ment to write. Its like the only thing i was born for. To write poetry. But then i think im not all that good, i may be good compared to some but still.

Who i am as a poet:

I dont really know how to answer this question. But i am the one who can understand and listen to where others are coming from and what they are going through. I am the girl who cries when a poem has really touched that one spot in your heart that will effect you life forever. As a poet, i am the emotional one who has experienced too much at the age of 15 and still can take more pain. I guess im the one whose always there for another poet no matter what and i will do anything for a fellow poet. Im not shure if this is how this question was to be answered but be more specific and ill try again.

Why i write the way i do:

Umm this one is hard because i dont know exactly how i write the way i do. I guess its because when i was younger i read a poetry book and fell in love with poetry since that day and i guess i write the way i do because of all the poems i have read including the poems on this site. I know that everyday effects and changes my life and the way i write. I just hope its for the better.


umm i hope none of this bores anyone and if you want top ask anyquestions or what ever feel free to tell me or ask me and stuff. Also if i answer all of these wrong tell me so i can try again.


Love always
Leah Kendall
or
Leah06

[BenLaney]

Hey, Martin!!
Now you OF ALL PEOPLE know what having to answer multiple questions does to me! I can only hope that you appreciate how much work this is, Amigo!
Okay....Where do poems come from? Well, one method I use is putting on scuba gear and going around in the backs of apartment buildings and stores and diving into the dumpsters. There are gold mines in there!
While in there, in the depths of the garbage, I look around for scraps of paper with words written on them. I only keep the ones that are in english, because I have a better chance of understanding more of them. My spanish is really, truly lousy!
The next step is to go straight home and take a shower, because some of those odors from the dumpster can kind of get stuck on me and my friends start saying things like, "Oooh, you smell, maybe you should take a shower!" So, I do wash myself real good before going to the next step in my creative process, which is to try to put these word gems together in a coherent and harmonious fashion, that is, to turn it into something I can call my own and sign my name to.
Okay, shower is taken care of and it's time to get to the real work part of the poetic process! Now I take all those scraps of paper to a place in the back yard where there is plenty of sunlight. I like to be able to see it all plainly, so I then lay all the words out in kind of a semi-circle in front of me on the ground.
Right about at this point in time the adrenaline starts kicking in and beads of sweat start pouring off my forehead by the buckets because I'm trying to use my brain and this can be VERY difficult for me! But I persevere, like any poetic soul would, and continue with the task at hand.
Now I look around at all these words I have at my disposal and my first thought is, "Wow, I've got a lot of words here at my disposal to choose from!" This does not stop me, however. At this juncture something triggers in my brain an event that is paramount to my making it through to the finish of what I can proudly call a unique creation.
And, Just what is that? , you might well ask. Well, what "it" is are my feelings rise to the fore. I start looking now for only the words that may convey my emotions. Now, it's getting REALLY HAIRY!! I want something in particular now. I start having "birth pangs' now and my heart beat speeds up.
Yes! I want to tell something and how I felt about it or how it affected me. It could be pain. It could be pleasure. It could even be something that happened to you. It could be funny!! Ha! Ha! Haaaaaa! It could be the death of someone precious and dear who has been ripped out of my life by that dark enemy. That's happened too many times.
It could be something I saw in a little child's eye. It could be an unselfish act of a stranger towards me. It could be something that only God and I knew up till now. The deeper the feeling, the more it means to me. And, yet, I really, really sometimes just want to be silly. Would you ever have guessed that about me! Ha! Ha! Haaaa!
So, there you have it Martin! I take away the words that have nothing to do with what I want to say in a song or poem. And what about the rest of them? I used them up throwing together this little post in the forum just for you, my poetic friend!!
Now, if there are more questions I can answer for you I will be happy to do so. You can e-mail me at choctowben@netscape.net twenty-four hours a day. But, for right now please excuse me. I gotta go put on my scuba gear so I can get something to post for next week!! Ha! Ha! Haaaa!
Hasta La Cucaracha Muchacho!!
Best Regards,
Ben
Ps. If any little part of what is written above makes sense to you, Martin, perhaps you should consider psychoanalysis. But seriously this time!! DON'T keep puttin it off like I do! Ha! Ha! Haaaaaa! Keep Writing!

[Martin Vann]

Okay Ben,

I just finished de-waking this statement, meaing I too out the wake stuff, had to duck a few times, some of is still moving. Then, reading what was left, I gather in your case with a RAKE, that you have some type of note book and you jot down spontaneous thought for later review. That makes sense, I beleive dreamer mentioned doing something similar,gusee we all do. Often, I will start a poem, just to get the feel of of it then, I store in word and go back later and see if I can figure it out. I call this my "Word Junk Yard," kind of like your dipes mind, I mean dumpster. this give me an array of parts that I can interchange with something else and sometimes, I can actually, get that old enigne to kick over and get something going.

Ben, Thank for the contribution, very, interesting.

Hasta La Go WAY-Back, please, Way-Back, you seem to have an odor, my friend Ben.

[RinRin]

alrighty then!! (Ben cracks me up )

what's interesting about this post is that the way Martin described his own process of writing his wonderful poetry is very, if not absolutely, similar to mine!

How I create my poetry: well...like many of the poets in this world, including here at Dreamer's, my words come, and there is no definite place they come from. If there is a place, I've no idea where it is. It would seem that they come from the mind, and maybe they do, but I would think the soul and heart would have something to do with it too. Words can be destructive, heart wrenching, healing...so many different feelings can be created. That is where I come from when I let those words reveal themselves. Most of the time, I have no idea what I'm even trying to say! They are words, and they'll make sense later, but in the beginning, I just let whatever words want to come out, come out!

Who am I as a poet: Well i'm not sure who I am, but I do know who I'm trying to be. I try to inspire with my poetry...I try to be expressive...but most of all I'm trying to find the real ME. I have no idea who I am as a poet, or a human, or anything else! I'm not even sure if anyone REALLY knows....

Why I write the way I do: I write the way I do because...that's what feels right to me. whatever feels right at the moment to write, I'll write it, simply because it feels right! (dang the english language..."right" and "write"....why can't they just sound DIFFERENT?!)

hmmm....I feel I haven't done justice to the questions...I don't think I expained myself well enough, but those questions are very good ones that make people really think about themselves. I think I've learned a lot from this experience! Thank you, Martin, for your intriguing post!!

*RinRin*

[Luc]

I think, my basic poem writing process is what I call the, Blind Man's Cane process, yes, I made that up.

oddly enough, your explination of "Blind Man's Cane" process can be used to described my poems.

but think of me as a blind man without a cane. whatever i just so happen to bump into, i write about it. think of a blind man running at full speed on the highway (the opposite direction). so when i crash into a car (the crash being a moment in life) i write about it. as for the style of writing, then, depends on how the crash was, a big chaotic crash, then the style demands a style a bit controversial, or perhaps just dramatic, eye catching for short. a crash thats less "dramatic" would cause for a soothing, more "aw" type of poem.

confuseing isnt it?

ooh dont you just love metaphors.. ha.. um.. i think those are metaphors..

[Martin Vann]

To RinRin & Luc,

You both make poetic sense and you are both very clear and understandable, perhaps, only those of us who "right Woops, ment Write" can understand "the process." Like, RinRin, the birth of a poem is often without clear direction, its more of spirtual trip and the words speak "back to us," saying, let's go here or let's go there. To me, that is one of the most self-entertaining and interesting rewards about our poetic gestures. The trip is free and we never know what we will see/reveal, or where we will go. Luc, I understand every word in your reply, and I believe that this subject we are discussing is very interesting because, in fact, we are replying to our selves and I find that very, very, interesting and self rewarding.

I have been thinking about the replies here and a thought just popped into my mind." Poets will take a few words, and place them in their writing hand, included in this hand of words, is a pair of dice. We shake them up and let them go, we never know, what the roll wil show.

Thank you both, for your thoughts, your are both, perceptive and excellent poets. I'm very happy with the interest and courtesy we are sharing with each other here.

Poet to Poet...,
Thank You
Martin

[Leah06]

i just noticed that the way that somone writes poetry is all different, my process differes from time to time, sometimes it will be all of a sudden, and idea will come along and other times it takes a long time. whats funny is when i was packing my room up for construction, i found all of thease random poems in ramndom notebooks, and i had no idea i wrote them. some of them were so good i didnt know i could write like that. it was weird, i write then i loose it then i find it years or even days later and it is even better than i thought when i wrote it. am i the only one that gose through that>?

[Stacey]

you going to post the ones you found?

[Leah06]

dont know yet