The forum was started on Read Write Poem’s site to discuss the closing, the sentiment, the next steps.

What comes after Read Write Poem closes was anyone’s guess. In this information post at his blog, Bearly Audible, Neil Reid has links that really need to be explored.

And he’s gone much further! Neil has done this awesome thing of opening a new community site, We Write Poems, as an option for Read Write Poem members to join. If you’re familiar with the writers at Read Write Poem, or become familiar by reading the postings there, you’ll be happy to know that several of the talents from RWP are participating in Neil’s new site. That is pretty cool!

So are many others stepping up with ways to continue doing what brings them joy. Among them, Rob Kistner returning to his Writer’s Island for regular weekly prompts. And, he presents links to other prompt sites for our participation.

No Longer Active, Still Vital

This is all quite new to me. Once I decided to post more of my writing and engage poetry more fully, it quickly became clear that it wasn’t something I wanted to do alone. I may have mentioned how thrilled I was to have finally gotten up the nerve to tap into some great poetry communities.

When I went for it, Read Write Poem was one of the first ones I found that I braved. I will always be glad I started there. Having the opportunity to continue with this community of poem writers is just a big ol’ gift I eagerly accept.

I’m keeping the Read Write Poem badge in my sidebar as long as it remains online for exploration. And I’ll add other badges for sites I participate in, first up We Write Poems, coming soon.

Everything related to RWP’s NaPoWriMo event is in place. You can visit this link to read about the plans for the online anthology of some poems from this month’s submissions.

Eight Steps to a Poem a Day

1. Read the prompt as early as possible. Give it time to marinate. Let your subconscious have first crack at it, while you go through your day.
2. Consciously dismiss all concerns and distractions at writing time. You may even try saying aloud, “Time to write a poem.” Focus on the prompt and how you interpret it.
3. When a prompt takes you to a particular place, that’s where you start writing. If that doesn’t happen, write whatever thoughts come to mind. In this stage of associative writing (I call it that) you’re stirring your personal knowledge from the bottom up, and things can surface that may have been dormant for many years. It happens and it is quite useful.
4. Eventually something will strike you. That’s the theme you wan to give your attention to and develop.
5. Find the sense of what you’re hearing in the words. Write words that are fully expressive of what you’re thinking, in colors, smells, emotions. Write to reflect the rhythm you feel, breaking lines however you like. Just get the words down to flesh out your message.
6. Shape your poem. You’ll read your poems several times before it’s over. First reading: Listen to the flow and revise your line breaks and punctuation to convey the rhythm and breaths you use.
7. Read aloud with affect. Does it sound like you want. Read with different rhythms that play from your shape. Listen for what readers may hear. Make changes as you see fit.
8. Take a break from the poem. If you’re like me you may not have a lot of time for this. But it helps. When you can, move off your poem, to something else. Return later to repeat the process of reading and editing  until your comfortable, (or run out of time), and post.

A Word about Speeding

These steps are from my experiences with daily poem writing on my own, and with prompts in November 2009. The writing goes fast, and so does the editing. In fact you can do it in a day or in an hour as time permits.

My point is that your goal isn’t to perfect your poem. That comes later. What you’re doing is making it work so that 1. your message is understood, and 2. you’re willing to let it go live. Easy, right?

Writing without prompts

Although this is written toward prompted poems, there’s really very little difference between prompted and unprompted poem writing. Really, the only difference is that someone other than you provides the prompts.

Think about it: Unprompted poems are really poems that you prompt for yourself. Rummaging through your thoughts, you pick up things that interest you and get working on it. So, skipping number 1, you can move through the same steps as above—I do.

Be sure to visit the links on the NPM 2010 page for links to participate in National Poetry Month. Links for this event are in the sidebar for easy access.

Let me know your thoughts. What did I miss? What routines do you have to write your poems?

This are the three rules I picked up on while researching Haiku. I started my research as a result of joining the Haiku group at Read Write Poem. The group moderator, Allen Summers, has a great site, With Words, which is a great place to get started writing in the form.

The moderator told me about a book called Baseball Haiku, something I might not otherwise have picked up. I got it from the library and got a lot out of it.

Taking Liberties

Baseball Haiku: The Best Haiku Ever Written About Baseball
by Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura.

This book contains over two hundred American and Japanese Haiku. It includes bios of the writers whose works are included. The poems show several of the liberties that writers take with the format.

One variation is the number of syllables used. At least in American poetry, it is often less than 17 syllables that you’ll read. It seems that 17 syllables is an awkward number to work with because of the way the English language is formed.

Whereas, Japanese syllables are counted very differently from ours and that is based on the way the language is written. They may actually use many more syllables than in the English poems.

The other thing I noticed in the poems is that they don’t all contain words related to the season, (originally a Haiku imperative).

Investigating this form, working to produce Haiku, I’ve learned a few things about myself.

1. I can learn to write these
2. Not all my first efforts were passable
3. There are a lot of variations I want to try out

Two Questions Occur to Me

Haiku is a verse format. In fact Japanese Haiku, I read, is often written in one line. So I’m wondering, is it officially acceptable to use a collection of Haiku verses to complete one poem? I did, but I don’t know if it’s allowed.

Is it acceptable to title Haiku poems? I see them titled and not. When I think about it, it could be cheating to title a Haiku as that is literally adding more titles. My inquiring mind needs to know.

It’s been a lot of fun to work with this form and I’m not finished yet. It’s really not that easy to make them sing. Still, I am enjoying working with them. Trying out a form is a great way to learn how to use it. And with that, it’s a good idea to seek out feedback from someone whose opinion you respect.

I’d love to know what do to learn different poetry forms. And if you want to share your thoughts about Haiku, let me know that too.

Do you smile when you have to read a poem, or does the idea of reading a poem make your eyes bleed?

If you’re a member of the latter group, and really want to partake in a rich poetry experience, I have a few things that you can try. Before you ask, this is not for poetry majors. It’s for people like you and me who just want enjoy the genre.

Time to Go Shopping

First, you have to find poetry to read. Go to the bookstore one day when you have time to relax and sit with some titles. Get to the poetry section and start by reading titles. When you find something that catches your attention, pull it and start paging through.

What are you looking for? Well, you want something that you can read and understand. It’s fine to have to work for the meaning, but you want to be able to get to the meanings at some point.

Reading Suggestions

I have enjoyed Shakespeare in school, but some others really hurt my head. These days, I read contemporary poets whose work is accessible to me. By accessible I mean that I can understand it’s meaning. I need to be able to understand it to get my inspiration from it.

In well written poetry, the writer paints pictures and doors and windows. They use their words to invite me in, to walk in their shoes and see from their perspective. It’s what I try to do in my poetry. Five writers I really enjoy include:

1. Lucille Clifton – Blessing the Boats
2. Billy Collins – The Art of Drowning
3. Stephen Dunn – Different Hours
4. Audre Lorde – The Black Unicorn
5. Stanley Kunitz – Collected Poems

You can find these titles in bookstores, online and possibly in libraries. I think they’re a good place to start. They make me work but their words draw me in and lead me to their meaning in one line, one stanza, one poem.

How do I Read Poetry?

I’m glad you asked. You need to come to it with an open mind. Pick a poem; start anywhere in your book. Look at the poem, and let the shape inform you. The cut of the lines give you places to pause when you’re reading.

Read the poem once to get familiar with the words and spaces. If there are unfamiliar to you, get their definitions. Read it again aloud; use pauses and voice inflection to be as specific as possible. Ask questions of the poems. Write in the margins or on a separate sheet of paper.

I suggest writing in the margins because I’m a big fan of doing that. It’s the closest I can come to questioning the author or the poem.  And, it’s not always questions I write in the margins. Sometimes I include, reactions, insights and alternatives to the words the author selected.

Finally, once I have all the words and spaces down, I read it once more, letting it flow, so that I can hear what the author wanted me to hear.

Responding to Poetry

Poetry exists because the writer wanted to share an experience, tell you a story, impart a sentiment. Your purpose for reading it is to get his message, hopefully in an enjoyable reading experience. Here’s where you answer the above questions you posed to the poetry, and what can come of reading it:

• The whole meaning as you understand it
• And understanding of what the poem meant for you
• A specific reaction to the poem
• Possibly a new perspective on something
• A poem or other genre piece that you write

What the poet imparts is not mysterious. It’s lyrical. A song can tell you a lot without the detail of a novel. Such is the case for a poem. And, where songs rely on music to convey part of the meaning, poems use solely their words and rhythm. To get it, you take in the whole poem: words, rhythm, and construction.

And, my favorite part about poetry: your story and your experiences are called into play to complete the story. I think more than any other genre, poetry makes use of what you bring to the reading to explode its meaning.

When you are open to poetry, it has a way of opening you to a perspective different from your usual one. It can give you a deeper understanding. I think it has to do with the fact that poems don’t tell you everything (even though they do tell you a lot). This construction compels readers, me and you, to fill in the total picture. It’s part of the fun.

Have you tried reading poetry? If you haven’t yet, or haven’t in a long while, try my suggestions. Come back and tell me how it worked for you. Share with me the poem you read and what you liked about it.

Further Reading

There are many online resources and books you can read to learn about reading poetry.

A Short Guide to Reading Poetry – an online site I really like

Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse – a favorite book on reading and writing poetry