Writing Poetry

Wow - I didn't know that I could write poetry.

The other day I was sitting at the park, in my car. I often do that, in between activities throughout a busy day. I just drive to the park and sit in my car and look out the windshield at the beauty of nature. When the weather is nice, I subject myself to bugs, damp grass, and rough tree bark against my back.

Anyways, I was thinking a lot, and very emotional/upset about some things. And I decided that maybe I should write them out. But my usual journaling just wasn't cutting it. So I thought, "Hey! Why not give poetry a try!" Going over poetry in class has helped me realize that poetry is very much written for the author. While rhyming and tone and symbol and imagery are all important and wonderful things in poetry - there's also a point at which nearly anything can be poetry. Naturally, these "anything" poems aren't going to be published, or read by the multitudes like the amazing poems in my Comp II textbook. But they still count as poetry. :)

I wrote 3 poems that day. I wrote one yesterday. It was an interesting and enlightening experience.

One thing it made me wonder is how much poets put into rewriting and revising their poems. I mean, because what I wrote is just my raw thoughts, written in lines that somewhat go together, I can't imagine going back through and revising or editing it. I mean, I wouldn't be feeling the same things - how would I be able to remember what I was wanting to say or convey, and how would I make it say it better if I was no longer feeling that way?

Does that make any sense? No? Oh well, it's poetry, so it doesn't have to!