 Poetry: January 13, 2016 Issue [#7417] |
  Poetry
This week: New Year, Old Poetry Edited by: Cinn  
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For those don't know it, I am an avid poetry reader. I wake up with it and go to sleep with it, and I catch as many poems in between as I can. My true passion does not lie in writing poetry at all. I enjoy writing poems, but if forced to choose, I would rather continue to read poetry every day than ever write another piece. This is the foundation of my one and only New Year's Resolution.
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Resolutions tend to be personal, so let me share how my 2016 resolution came to be: Every Christmas for us is the same. We head to my in-law's house, have a meal together, and then unwrap our new poetry books. This year, the books circling beneath the tree included German poetry (in German), Gary Snyder's No Nature, multiple anthologies of Canadian poets, and more World War I poetry to add to my collection. As tradition dictated, we then read each other poems, pointed out personal favorites in the books given to each other, and had discussions about pieces of interest. This sort of 'poetry exchange' is particularly prevalent with me and my father-in-law.
So where is the New Year's resolution in all of this? Well, someone read a line from a poem that seemed familiar to me, and I realized that I had used similar phrasing in a piece that I recently wrote. I mentioned as much, and when they asked to hear it, I pulled out my phone to look it up here on WDC. This move was met with surprise, and my father-in-law said something that I have thought about many times since:
"You can't quote your own work?"
The conversation continued, but the surprised tone of that rhetorical question stuck with me for days. I have since confirmed that I cannot recite a single poem that I wrote. I cannot even quote one line with assurance that it is accurate.
Why should this come as a surprise? I tend to quote snippets of relevant poetry in any given conversation and, if the other party is interested, will recite the full poem. An irksome habit, perhaps, but one that cannot be helped. I also recite poetry to myself until I fall asleep at night. I did say that I love poetry, did I not?
That said, I do not "memorize" poetry. It is not something that I have ever tried to do, in fact. I can recite poetry from memory because I have read many poems hundreds of times. I sometimes discover and rediscover poems, becoming rather obsessed with them for a time, much like people do with a favorite song. I want to hear the sound of it and see the imagery in my mind and savor it multiple times per day over the next several weeks. Reading a poem 20 times in one week is not rare. Naturally, I remember every word after a while.
This explains why I cannot recite my own work. I am not a "fan". That is, I have never written a poem and felt the urge to reread its genius because it is not genius. I don't delve into each word and analyze the meaning because I know the meaning. They do not sing to me like the work of real poets who I adore. I revisit my work and frequently revise, but I have never been hooked on any one piece. I have never read one over and over, trying to squeeze every drop of pleasure from it.
I am not one for making resolutions, but it just so happens that this is the time of year for them. Rather than resolving to write more, I have decided to become a fan of ME, to read more of my own work. There have been poems buried in my port that gave me chills when revising, and I intend to start there and get to know one of them. If I can learn to analyze and value my own work just like I would for any other poet, I'm sure it will only help my writing. At this point, it is unclear whether I will be able to read my own work for pleasure. I'm doubtful, but I believe it is worth a try!
Now, I suppose some people might be wondering why I decided to share my resolution here. I thought that perhaps I am not alone. Surely I am not the only person on WDC who writes poetry but does not truly know their own work. Can you recite one of your poems? Are you a fan of your own work? How often do you reread one of your pieces, not to revise but for pleasure? Because really reading my own work had not occurred to me, I believe it is safe to assume that some of you had never thought to do this either. So, what do you say? Are you ready to become your own biggest fan?
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How many poems do you know by heart?  Who is the poet that you read most often? If you do not read much poetry, why not?
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