of poetry

April is poetry month. That phase is echoing over the internet and maybe a little attention is being drawn to the history of poetics. Search “history of poetry” and you will find many references to poetry pre-dating written language. It was often used as a tool to record events, tell stories and accompany music. It is foundational to human communication and community. Evolving through the ages, poetry is still with us, finding new shapes as language evolves. I have seen it described as “art based on language” but there is a general consensus that there is a quality to poetry that is indefinable. My attraction to it is the way a word can hold different meanings/qualities/hues depending on where and how it appears in a poem.

For me, a poem is like an abstract painting. A mix of color, texture, shape and line. And a poem is like a sculpture, full of expression, curve, gesture, representation, and suggestion.

You get the idea – indefinable.

My intention to honor the poetry month is to write a poem every day (or perhaps realistically, a draft of a poem). But here is my conundrum – if I want to later see my work published I cannot share my work here as it would be considered published. And further, even excerpts and drafts might fall under that definition.

So share and maybe self publish or don’t share and submit in the future.

I will decide as a go. Diving into words . . .