Can I just come out and say right now that I absolutely despise poetry? Reading it—much less writing it!—is the epitome of monotony. It feels archaic and senseless. More often than not I feel like halfway-decent prose could describe anything much better than a poem could.
I suppose the reason I write poetry, then, is to perhaps understand it. It’s been around longer than I care to think, in countless forms and languages. Or maybe I’m just a closet masochist.
Absinth
Sitting in a lone reverie,
dreaming of solace and silent relief,
I tune out the white static inside my mind
and to this reverie I am confined.
But I am haunted by a phantom most vain—
self-indulgent, humanity’s bane,
narcissistic, overbearing,
malignant, plastic, cold, uncaring.
Nature prescribes in its ethereal way:
“Indulge in elixir and forget today
and forget them and forget me
and sleep soundly, pleasantly.”
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July 26, 2009 at 17:33
Weronika Janczuk
This poem is beautiful! I really enjoyed reading it and, once again, your prosaic language astounds me. It’s…well…good!
I, too, despise poetry, and I write it to see if I can somehow fall upon the secrets of poetry. It’d be nice to write a good poem once in a while.
How’s your inkTank writing assignment going?
July 26, 2009 at 17:45
Ben Schroeder
This poem was actually written for the assignment; the only painting that really stood out to me was “The Absinth Drinker,” mostly because of the vivid colors and dark figures in the background.
I don’t know if I’ll actually use it for the assignment; I’d like to expand upon it more or convert it into a short story, but I’m not sure I could accomplish that in a week.
How about you? I’ve noticed that you’re quite good at conveying human emotions—whether or not they’re yours—so this sounds like the kind of exercise you’d do quite well in. It’s going to be really great to see what everybody comes up with!
I’m so glad there are other people who share my view on poetry. I think it started in seventh grade, when we had to do a poetry assignment for our Literature class. We learned all about how a poem is structured and all of the rules that apply to poetry universally, but then we learned about e.e. cummings and other people who decided that they didn’t feel like sticking to rules, and now they’re praised as geniuses. I do not understand it one bit.
Sorry for rambling. I’ve felt this way for quite a while. :)
July 28, 2009 at 10:40
Weronika Janczuk
Poetry is just too difficult for me, and I think partially it is because I never learned about poetry in the right manner. And, yes, I will always blame the school system for FAILING to teach me anything useful about English.
As for my assignment, I couldn’t work with any of the Picasso paintings – I’m just not a fan – so I chose “Lucretia” by Rembrandt. I haven’t started yet, but I will either today or tomorrow.
And, thank you! I’m glad I’ve learned something about human emotion in my life. As for converting the poem to a short story, *shrug*. I like it the way it is!
July 28, 2009 at 15:18
Weronika Janczuk
P.S. Here is what I came up with for my piece: http://flowersnbuttons.blogspot.com/2008/07/piece-up-for-critique.html.
I don’t like it very much, but it will have to do.