Rediscovering poetry
Saturday, February 15, 2014 at 02:00AM I knew about haiku of course, although I could never remember exactly how many syllables they are supposed to have*. But midrashim? Sestina? Villanelle? Just some of the weird and wonderful styles of poetry I have been learning about at my CAE class, Tuesday nights in the city.
For five weeks, six of us turn up – a mixture of genders and generations – and read poems handed out on typewritten (I mean genuine, type-writer written) sheets and talk together about how they work and what they are getting at, under the riveting, eccentric, tender tutelage of poet Judith Rodriguez.
The privilege of being in a class of six with someone of her calibre is quite something. Especially someone who loves teaching as she does – ‘I’ve always just found teaching a romp!’ she says with emphasis.
Poetry is not my thing. There is no way I will pick up a book of poetry if there’s a good novel anywhere in the vicinity. I wrote raw, angsty poems in the mid 90s when I was suffering from depression but never since: maybe I associate it with that bleak time.
I’d like to change this state of affairs though. I’d like to be able to appreciate poetry that isn’t written by Mary Oliver. I’d like to open the rows of volumes I inherited from my poetry-mad mum, with delighted anticipation. I’d like to write poetry, which must surely be the most advanced form of word smithery – so distilled is it, so exact, every word needing to be perfect, unlike in a 90,000 word novel where you can get away with a fair bit of waffle and verbiage.
Most of all, I would like to be able to write poetry from a base of contentment – to see what emerged when I wrote out of happiness and not despair. And I want to write outside my comfort and competence zone – something that will shake me up, make me less earnest, allow me to muck around, to play – that activity so vital to creativity which is easy to lose if you are a) an adult and b) writing often and always striving to be better.
The classes have certainly done the job: a mixture of poetry appreciation and creation. And I have had such fun! It’s been humbling – seeing what is produced by each person each week, and witnessing the way our teacher encourages and suggests, bringing out even better work without making us feel inadequate.
The week after we studied haiku, I couldn’t stop thinking in five and seven syllable lines. I woke up in the middle of the night and scribbled in the notebook I keep by my bed. I had to stop on the way to work to jot down a line on a scrap of paper. I couldn’t start my morning’s admin without writing a haiku. Here are some of them:
Yellow post-it note
Ideal for writing haiku
Quietly at my desk
Earthworms burrow deep
In my verdant vegie patch
Soon the corn will grow
Detective novels
Beckon mouth-wateringly
Which one did the deed?
Grooviest granny
Takes our sons to cool cafes
Hanging with hipsters
Swishing ceiling fan
Keeps me cool all day and night
Keeps me calm and sane
In my office I
Make a pot of dilmah tea
Starts my day off right
Full bladder wakes me
The night is all a-shimmer
Half-moon lifts from clouds
The haiku were relatively straightforward. The following week we studied sestinas and villanelles. Sestinas have a complex mathematical formula to follow. Villanelles are marginally less challenging. The best-known example is Dylan Thomas’ immortal ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light’.
Studying these ancient forms has reminded me that often there is creativity and freedom in structure and rules – in both art and life. My favourite poem of mine is a sonnet. But a sestina, now, that’d be a real challenge. This week, though, I am determined to tackle a villanelle. Not sure if it’ll work, but I’ll give it a red-hot go.
Villanelle’s too hard
Sestina way too baffling
Haiku comes with ease
* Seventeen, distributed over three lines: five, seven, five. Traditionally they tend to be written about the seasons, or some aspect of nature – but contemporary haiku vary from these strict guidelines.
Reader Comments (4)
Hmmm. Not sure good poetry can be written out of contentment. All my favourites (and I enjoy poetry) express anger, grief, discontent, sometimes wonder. I hope to be corrected in my thinking!
Good for you! I love poetry and your comments about villanelles and sestinas bring back fond memories of the poetry writing courses I took at the university. I loved the challenge of those forms. Having my roots in poetry makes me struggle with how anyone can possibly write 90,000 words on anything. A five-stanza poem is long to me and 12 pages is gargantuan. :-) I wish you the joy of discovery as your adventure into poetry continues.
Poetry....... for me an irrepressible urge bubbles up and I am in that bubble of wonder, or happiness, or delight or awe which leaps from the heart and must be expressed. - I admit it is invariably when captured by something of the natural world! When my spirit is low I cannot write a word!!
It is wonderful to hear you writing so positively about poetry; And finding delight in writing it! Keep exploring, and daring the new.