Posted in Writing, tagged clustering, creative writing, Poetry, quiet living, Writing, writing techniques on 31 Mar 2014| Leave a Comment »
In the cold air of evening
Wrens forage on a red-barked tree
Cry here here here
Robins flee from my footstep
Eye me from amid apple blossoms
Coughing rum-rum-rum like old cars in the morning
Juncos steal past below me
Seeking midges mid-air
They leap silently through the gloaming
Sunset breaks the lidded sky
Limns the buds of maples
In the cold air of evening
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, Poetry, Writing on 08 May 2013| Leave a Comment »
water bubbles up
through concrete and macadam
past stone and brickwork
a quiet spring
a seeping thread of clear water
it cleanses my singing tires
rises in hissing mist
makes rainbows in the rising sun
the natural world lives on
despite manmade bonds
lies quietly beneath my feet
like grass in cracked pavement
Posted in Writing, tagged clustering, creative writing, doggerel, poem, Poetry, Writing, writing techniques on 30 Apr 2013| 4 Comments »
Over the weekend, I experimented with the “clustering” technique, with mixed success.
It is a great idea generation tool, and similar to Ray Bradbury’s morning word association ritual, can seemingly bring something out of nothing. It needs a seed, a kernel from which to grow, so it’s not literally “from nothing,” but that kernel can just be the first word that pops into your head. I’ve had success before, born of this sort of free-wheeling (my Ploughman Chronicles started from just such a random idea generation technique), but what clustering provides is a definite method.
Another way I found it of use is in focusing and honing an idea I already had. I used it when I created “25 Hz,” posted yesterday. I already had the idea, born of a crappy mood and a little cat therapy, but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to say. Clustering around the word “purr” gave me a page of word associations and–to my surprise–almost all of them appeared in the short poem.
However, there was one area in which I found clustering to be of no use whatsoever: Rhyming.
Yesterday, I got the bit of doggerel stuck in my head. I knew the start. I knew the finish. I just needed help with the in-between bits, all of which needed to fit in with a strict meter and rhyming scheme. Here, clustering failed me, utterly. To finish, I had to resort to an old school method; I slept on it.
Posted in Writing, tagged cats, creative writing, poem, Poetry, purr on 29 Apr 2013| 3 Comments »
the number on her breath—
inward, louder
outward, gentler
my scent pulled in
peace exhaled
jewel eyes half-lidded
surrounded by safety
in this moment
my hand along her fur
—is a purr of love at 25 Hz
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing, Poetry, Writing on 01 Jan 2013| Leave a Comment »
Your voice is dim
Your words break up
As if your call
Is from years past
And not across
Mere miles
k
Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged creative writing, modern poetry, Poetry, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 17 Nov 2012| Leave a Comment »
I am not a poet. Well, no more than the next person, I’d say. But as a writer, I think poetry is a useful tool. I learn from writing poetry, whether it’s free verse or a more formal structure. Like etudes to the pianist, I learn technique through poetry. I learn how to be spare.
I put some of my poetry online here, today, a new annex off the Writing page. Some of them still make me smile. Many are bittersweet, as that’s the mood that most resonates with my Inner Poet. Rueful, I guess.
In my opinion, poetry should not read like prose, as so often happens these days. Like a lot of modern art, I think a lot of modern poetry is a sham. But I’m an old, crusty curmudgeon, so what do I know, eh?
k
Posted in Food, Writing, tagged Food, Plums, Poetry, william carlos williams, work of a master on 11 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »
I came across this yesterday. The work of a master.
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 