Poetry tools

If you want to be a painter you first need to go out and buy many different colors of paints, brushes,canvas etc, If your a great guitarist or play a musical instrument you have to spend money on your instrument. As a budding poet you already have all the tools of your trade at hand language and words are free, writing paper and pens can be found wherever humans gather.I cant sculpt, I would have to be taught how to. But I can speak and write and speaking and writing is what poetry is with some emotions added in and maybe some rhyme and a little structure... howtowritepoem.com

How To Write A Poem

We have all been sold a limited 'bill of goods'
about who we are and what we can do.
The real 'bill of goods' is an amazing, unlimited us
that has deep goodness and incredible gifts!
how to write a poem

Power of Poetry

For thousands of years humankind has stifled ideas that have threatened the way we see ourselves and our world and our established way of life.Heretics were imprisoned or burned.Krones and witches were burned at the stake Plato actually banned poets from his Republic because they threatened his idea of civilization.

Poetry can change the way we see ourselves.Poetry frees us from our fears.Donald Hall said that poetry attempts 'psychic revolution, not to overthrow reason, but to add old or irrational elements to the light of consciousness by means of language' he goes on to say 'poetry extends human consciousness,to bring materials and insights from the unconscious dark into the light of language'.
Poems can bring joy to the moment, they can upset and disturb us, Expand and awaken us if only for a moment.

Read Anthologies

All poets whether budding or long established should read lots of poetry. American poet Billy Collins said; 'those who want to write good poems should be reading good poetry' and continued; 'every good poem is a how-to-manual. My preference is to read anthologies, just pick one up and thumb through it not reading everyone but as you thumb through the pages if something grabs your attention start reading from that point.

How To Write A Poem

Hi all ...this blog is for all those wishing to learn
about poetry from beginner to the experienced
poet. This is a space where I hope we can
all share our ideas, thought and feelings about
all things Poetry. It is my desire that everyone
who comes here is treated with respect and dignity
and that no profanities be expressed in this forum
or anything of an adult nature as this is a space
where children will come also.

If you want to learn How to write a poem the
accompanying book on the web site howtowritepoem.com
is a good starting point.

Dvorah Simon is an American psychologist and poet
and the last two stanza's of her poem
"Poetry as a Grounding Practice:
Truth Telling From Neglected Voices"
From the book she co-authored with Stephen
Gilligan "Walking In Two Worlds"
sums up beautifully what I hope we all can do!

To ground yourself
in your own breath, your own words.
to tell the truth from neglected voices.

to tell the symphony
that is you!