Do Boundaries Sensor Creativity?
Did you buy the good kind,
pencils or pens? What ever
you buy the willingness
to try something new
in your eighties is all
that counts. I would like to
write the poetry of the
conversation I overheard,
but I’m told the poetry I hear
is too close to reality.
Too invasive.
If you marry a poet,
expect to share
your secrets.
Or have them
shared for you.
I listen
find poems in everything
everyday. Eavesdropping poetry can
become nonconsensual
revelation. Recognizable
characterization is the
power and the risk. We only have
permission to manufacture
our own emotional leaks.
I wish I could say more
about the magic of what
I heard but boundaries
have been drawn
and the poem
stops here.
Ziji Salaam
9/05/09
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Hmm... interesting! Is it so? sharing secrets is poetry, never thought of that!
ReplyDeletecongrats on finishing! there's a strong voice in this one and i like its consideration of boundaries and restrictions.
ReplyDeletei've attended workshops before about who owns what information (in terms of art/writing specifically). each writer draws the line where he or she is comfortable and then prepares for the fallout. i encourage you to keep poking around and see where you draw the line.
(i had read the poem you took down before you had to take it down and i would argue that it was OK b/c it had no identifying information. but i draw my line in a different place than you may.)
i know fellow RWP participant therese in real life, and i *think* i remember her saying she almost always asks her poetry subjects for their permission. i never ask.
i hope this helps.
and don't forget, whenever you're not "allowed" to write something due to the concerns you've expressed, there's always the disguise of metaphor. where there's a will, there's a way!
thanks so much for writing with us on this challenge. it's been great to read.