Poetry is an Unplanned Work of Art

"Poetry is when an emotion has found it's thought and the thought has found words." Robert Frost

I had always planned to use this blog for publishing my poetry, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about what poetry means to me, and why I write it; how poetry encompasses everything I'm inspired by, or go through in my life. This could be considered almost a follow-up post to my music blog, as poetry and music often go hand in hand for me, and it's why I listen very closely to the lyrics of any song. At the end of this post, I am going to post a couple of my own poems, both very different in content and structure, to give you all a taste of some of the poetry I write.

Robert Frost thinks that poetry is thoughts; I agree with him. Poetry is simply the thoughts of the poet, but written in a unique and expressive form. For me, it's as simple as being sat down on a regular Saturday morning, then hearing a sound, or seeing something that catches my eye, and thinking "I could write a poem about that." My natural instinct at this point is to turn a relatively ordinary and simple concept into an open and creative piece of art. Poetry is art. Art itself is defined as "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination." All poems are crafted by this idea of applying an emotion, or event, onto a piece of paper. Poets find that the best way of getting their feelings across is by writing in an initially cryptic way, but if you really look between the lines, and beyond the words, then something really special and personal may start to appear; like a puzzle that you have to decipher. That's one of the things that I love about poetry; it's so individual. No one will have the same poem, because no one is the same. Everyone has their own stories to tell, and some of these stories may be relatable. Some of them might not be, and they might not make any sense, but I love that. A piece of writing that only you will ever understand; there's nothing quite as personal as that. At the same time, poetry doesn't have to be personal to convey emotions. I recently talked about Fontaines D.C in my music review, and their poetry is almost the opposite. They are commenting and expressing their opinions on the events in Dublin, and speak as onlookers, rather than being in the middle of the action. Sometimes this second voice can tell us something that the people involved can't see, and they speak somewhat on their behalf. I suppose what I'm trying to say, is that poetry has no rules. I have the urge to compare it to freestyle dancing, with no drawbacks or impossibilities.

I've been writing poetry since I was around 13 years old, but I only started getting heavily invested in the poetry I was writing when I was 15. One of the first completed poems I remember writing was called "Light," for a competition at school, which I went on to win. At the time, I was extremely proud of the achievement, and I started to make connections with expressing my thoughts, and placing them as words on a page. I'm not always comfortable talking to people about certain experiences and feelings that I have, for reasons of wanting to appear strong until I'm ready to pick myself back up, or just that I don't feel many people would understand some of the things that I do think about. The number of times I've sat awake in the early hours of the morning thinking about life beyond our solar system or the complexity of human emotions is a recurring thing..but what can I do? I can show these thoughts through my poetry. I've received so much praise and encouragement from my poems over the past couple of years, and I can confidently say that they're truly a huge accomplishment in my life. Every poem I write, I like. I never look at one of my poems and think "well that was rubbish" because every one of them has a story. If the language in one poem is not as sophisticated as some of my other work, then there might be other parts of it that make up for that, for example, the unique structure. If one poem rhymes, then it's because I wanted it to rhyme, as it fits with the idea I'm trying to convey. It's funny I mention that actually, because there's always that one person in an English Literature GCSE class who says "But what if the poet just wanted the poem to rhyme, and it's not done for a specific reason?" From my point of view, that's an extremely probable point.

As I previously mentioned, every poem that I write carries a story of its own. It's almost like the words are alive, and they are representative of all the emotions that came into creating the poem. Most poems that I read, and write myself, have multiple emotions that are combined within the story being told; I rarely see poems with just one emotion being portrayed, even if it initially looks like that on the surface. This is because poets tend to write when their emotions and thoughts are at their peak- trust me, it makes for good reading. I would definitely struggle to write a poem if someone just sat me down with a pen and told me to write something. It would lack substance, quality, and most importantly, emotion. I have tried to do this before, and it is an extremely difficult task, leaving me with a few lines scattered here, there, and everywhere, that doesn't really fit, and therefore I'll probably never complete it. I always get random ideas for poems too, that I note down, if I'm too busy to write the full piece. I was on my way back from Blackpool Sixth for a taster day in March, and I saw a group of birds circling in very unusual shapes. I wrote down the idea of using it as a metaphor for a poem, but I still haven't completed it... As I earlier explained, there's a moment that poetry exists, and it's in the moment that you originally have the thought. If you're lucky enough to have that thought again, then get it written! If not, then it becomes difficult to find the inspiration to pick up a pen and write an idea that has since dissipated.

I write poems at ridiculous times. Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with the best idea in my head, so much that I know I have to write it down before I forget it. I will grab a piece of paper and a pen, and write. I don't care if it's three in the morning; I don't want the idea to fade. I suppose that's very similar to story writing. My Dad's the same. He will type things into his phone whilst he's at work, but he doesn't actively sit down to write a poem. When the inspiration it's there, it's there. You just have to be patient. I go through periods, often weeks, where I write nothing, but then sometimes I will write five new poems in a week. Talking of my Dad, he's also a huge poetry enthusiast. He doesn't write as much as me (he says he doesn't have the time) but I'm sure if he's reading this, he will understand what I mean about the ideas coming at unexpected times. My Dad got a poem published when he was younger. It's a great poem actually; one of my favourites by him. It explores deeper concepts about life, in a very similar way to me, and most of our work is quite similar. I sometimes read his poetry and think "this doesn't make much sense to me" but as I said, I think there's something quite special about that, because it means something to him, and he will keep that with him for life.

In a very similar way to songs, each poem that I write reminds me of a particular point in my life, a feeling, or a memory, and I've come to realise that I'm quite a nostalgic person. I learn things from my memories, and my past, and therefore every poem could almost be symbolic of that lesson. My first poem, "Light," reminds me, and encourages me, to go forward, as it was my first experiment with poetry, and it brought me the feeling that I could show people my thoughts through words; something that will always stick by me. A lot of my poems are inspired by dreams that I have, and I will be exploring this in a later post. But most are inspired by what I see, what I feel, different people and different places, and every piece will always be something I cherish, even if some do carry a rather melancholic tone. There's no point forgetting the sad moments; they're just as relevant and important to your life as the happy times. Someone once close to me told me that poetry is rather unorthodox in today's society, and this is true. I certainly don't know many people who write poetry, or at least many people who talk about it openly. I know many people, especially people of my age, who prefer to keep poetry to themselves, as it's understandably personal. I've never been like this though; I'm introverted in a lot of other ways, so I don't mind sharing who I am through my poems, rather than verbally. I suppose you could argue that poetry isn't unorthodox, if you consider lyrics as poetry. Lyrics are around us all the time, on the radio, on TV, even in ASDA, which should be publicly known for playing music very loudly. So is poetry really any different?

I entered the Foyle Young Poet of the Year competition back in 2018, which is an international poetry competition for poets aged 11-17. They received over 11,000 poems last year. Unfortunately, I didn't get in the top commended 100, but this didn't deter me. My poetry has changed and developed over the past year, and so I decided to enter again this year. But the same applies; if I don't get commended, then this will not deter me. I'm not one to give up very easily, and most importantly, I will never stop writing poetry. To be acknowledged would be a dream could true; I would be invited to a writing course and get the opportunity to really develop my style. I can't show you the poems that I've submitted this year, as it would go against the rules of the competition, however, following the winner's announcement in October, I would be happy to share them. I've sent in five of my best poems, all written in 2019. Last year I only sent in four. This year, I had trouble deciding which ones to send, but with the help of my Dad, we managed to narrow it down. I sometimes have a look at online poetry forums, for people a similar age to me, that want to promote their work. I look at comments sometimes that infer jealousy over someone else's work, which is a normal feeling, and totally natural if someone is gaining success in an area that you've always wanted success. However, I never experience this. I was reading some of the poems from last year's winners of the competition, and some of them I loved, but I would never say "I wish I could write like that." I have my own style, and my own voice, and again, in my opinion, that is what makes poetry so unique, and it's why I've never been jealous of someone else's work, because I admire them, and it allows my own writing to grow.

Writing poetry is one of the things that makes me love who I am. My poems are unique to me, and I will keep them forever (except that one poem I wrote four years ago that I tried to find, but must have lost.) I sometimes find poems dotted around my room, which is always a pleasure, because most of the time I don't even remember writing them, so I get to look on it with fresh eyes. To finish, I'm going to share a couple of poems with you all: 'Children of Time,' and 'The Tempest.' I was going to explain the context of these poems, but then I remembered something my English teacher would always say. "Poetry is down to interpretation."

Children of Time (Written June 2018)

I'm called hope in the land of the faraway stars

Shining iridescent colour

I caress the space with my determination for life

as I sit watching the birth of another

Calling all you others

From planetary systems wide

We're all spinning through our silent universe

and drifting between your worlds

No claim; No bargain

No fight; No war

Just calmness and acceptance

of everything that came before

Because war is not a win

And fighting has no gain

All that's left are the souls of the dead

as they merge into this space and time

They will seep into oblivion

never to be found

Showing us

the underlying shattered beauty

and the deafening sound

I bring myself to fulfil my duty

as I foster my children of time

Where peace and neutrality is simply the way

in this huge sky of mine

I sigh as I say

there's no war that will find

the peace I have up here in the sky

I invoke the universe

and hear it's firm reply

You're the fuel and the driving force

You're the hive of their minds

The Tempest (Written April 2019)

He told me something bad would happen

So I stayed indoors

Glimpsing memories fall out of pictures

broken and forlorn

Avoidance is the pinnacle of fear

in the unknown

Of unplanned destinies

All isolated; alone

He didn't tell me when, nor did he tell me why

Just that a storm was on its way

but I didn't want to pry

For I was terrified

of the approaching grey clouds on the horizon

The thunder had sealed my fate

and the power is only rising

Outside, the howling wind

slaughtered through the branches

Like the voice of the man

who told me and guided

me on what should be done

But the doors of fate cannot be unlocked

The house is caving in on me

and I fear I'm deadlocked