Yer Poetics

Jake asked us to write a bit about our poetry. Why we write, how we write, etc. I began writing as a teenager. My family was poor at times when I was a child and moving into my teens things only got marginally better. Not having the escapes that many others had (cable, internet, organized sports) I turned to creative outlets. My father is well read and we have always had an extensive library of classic fiction, in particular, science fiction. Having my mind's eye widened by the worlds of Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert and their peers allowed my to grow an active imagination. In my early teens I began to write and explore different avenues of creativity. I dabbled in short stories but always found that what I created came out cliche or too predictable. Then in my Grade 9 year is discovered a book of Scottish poetry in my school's library, which I still have (high overdue fees eh?) and it made me want to try out poetry. Since that time I have written hundreds of poems.

Most of my poems have been self-conversational, or self-analytical as I worked through those raw teenaged emotions. Even now in my thirties I find that I turn to poetry to organize the cluttered ramblings of those raw emotions; to think through what I am feeling and get to the core of them. I have used poetry to capture unique moments in time, like stunning sunsets over the Pacific while flying to Hawaii. When I was doing missionary work in Mexico, I used poetry in moments of triumph and failure (I still write about those) and spiritual revelations that only come during that kind of religious dedication. Mostly though, my poetry comes like a thief in the night and has to be captured before it escapes.

Thus far in this class I have learned that I need to revise more often. Take some time to ponder what I have written and make sure it is written in just the way that it should be. I don't know if there will ever be any mass consumption of my poetic mental ramblings but I do know that poetry has been an important of my mental maturation.

Poem fragments

As we are passing from the poetry section to the short story section of my creative writing class, I feel I need to post some poem fragments that were written this past week. These are thus far unrevised and in their rawest form. Any of my class mates feel free to email me on Blackboard if you have any criticism +/-

#1
At the end of mankind's genesis
lies nature
unmolested.

#2
I've never been abandoned
Never left behind
Yet I fear it
I fear abandonment like it's familiar
My parents are still together
My marriage? Sound.
Why does it haunt me?

#3
The day is over
my once fond friend
The sun is setting
and we near our end

Overall I have to say I am loving this class and feel like I may want to continue on in the future with additional creative writing classes and personal experiments. Sadly I have not been able to take the time to write the sonnet that Jake (our instructor) has asked us to write. I am finding the burdens of my life to be heavy most times. With term paper due dates lurking but days away my time is most minimized.

Site poetry

As I have been prepping for midterms, I have been finding it difficult to focus on the preparation of the site poetry piece for my English class. I have come up with a few ideas and scouted on location out this week; don't know if I'll use that one.

Development

Being Thanksgiving Monday it was frightful dull and slow at work. The fortunate thing is that these moments often allow to let my mind wander and on occassion an idea bears fruit. Today was one of those days. An idea for a short story grew and I wrote down snippets to capture the general theme. I am looking forward to developing this idea further

Short is not always sweeter

I've began developing a short story idea today. I will get more into detail when it has been developed but its something that I'm looking forward to.

Writing exercises

I have been enjoying my Creative Writing course muchly. It has gotten me writing again. I spend more time thinking about what to write and am at liberty to write creatively more often.

There are challenges though. There are a couple of projects for this class that I am searching for inspiration for, or at least an idea. I will speak more of these projects as the due date for them approaches. The one I have a really big list of ideas on what to do for it and am excited to explore and ponder each idea, crossing them off one by one til I'm happy with one.

As we are soon moving into the short story section of our course I have begun writing down some ideas that have been floating in my mind for quite some time. I am hoping to develop some of these ideas more extensively and create something beautiful. Or bland, plain, exciting, con ganas. We'll see.

My biggest challenge with the writing process right now is more to do with my History papers. As there is one that is due in about 4 weeks I have been taking notes extensively. Getting past that point I'm finding is a major challenge as most of the time available for me to write in is during my son's bath, bottle feeding and bed time. This is a major issue as I share my office with his bedroom and we currently no other more convenient and better serving option. With my wife and son going away for Thanksgiving (me get a holiday off at work. Ya right! The joys of being irreplaceable) I will have several days of uninterrupted work time. YA!!!! I'm hoping to knock off a rough draft during those days so I can spend time revising and note taking for the second term paper.
                      Paper #1: Sino-Tibetan Relations During Late Imperial China
                      Paper #2: Was the Mormon Religion a Product of its Time?

Women

I claim no rights nor ownership to this image but what it says is important to me. Never ever take for granted the women in your life.