I'm curious about a couple of things. After reading some incredible work here and looking at my own, I am feeling a bit "underwhelmed" by my ability to conjure solid images in poetry.
So I thought I would ask you all some questions regarding this and see if I might be able to go a bit deeper on some of these images (I want to learn from you!)
When you first decide on a topic/theme/idea for your poem, do you then find images that create the impact and zero in on that meaning, or does it all come to you at once in inspiration? (I reference NeuroFizz's latest work with Michelangelo's crooked finger, did you picture this in your head and describe it or was it immediately an image that you felt described what you wanted to create? Or even further, did the picture come to your mind as the inspiration and help you to arrive at the idea for the poem?) Does the metaphor come WITH the idea immediately or do you look for it?
When you choose an image for metaphor in a poem, do you imagine the words that feel right and true and follow it to an image that correlates? I am not nearly visual enough for this and unfortunately it makes my concepts a bit more abstract than concrete. I like concrete poetry, and I typically fail at this. (I'm picturing W. Haskins here - waves cresting, etc - that movement is so concrete and integral in that piece.)
Finally, in chosing words to create your poem, do you go with what feels accurate and true or do you go with what inspiration requires of you? (not sure if I'm explaining this one very well.) To me, each word has a feel to it, does that feel dictate the language of the poem or does the image/metaphor dictate the feel and the language follows?
Jeez -- I hope some of this made sense. I just think I need to get more specific, get deeper on images, tighten up the words, seek out appropriate metaphors that are concrete and I am curious about the process other writers take. And I'm afraid that I shouldn't have to seek the metaphor that it should already be there.
Really, if you ignore the questions and just speak to your own metaphor/imagery process, that would be fine too.
(sorry for the ramble, I don't believe I stated any of this very well.) And THANKS!
Trish
So I thought I would ask you all some questions regarding this and see if I might be able to go a bit deeper on some of these images (I want to learn from you!)
When you first decide on a topic/theme/idea for your poem, do you then find images that create the impact and zero in on that meaning, or does it all come to you at once in inspiration? (I reference NeuroFizz's latest work with Michelangelo's crooked finger, did you picture this in your head and describe it or was it immediately an image that you felt described what you wanted to create? Or even further, did the picture come to your mind as the inspiration and help you to arrive at the idea for the poem?) Does the metaphor come WITH the idea immediately or do you look for it?
When you choose an image for metaphor in a poem, do you imagine the words that feel right and true and follow it to an image that correlates? I am not nearly visual enough for this and unfortunately it makes my concepts a bit more abstract than concrete. I like concrete poetry, and I typically fail at this. (I'm picturing W. Haskins here - waves cresting, etc - that movement is so concrete and integral in that piece.)
Finally, in chosing words to create your poem, do you go with what feels accurate and true or do you go with what inspiration requires of you? (not sure if I'm explaining this one very well.) To me, each word has a feel to it, does that feel dictate the language of the poem or does the image/metaphor dictate the feel and the language follows?
Jeez -- I hope some of this made sense. I just think I need to get more specific, get deeper on images, tighten up the words, seek out appropriate metaphors that are concrete and I am curious about the process other writers take. And I'm afraid that I shouldn't have to seek the metaphor that it should already be there.
Really, if you ignore the questions and just speak to your own metaphor/imagery process, that would be fine too.
(sorry for the ramble, I don't believe I stated any of this very well.) And THANKS!
Trish