by Nicole | Jan 8, 2014 | Reflections, Writer Wednesday, Writing
Is a poem ever complete? This question is one I have struggled with through most of my years of writing poetry. As much as I love revision, it’s worth locking things away or sending them off as complete, because I might go back in and change things again. I have works I considered final at one point or another, only to find myself revising it yet again, years after the fact. I learned that it is okay to do that with poetry; however, we must come to a point where we feel it is time to share with peers and colleagues. Most of the poems I have posted here are considered complete – but I cannot guarantee that a year or ten from now that will still be the case.
A few years ago, I began to assemble a tool a toolkit of sorts that is comprised of tips, tricks, and suggestions from poets I have read over the course of my education, to help my poetry become more complete. In this toolkit, aside from revision techniques, I have added ways to draw more substance with my words, by way of freshening language and creating vivid, tangible images for my readers.
Now that I have the basics for this toolkit, I can take a better look at my work after the fact to see if I created a better poem by following the advice of my peers and the experts. A mantra I use when composing poetry goes like this: “Create. Freshen. Revise. Repeat.” It gets me through the process from start to finish. (more…)
by Nicole | Dec 5, 2013 | Poetry, Reflections
Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. – Khalil Gibran
by Nicole | Sep 2, 2013 | Journals, Life, Personal, Reflections, Teaching Composition, Writer Wednesday, Writing
I have written for years. If I had to state an age, I would say I started writing seriously when I was in middle school, writing hopelessly romantic sappy poems to the silly crushes I had then. I remember keeping a journal and writing about how in love I was with boy number 1, 2, 3, and so forth. Ah, to be twelve again. When high school came, I decided to take a creative writing class. I also started to learn the research writing process for a U.S. History course, and found that I really enjoyed the work.
Fast forward to college years, and my writing has improved drastically in many areas. I even discovered that I started developing my own process. As I type that sentence, I think to myself… wow – my own personal writing process. Well, to tell you the truth, we have never thought about it until we started discussing it during a graduate course I completed last year. I have always been one to write a thought that I have passing through my brain, and sometimes I find it difficult to keep them all together. I am the proud owner of many journals and online blog postings, both on my own blog and other websites. I sometimes cannot stand how my thoughts are scattered into so many areas, but I also find comfort in knowing that my work is spread out. It leaves me with room to reorganize as I go. Refining the thoughts in the attic of my mind is a task I find I do daily, but I suppose that is a writer’s life.
My personal writing process always starts the same way – freewriting. (more…)
by Nicole | Aug 28, 2013 | Life, Personal, Poetry, Writing
Sweet slumber is now
upon me; the moonbeams cast
shadows on my bed.
Clouds of lavender
lure me into the abyss
and I fall ever
so swift into a deep dream.
The stars lead me through
darkness to a world that seems
to only exist
within hidden thoughts.
Memories that once seemed vague
flood my subconscious,
only to be lost at dawn.
by Nicole | Jul 3, 2013 | Life, Poetry, Writing
Forty-two years ago today the world lost an American poet who, without a doubt, would have given the world much more had he lived longer. Tragically, he gave up his ghost in Paris, France on the third of July in 1971. To pay homage, here is my favorite poem by none other than James Douglas Morrison, the American poet (better known as Jim Morrison of the legendary rock group, The Doors).
POWER
I can make the earth stop in
its tracks. I made the
blue cars go away.
I can make myself invisible or small.
I can become gigantic & reach the
farthest things. I can change
the course of nature.
I can place myself anywhere in
space or time.
I can summon the dead.
I can perceive events on other worlds,
in my deepest inner mind,
& in the minds of others.
I can
I am
Rest in peace, Lizard King.
