http://www.writers-online.co.uk DECEMBER 2018^53POETRY WORKSHOP
I
t doesn’t matter what month it is or what the weather
is like – a poet can write about any of that.
As an example, take the first six months of the year,
January to June, then write a line for each one of these. Think
of an image you can use for each one as in the following:January sun is a nudge on your back
February is a slow, cold walk
March is a crisp choir singing
April can be sunlight and tears
May a brightness of buds
June soft sun and breezesHaving thought of six images for the months, there are
several options about what might happen next. You may
decide to work on just one of these images. For instance,
you might choose to use the January image just as it is
here, or you might write your own image for that month
What about leaving the word January out, and simply start
your poem with the image for the sun: Sun is a nudge on
your back.
Take the ideas singly, or what about using all the images
in one poem? If this idea doesn’t appeal, write after plucking
a few words from one of the lines as in a crisp choir singing...
These are from my image about the month of March.
A crisp choir singing could start a poem about listening to
birdsong, or you would possibly write another poem using
the words from my June image: Soft sun and breezes...
You could write a poem putting all these months
together and extend it so that the whole year is covered.
This might make a suitable birthday present for a friend or
maybe a fellow poet?
If none of this is appealing, what about writing about a
memory relating to one of these months? It might be when
you were on holiday and it was a hot month or, completely
opposite, it could be about the time in a cold month
when the trains or buses let you down. Or perhaps the car
wouldn’t start and you arrived late for work. A poem written
on these lines could be tragic or perhaps humorous?
Many poets have written about the months and
described some aspects of them in imagery. Take a look
through any poetry anthology and you will see many.Plan a new poem round the months of
the year with Doris CortiPoetry
in practice
Exercises
- Use a rhyme pattern and write about a violent storm
in summer. - In a series of unrhymed couplets write about a night
in February.
APRIL 2020 53final/farewell, wake/back and wave/leave tightens the mesh of
the poem’s sounds. Assonance in wake/wave/pavement, rolled/
shoulders/old and into/in/inch creates another strand of slant
rhyme. Each of these examples on its own would slip by
unnoticed, as a mere coincidence of pronunciation, while the
combination demonstrates that the sound links are intentional,
and gives the reading a more cohesive feel.
The message of the poem has a subtle underlining in the fact
that it is told through the use of you and I, while the word we
never occurs. From its start, this poem describes a moment of
rejection, and the drab scenario highlights the point.
The initial idea to write the poem came in a very ordinary
way, proving that we don’t have to be galvanised by the Muse
in order to be creative. It’s just a case of keeping the mind
open to every possibility, employing the magic phrase ‘What
if...?’ in any circumstance. Marian tells just how it happened:
‘Having been given a lift early one morning into the city centre
to catch a train, I was dropped off in a convenient but less than
salubrious street round the back of the station. It was a place
which made me feel very much alone... and vulnerable, which
in turn triggered memories of loss, of parting with friends, of
journeying alone. How awful it would be to be abandoned in
that street by someone who didn’t care. I dug deep into the well
of emotion. Then came the idea.’
The poet goes on to say that the first rough draft had
presented itself by the time she boarded her train, although
it took rather longer for the poem to be completed. The
important thing is to record the idea in note form – or more
usefully, in draft form. When the poem’s time is ripe, it’s much
easier to go back to a contemporaneous draft, however sketchy,
than to try to recall an event and the feelings associated with it,
and construct the piece from scratch.
This poem was first tried out at the local writers’ club Marian
Cleworth had joined in the early 1990s, and she is grateful for
the initial support, confidence and guidance she received from
its more experienced members. Not only is it helpful to get
feedback on an emerging poem, but the reading aloud in public
indicates areas where anything doesn’t flow well or sound right.
Gauging the impact of your work on others can show where
further revision is required.
Having the opportunity to develop and hone this particular
poem with the background of a supportive group helped
the poet to win first prize in a club competition with At 7
am, something she was too modest to mention in her initial
comments. Her final words are sheer gold for any poet, so they
stand as a message to us all.
‘The profound joy of being a writer is owning that special
file you keep tucked away at the back of your mind – the one
which stores all those experiences in life, good and bad, which
may one day come in useful for writing. Sometimes you hardly
know it is there, but, closely connected to the deep emotion
of your heart and to the pull of your memory, it gives you the
power to overlay experience with ideas. That’s what happened
with this poem.’