2. At the beginning of this semester, I was sitting at Maude’s coffee shop attempting to write a poem, when another patron said to the waiter, “I believe that a good poem grabs its reader, shakes him, and refuses to let him go.” Since then, my poetry has strived to be anything but mundane. It’s truly arbitrary, whether a poem is sofisticated or articulate, wordy or verbose; what’s really important is relateability-if the reader is able to associate with some aspect central to the narrative-then it the poem has succeeded in tugging at the heartstrings, and from that moment on, will be significant to its reader. The poems that I enjoyed most this semester were ones that conjured some tact that resonated in my thoughts until eventually, I found myself owing the inspiration for my own writing to their ideas. “Ground Swell” by Mark Jarman, “Postolka” by Christian Wiman, and “At Pegasus” by Terrence Hayes were three that I seemed to keep mulling over in my mind.

 

3. Prior to taking this course, I had no expirience with poetry writing, save for in high school, when I expirimented with the angst-ridden teen diatribe. I was terrified to find that I would be required to submit a first assignment-albeit anonymously-without much guidance. But after the first few submissions (and greedily perusing the textbook) I realized that poetry is, truly, a tabulea rosa for the creative writer. Although I have not been swayed from my love of prose, I found that I enjoyed the freedom of this course. To those just beginning, I would offer the advice that the textbook, the professor, and all poets have offered me: read! In reading other poets, I became familiar with what was acceptable in poetry, and began to recognize a candence and style that was pleasing to me and which suited my own work. I would also suggest having one’s work critiqued as often as possible-and to read the work in various scenarios-including out loud, to an audience-for effect.

5. Because I had previously defined myself as a prose writer, I believe that my poetry reflects that end. I tend to write in free verse. My poetry tends to be extremely narrative. It is imagistic. I am unlikely to utilize any structure, but employ metaphors and similies as I would in prose. I had anticipated that this course would drastically change my tone as a writer, and cause my style to become more ’sophisticated’ in the sense that I would begin to work clever syntax into my writing. However, I think that instead, my writing grew even more into its own. I found that I most appreciated other authors who wrote poignantly and without unecessary embellishment. I learned how to write (both poetry and prose) in an acessible, colloquial style that still maintained my own flair; for example, at the beginning of the semester I submitted “What I Saw..”, a disaster of a poem in which I attempted to develop some structure while lacking meaning or content. I later gave up on structure entirely and found that my writing was better for it.

8. One of my classmates said today in class that she had learned from this semester that she was not as good of a poet as she had once believed. I have to concur; I feel as though I have been exposed to such a diverse and varied many authors that I no longer feel superior to any poem or poet. What I have learned, though, and come to value, is that poetry can be so diverse without disqualifying any poet. Rather than competing against other writers, this semster has inspired me to recognize my own strengths and weaknesses, and to concentrate on those rather than dwell on comparisons. While this was a lesson I learned in the classroom, it is something I have been able to apply across all aspects of my life!