why do you write poetry?
Why do you write poetry? why do you write one type of poetry rather than another? Have you experimented with different types? Do men prefer more structured formats? Do you actually read much poetry? I have to admit I haven't read much poetry since I did my degree over 30 years ago, and even then I avoided it, unless it was by Donne or Eliot. Although I have plunged into things like the Kalevala and consider Poly Styrene a neglected talent.
Discuss.
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Why do I write Poetry
I have to admit that I have never heard of Poly Styrene let alone read any of her work, but yes I do read a lot of poetry, both from the new writers and from the established cannon. I particularly enjoy the poet's who make amusing social comment and have learned quite lot from reading them. Does anyone know of F.E. Smith. (of whom I know next to nothing) He was an antidisestablishmentarian. An MP who got slated by GK Chesterton for a particularly injudicious speech about the Welsh disestablishment Bill.
In fact having had no education I think I probably learned more from poetry than other source. But to your original question, I write poetry to express a point of view.
why do I write poetry
It began as a release for previously restrained feelings and thoughts, like my art work, then has calmed down - a bit- into something more structured. I tend to take a subject and run with it on as many levels as occur to me, some of which I have to cut out in the final version because otherwise it becomes to cluttered and unreadable. Things run through my head: and sometimes they take the form of words, and sometimes they take the form of images, and they get interpreted as such - a comfy chair is critical. It can be one word or one colour that is enough to set me off. Either way I want to create something that can be looked at and looked at again and something diffferent seen every time.
I write poetry because...
... I just love the economy, the idea that sometimes a single, well chosen /placed word can convey what could take an hour to explain. This, I would suggest, also sits very well with a wily old Suffolkism, ' if yew don't know, oi int gon ta tell ya'. I also find it less of a threat than prose as it cuts to the quick of a thing. That may be a man thing, I don't know. I have only ever written for the thrill of seeing an empty space fill with words that sometimes just seem to line up, asking to be used. I should probably edit more than I do but in the end I write for my own pleasure. If anyone happens to like it too, that's a bonus. If not, nobody died.