The Tangled Branch Discussion Forums

I look forward to meeting everyone on Tangled Branch. My career as a technical writer helped me to publish articles, essays and short stories with on-line magazines and e-book distributors but hindered my ability to compose traditional, structured, end-rhyme poetry. My poetry tutor introduced me to the basic techniques, and I gave it a shot, but the struggle to mesh the music of meter with the structure of end-rhyme persuaded me to write free verse poetry. According to Robert Frost, "Writing free verse poetry is like playing tennis with the new down." Yes, but for writers like me, I'm glad the net is down!

Hi and welcome Qwerty 
Looking forward to reading your poems.

Welcome, Qwerty -- Cheers to you too.

Glad you found our site. A poetry tutor -- what a gift that may be. Am I right?

Great quote from Frost. He is entitled to his opinion, but I disagree. He wrote marvelous poetry, and I am convinced he even dreamed in iambics. And the sounds of his New England vernacular were amazing.

But he had the safety net of meter and rhyme, whereas free verse is written without a net, where the writer must find the internal cadence and echoes of sound to build verse anew, line after line. The challenge, the difficulty of each style, of course, is write good poetry. We have poets of each ilk here, from which to learn.

That's my $.02 on the subject.

T

Colm and Tracy > Thanks for the welcome. I'll give some feedback before I post anything. And yes, my tutor helped me understand the difference between poetry and the writing I did as a tech writer. She told me... "Prose is about something, whereas poetry is something." My career taught me to be very specific with the words I used to guide my students through detailed functional descriptions and troubleshooting procedures. So my first poems were far too specific. I assumed that the people who read my poems needed help to understand the poem. Most of my poems are still less about the music and more about the meaning than they probably should and could be--mostly because I don't enjoy poems that make me feel as if I'm working a jigsaw puzzle without the clues.

Qwerty wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:38 pm

I don't enjoy poems that make me feel as if I'm working a jigsaw puzzle without the clues.

I think that's something we all struggle with. Sacrificing aesthetics for clarity can be tough call. Fell free to challenge us though; and this is the place to challenge yourself.
If we need clues, we'll just ask .

Welcome Qwerty. Yes, communication can be a compromise, especially in poetry mode when the poet is conveying nuances, but that is part of the 'challenging' fun...for reader and writer

look forward to reading your work

cheers

Phil

Hello Qwerty and welcome,

I've read the comments in this thread and will repeat the the old saws I'm certain you are already aware of "the richness of poetry is in ambiguity" and "trust your reader". Darned hard---mantras I have to repeat to myself. I look forward to reading your work.

I also look forward to any words of wisdom you may want to share from your tutor

You are so right about ambiguity and trusting your reader. Those were two of the many things my tutor shared with me. I remember her trying to explain how those two facets of a poem work together. I'm paraphrasing her, of course, but basically she said I should trust my readers to see ambiguity as a challenge to dig below surface meanings and apparent contradictions so they can discover other ways to see what the poem is showing. Crafting poems that do that is difficult but worth the effort. Writing technical manuals was writing down to my readers. Crafting poetry is asking my readers to read up to the poem.

Hi Qwerty,

Welcome to the fray.

Hm. A technical writer with a tutor for poetry. I wrote that as if to convince myself.
Wonder what your tutor has to say about prose poetry.

I'm a part-time poet whose iambic measures are off but I write from the soul and hope things fall into place.

I'm looking forward to reading your work, taking in your words, and learning from you.

How long have you been writing poetry?
I hope you'll join us for the NaPoWriMo this April.

Whatever you decide to share, it's great to have you here. Welcome!

Do you prefer, Qwerty, Qwer, Q, or a real name?


Have a bountiful day,

~Deb

Tracy Mitchell wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 28, 2021 9:35 am

Welcome, Qwerty -- Cheers to you too.

Glad you found our site. A poetry tutor -- what a gift that may be. Am I right?

Great quote from Frost. He is entitled to his opinion, but I disagree. He wrote marvelous poetry, and I am convinced he even dreamed in iambics. And the sounds of his New England vernacular were amazing.

But he had the safety net of meter and rhyme, whereas free verse is written without a net, where the writer must find the internal cadence and echoes of sound to build verse anew, line after line. The challenge, the difficulty of each style, of course, is write good poetry. We have poets of each ilk here, from which to learn.

That's my $.02 on the subject.

T