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Kristine Neeley's avatar

Loved this! I've been reflecting a lot lately, upon my return to poetry, of my why. Shared some, in a post yesterday, of how my life has expanded, over time, because of it (or thus, contracted, without it). I think we all come to reading it and writing it for similar -- but often different reasons -- and that's a beauty I think I'm finally learning to appreciate!

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Lorna Rose Gill's avatar

Love this! "Poetry... / undoes me". There's a fabulous Nine Arches Press book called 'Why I Write Poetry' ed. Ian Humphries, full of essays and poetry prompts by different poets. The underlying thread is this feeling of being alien, of having an alien body and the only way to express what it means to live is to write poetry.

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Lisa Andradez's avatar

I'll have to look that up! Thanks 😊

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Petra Hernandez's avatar

Yes! Poetry is such a great way to discover, process, and release. Even though I know this, it still surprises me when I sit down and see what appears on the page. And I like that part of it, too. :)

And hooray for writing community! :)

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Tracy's avatar

I love to read poetry- the play of words that creates emotion and fosters understanding of that which is me and not-me. I sometimes write something that seems as though it might be poetry but upon closer inspection, I decide it is only a prose piece. I am content, more than content to read it…but to try and write it, feels awkward and produces some sort of anxiety… ha ha, so weird, I just re- read this. Well, suffice it to say I have always loved poetry and am delighted to find this community on Substack! 🫶🏼

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Lisa Andradez's avatar

Good to have you as part of the community, prose is a great place to start so don't worry too much, just keep putting pen to paper! 😊

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Tamsin 🍂's avatar

EXACTLY. It’s processing, it’s connecting, it’s life.

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Lisa Andradez's avatar

Absolutely!!!

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Nitya Kumar's avatar

because it's one of the best mediums of raw expression. Prose is impactful, but the beauty and potency a poem is capable of is unmatched. Whenever I have written a poem, usually a free-verse, it's been like an uninterrupted flow of river emanating from me onto the pages. I'm a polyglot and it's such a blessing to savor poetry in every language I can understand. :)

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