Entry 11- Exploring Poetry

 

For this open entry, I would like to focus on the poetry genre that we are exploring for this week's class. I would like to engage deeply with this genre through a blog post, due to missing class for the CARS 2022 event. As many can relate, I have always had anxiety when it came to writing poetry. This was a topic of discussion on our first night of class when we wrote the “If I were in charge of the world” poem. When I think of writing poetry, I find it intimidating, and scary, and I think this tends to be a common attitude towards poetry. I wonder why? Is it because it is known as a unique genre, intended to evoke an emotional response, and potentially transform one's perception of the world? (Tompkins, 2012). Even as Tompkins (2012) describes, “poets choose words carefully and structure lines and stanzas in creative ways” (p. 156), I feel this immense pressure to compose an artful and life changing poem.

I should refer to this feeling as past tense, because Tompkins (2012) has illustrated how vast the poetry genre is, and has shown me that I too, can be a poet. As writers and thinkers, we do not need to go into poetry writing with nothing but a pen and paper, writing poetry can be scaffolded through various poetic forms. For example, formula poems. I love how the poetry group included the five senses poem in their PowerPoint, because I engaged in five sense poetry writing for one of my genre pieces. I found that having a structure, “smells, tastes, looks, feels, sounds” (p. 147) helped me overcome the feelings of anxiety and be creative while maintaining a specific structure or pattern. Tompkins (2012) also explores color poems, wish poems, I am poems, etc. Now I have a tool guide of the various poetic forms, and I can relate my own experiences with poetry to craft a writing workshop with scaffolded support and peer discussion. 

The power point also introduces McKenzie’s article, which explores a “poetry coffee house” (Ferguson, 2017, p. 209). Although I am not able to hear her discussion of this article, she selected a great quote and image to illustrate this concept to me. I feel inspired to create an environment where all genres are explored and appreciated. Implementing a poetry coffee house, introducing students to various poetic forms, and scaffolding their writing can help diminish those feelings of anxiety or fear of not being creative enough, and encourage students to explore their identities as poets. As a literacy educator, I know I need to build and support a community of readers and writers. Additionally, Tompkins (2012) draws our attention to children and their, “natural affinity for songs, verses and rhymes” (p. 156). Think of how many songs you have memorized, even after not hearing them for years, you can recite them. Introducing poetry writing can help build this connection between enjoying poetry and constructing poems. I enjoyed exploring this chapter as I worked through my genre pieces, as well as for this week's class. 

Reference

Ferguson, K. (2017). A Poetry Coffee House: Creating a Cool Community of Writers. Reading Teacher, 71(2), 209-213.