LESSON 23 – The possibilities of poetry are endless

The possibilities of poetry are endless. Exploring the world around you, or the world inside of you, through poetry, gives you freedom to see what is and imagine what might be.  Poetry, perhaps more than any other form of writing, gives you the freedom to soar into the wondrous world of the imagination.

And what poetry relies on to achieve these wonders, is the rich and endless world of imagery.  The sky becomes a quiet sea, the wind becomes the voice of a lover, the morning rises like a promise…  Images are what take the poem to a place where it becomes so real, so intense that we can see it, feel it, taste, it, smell it, and hear it.  The image is the soul of the poem.  I always tell my students, don’t tell me – paint me a picture, sing me a song, dream me a dream – that’s what poetry is and that’s how poetry is able to touch us and move us and show us worlds inside of worlds.

This week, I’d like to invite you to submit three or four lines of poetry that are in the form of imagery and submit them only through the Chat Room at www.poetladykatz.com  I will choose those images that really work, that are engaging and stunning and meaningful, and highlight them on my Instagram page during the first couple of weeks of July.

  1. When a writer attempts to describe something so that it appeals to our sense of smell, sight, taste, touch, or hearing; he/she has used imagery
  2. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.  Example: Kisses are the flowers of affection. (Metaphor)
  3. A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox.) (simile)

Example of what I’d like you to submit:

“Beneath white fluffy marshmallow clouds

Our laughter drifts like birds of blue and gold

Into a painted aqua summer sky

together we become the dream we dare to dream      you and I.”

~SAK

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