We are all subject to pain, be it physical or emotional. Pain is a part of life, and it is a part of poetry. In fact it may, aside from love, be the greatest inspiration for the creation of art, in all its varied and meaningful forms. Poets have written about it, artists have tried to capture it on canvas, dancers have moved it in space, and music has flowed into our hearts turning shared sorrow into something both beautiful and enriching.
It may seem like a difficult assignment – write your pain but, in fact, I always tell people, “I live my joy and write my sorrow.” And it’s true – I really do try to live my life that way. Beginning with the understanding that each of us has experienced pain, today’s lesson simply offers starting points for putting your pain “into the keeping of the poem.”
So – here are some prompts that may get you started…
I cried…
Only in the darkness of the night do I…
The pain shuts out the light…
Pain looks like…
Pain sounds like…
Pains tastes like…
Pain has the scent of…
Pain is hard as…
Pain is sharp as…
Pain is the color…
Pain takes me to…
Pain is the reason why I…
The best place to start any poem is with a word. For this lesson, the word is “pain” and the poem is your truth, your recognition that pain can, once expressed through words that become the poem, be renounced. Art is a salve for the mind and a promise to the heart that pain can be reimagined, diminished, once translated into the awe and eloquence of poetry.
I invite you to send your poems to the Chat Room at www.poetladykatz.com I will respond to them with a poet’s eye and as one who, like you, knows the parameters of pain.
WRITE ON…