Unleash the Poem Within: How Reading and Writing Poetry Can Liberate Your Creative Spirit

322 Pages·2008·0.96 MB·English

by  Wendy Nyemaster

Unleash
U Y C
U
NLOCK OUR REATIVITY
N
C Y L the
AND HANGE OUR IFE
L
E
Unleash the Poem Within is about friendship, self-refl ection, and
A
learning something new. It is, quite simply, about how the power
S
of creativity can change your life. Within
H
Discover how:

T
(cid:129)(cid:129)(cid:129)(cid:129) aaaa ssssoooonnnnnnnneeeettttt ccccaaaannnn hhhhhheeeellllllpppppp yyyyyou work through an emotional situation
H
(cid:129)(cid:129)(cid:129) aaa hhhhhaaaiiiikkkkkuuu cccaaannn hhhhheeelllllpppppp yyyyyooou appreciate and stay in the present moment
How Reading and Writing
(cid:129)(cid:129)(cid:129) aaaa vvvviiiiillllllllllaaaannnneeeelllllllllleeee ccccaaaannnn hhhhheeeelllllppppp you find your own voice E
Poetry Can Liberate

With humor and insight, Unleash the Poem Within guides you through 10 different

Your Creative Spirit
poetry forms, revealing the creative possibilities within each. You don’t have to be a
poet or write perfect poetry to experience the joy of expressing yourself.

Poem Voice
A I C T F Y —
S A HANCE O IND OUR
W
A T I N R W , G B , T .
ND HERE S O IGHT OR RONG OOD OR AD IN HAT
Along with thoughtful and encouraging instructions for experimenting I
T
with poetry in various forms, Unleash the Poem Within includes:

• H
Examples from both everyday women and acclaimed women poets
•
Tips on form and pointers from other women poets I
• Inspirational music that will get you in the mood to write N
•
Imaginative ways to share your creativity with others
Wendy Nyemaster W
i s currently a senior editor for a privately
owned publishing company that specializes in licensed-property e
n
products. She lives in Merriam, Kansas, with her husband Jon, son d
y
Trenton and dog Einstein.
N
y
$15.95 U.S. / $18.95 CAN / £8.99 UK e
m
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-0944-4
www.sourcebooks.com ISBN-10: 1-4022-0944-4 a
s
t
e
Self-Help C N r
P A
U E W e n d y N y e m a s t e r
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page i
U
NLEASH
P oem
THE
W
I T H I N
How Reading and Writing Poetry
Can Liberate Your Creative Spirit
W E N D Y N Y E M A S T E R
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page ii
Copyright © 2008 by Wendy Nyemaster
Cover and internal design © 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover photo ©Getty Images
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its
publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trade-
marks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with
any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
[phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.sourcebooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nyemaster, Wendy.
Unleash the poem within : how writing and reading poetry can liberate your creative spirit
/ Wendy Nyemaster.
p. cm.
1. Poetry—Authorship. 2. Poetry—Authorship—Psychological aspects. 3. Poetry. I. Title.
PN1059.A9N94 2008
808.1--dc22
2007044957
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page iii
To my family, who have always loved me the most.
To the Posse, the bravest bunch of women on the planet.
[ iii]
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page iv
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page v
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
The Posse Lineup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter One
Work through an Emotional Situation: The Sonnet. . . . . . . 3
Chapter Two
Make Sense of Memory: The Sestina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter Three
Examine Your Life: The List Poem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter Four
Let Your Mind Wander: The Ghazal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chapter Five
Live Now: The Haiku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Chapter Six
Hear Your Inner Voice: The Villanelle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter Seven
Lift Yourself Up: The Letter Poem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter Eight
Get on Your Spiritual Path: The Prayer Poem . . . . . . . . . 213
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page vi
Chapter Nine
Learn Something New Every Day:
The Epiphany Poem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Chapter Ten
Be Happy; Dwell on What You Like: The Ode . . . . . . . . 273
About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/18/08 5:36 PM Page vii
Introduction
Why Write Poetry? I’ve Got Dishes and
Laundry to Do!
For each of us as women, there is a deep place within,
where hidden and growing our true spirit rises. . . .
Within these deep places, each one holds an incredible reserve of
creativity and power,
of unexamined and unrecorded emotion and feeling.
—Audre Lorde
F
irst things first: If you are thinking of making your fortune
or getting on the Oprah Winfrey Show, writing poetry is
not the way to do it. And even if you think poetry can get
you there, this book won’t. If you think this is your ticket to fame
or notoriety of any kind, your time is better spent on those dishes
and laundry. Seriously: How many published poets do you per-
sonally know? Poets who have actually been paid?When was the
last time you paid money for poetry? It’s not gonna happen.
Getting published is not the purpose of this book.
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/14/08 1:37 PM Page viii
UNLEASHTHEPOEMWITHIN
With that said, I firmly believe you should write poetry, even
though you will probably win the lottery before being published,
and have a better chance of being the next American Idol than of
being the next Maya Angelou. (Note: Emily Dickinson was dead
before she was famous.) To mold words into a poem is a grand
and glorious accomplishment, even if no one in the world sees it
but you. A poem is a little book that has just the right amount of
words, a perfect little world, a grasp on something that can’t be
touched. It is beautiful and necessary. The reason that you should
write poetry is simply because you want a more creative, expres-
sive, and authentic life. And, quite honestly, the world could use
more poetry, even if it’s just your own little world.
But how many of us have time to ponder how fall leaves
change from yellow to gold? Or the utter perfection of a new-
born baby’s pinky toe? When was the last time you actually saw
a rainbow? When was the last time that your leaving-wet-towels-
on-the-floor husband inspired flowery words? Thankfully you
don’t have to have time for endless contemplation, nor does your
life have to be perfect. Poetry is life as it is happening, not as you
think it should be. You don’t need anything other than what is
really happening to you. Right now. However, what you do need
is an unwavering belief that you are worth spending a little time
on, time completely to yourself, time that you can spend how-
ever you damn well please, even on something as frivolous as
writing poetry.
You don’t have to write perfect poetry, and that is not even
remotely the goal here. The idea is to use poetry as a means, a
means to a more creative, expressive, and authentic life. There is
no right or wrong, good or bad. You can do it. Don’t let any of
the “forms” you saw in the table of contents intimidate you.
[ viii]
Finding the Poem Within.qxp 2/14/08 1:37 PM Page ix
INTRODUCTION
Why all the form? you might be wondering. Why can’t I just
write free verse? We can all slap together words and phrases
and call it a poem, and you know what? Then it is. But, my
thought is if you’re going to do something and devote some
time to it, you might as well challenge yourself and attempt
something more. In addition, poetry, and writing in form in par-
ticular, can be extremely beneficial to your life; writing poetry
can help you let go of what’s holding you down, experience
gratitude for the life you were given, explore what this person
of you is all about, and let you fly as high as your creative
spirit will take you. And there are certain forms that work bet-
ter for different purposes.
For example, a sonnet can help you work through an emotional
situation; a haiku can help you appreciate and stay in the present
moment; and the villanelle can help you find your own voice.
I will introduce you to some of the different forms and types
of poetry. I will explain some things you need to know, like iambic
pentameter, but you will not hear some of the more complicated
terms of poetry, like synecdoche or hemistich (it’s just not neces-
sary for our purposes here). Writing in form is a way to focus your
mind and deal with something specific. It takes discipline and as
a result is incredibly rewarding.
For each kind of poetry, you will find examples from “famous”
women poets (just because you haven’t heard of her doesn’t mean
she’s not famous) as well as—and this is the best part!—exam-
ples from women just like you: women with careers; women who
work at home; young women; not-so-young women; married,
single, and everything in between women; women with kids;
women expecting new kids; and women with no kids. The incred-
ible women you will meet in this book make up the original Poet
[ ix]