I started writing poetry as a reaction. I have a chronic illness that made me feel marginalized, and writing helped me to think through complex emotions. I started to extend it to my life as a whole, just trying to make sense of myself and my place in the world. Later on, I felt the need to extend my view even further, and my poems started to comment on the state of the world and how it affected me. Now I mostly write philosophical poems. So yes, poetry has helped me, and is still helping me, to make sense of things. And when I read poetry from someone else I feel like I get to inhabit their body and mind for a few minutes. I think reading and writing poetry is an act of empathy, but it's mostly an intuitive experience.
This is such a fantastic little look into your own personal relationship with poetry. I love that you write philosophical poems. We need for poets exploring thought and knowledge as a standalone and not just gateway to the confessional. I also am fascinated by what you say here "writing poetry is an act of empathy". Would love to hear more from you about that if you'd like to share?
I think that reading and writing poetry can be considered acts of empathy because they involve a deep engagement with emotions, experiences, and perspectives that may be different from our own. It offers opportunities for emotional connection and imaginative exploration that helps with deep understanding of others. When we immerse ourselves in poetic expression, we exercise our empathetic muscles and we become more appreciative of the beauty and complexity of the human experience.
Just wanted to say “100 WAYS TO SAY APOCALYPSE” was my favorite in the collection. It’s a poem that made me feel hollowed out and breathless, while at the same time deeply yearn to be around everyone I love.
Understanding poetry vs poetry helping you is almost synonymous, because to understand poetry, one must write poetry. To appreciate poetry, one must read other poets poems. Involving yourself with reading and writing teaches you to write descriptively and use your imagination to create connections that are of the highest quality.
I love this, especially your mentioning that "one must read other poets poems". I think this is perhaps even more important than writing our own sometimes!
Upon reading the 'non-question' of the week, I was reminded of '... when that passage was written only God and Robert Browning understood it. Now, only God understands it.' from Rudolph Besier's The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Every single poem written, or even read, does something slightly different, and no poem ever does the same thing twice. Thus, one may, having first understood something a little better when writing or reading a poem, find new questions and complications when returning to edit or reread. Or it could go the other way, and what appears obscure and complex at the outset may become clear and simple as one goes on.
Haha, yes "non-question" indeed. And gosh thank you so much for sharing this quote. It made me laugh but also think very deeply. And I also resonate with your whole comment here. It happens so often that a poem covertly works as both a psychic and psychologist ha.
In regard to the inquiry of the week, I’ll leave this quote from Peter Gizzi from a recent interview in the Brooklyn Rail: “When I was younger, I always favored work that was just ahead of me. Still do. It was speaking to me, and created an enigma in me, a mystery, a horizon, and a world to live within. There was always more to find—or, rather, I should say, there is still always more to find inside it.” I think this is saying a lot in terms of poetry/understanding.
Thank you so much for sharing this quote Marko. I was not aware of Peter Gizzi's work before and this has provided a great starting point to begin exploring.
I highly recommend his recent recording “Speech Acts for a Dying World,” which is up on streaming platforms. It’s a great entry point for his work; he reads so well!
What an absolutely painful (in the very most poetically pleasurable of ways! 😉) privilege this introduction to Francis is! I'm still plodding through the interview but I just had to pause to express my excitement that I'm now acquainted with TWO (count 'em!) object-oriented ontologist-poets! The other one is Daniel Paul Marshall, with whoi I'll be sharing a link to Francis' feature forthwith!!
I started writing poetry as a reaction. I have a chronic illness that made me feel marginalized, and writing helped me to think through complex emotions. I started to extend it to my life as a whole, just trying to make sense of myself and my place in the world. Later on, I felt the need to extend my view even further, and my poems started to comment on the state of the world and how it affected me. Now I mostly write philosophical poems. So yes, poetry has helped me, and is still helping me, to make sense of things. And when I read poetry from someone else I feel like I get to inhabit their body and mind for a few minutes. I think reading and writing poetry is an act of empathy, but it's mostly an intuitive experience.
This is such a fantastic little look into your own personal relationship with poetry. I love that you write philosophical poems. We need for poets exploring thought and knowledge as a standalone and not just gateway to the confessional. I also am fascinated by what you say here "writing poetry is an act of empathy". Would love to hear more from you about that if you'd like to share?
I think that reading and writing poetry can be considered acts of empathy because they involve a deep engagement with emotions, experiences, and perspectives that may be different from our own. It offers opportunities for emotional connection and imaginative exploration that helps with deep understanding of others. When we immerse ourselves in poetic expression, we exercise our empathetic muscles and we become more appreciative of the beauty and complexity of the human experience.
Amen
Indeed!
Just wanted to say “100 WAYS TO SAY APOCALYPSE” was my favorite in the collection. It’s a poem that made me feel hollowed out and breathless, while at the same time deeply yearn to be around everyone I love.
I love this! Yes, that poem totally blew us away when we read it in the submission queue as well!!
Understanding poetry vs poetry helping you is almost synonymous, because to understand poetry, one must write poetry. To appreciate poetry, one must read other poets poems. Involving yourself with reading and writing teaches you to write descriptively and use your imagination to create connections that are of the highest quality.
I love this, especially your mentioning that "one must read other poets poems". I think this is perhaps even more important than writing our own sometimes!
Upon reading the 'non-question' of the week, I was reminded of '... when that passage was written only God and Robert Browning understood it. Now, only God understands it.' from Rudolph Besier's The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Every single poem written, or even read, does something slightly different, and no poem ever does the same thing twice. Thus, one may, having first understood something a little better when writing or reading a poem, find new questions and complications when returning to edit or reread. Or it could go the other way, and what appears obscure and complex at the outset may become clear and simple as one goes on.
Haha, yes "non-question" indeed. And gosh thank you so much for sharing this quote. It made me laugh but also think very deeply. And I also resonate with your whole comment here. It happens so often that a poem covertly works as both a psychic and psychologist ha.
In regard to the inquiry of the week, I’ll leave this quote from Peter Gizzi from a recent interview in the Brooklyn Rail: “When I was younger, I always favored work that was just ahead of me. Still do. It was speaking to me, and created an enigma in me, a mystery, a horizon, and a world to live within. There was always more to find—or, rather, I should say, there is still always more to find inside it.” I think this is saying a lot in terms of poetry/understanding.
Thank you so much for sharing this quote Marko. I was not aware of Peter Gizzi's work before and this has provided a great starting point to begin exploring.
I highly recommend his recent recording “Speech Acts for a Dying World,” which is up on streaming platforms. It’s a great entry point for his work; he reads so well!
What an absolutely painful (in the very most poetically pleasurable of ways! 😉) privilege this introduction to Francis is! I'm still plodding through the interview but I just had to pause to express my excitement that I'm now acquainted with TWO (count 'em!) object-oriented ontologist-poets! The other one is Daniel Paul Marshall, with whoi I'll be sharing a link to Francis' feature forthwith!!
💖
This is such a wonderful response, Stephanie. We are truly grateful for readers like yourself.