Very nice poetry. I suggest people read this one. I like the recurrence of the ‘is good’ phrase. Excellent. Seriously, pay a visit read. Also flow Nishi as she her blog now shows her personality and I love what I’m learning about her in her articles of late.
Much Respect
Ronovan
Poetry comes from anywhere and everywhere. Not very helpful sounding is it? Let’s say you are eating cereal one morning at the breakfast table and you hear a clink in the kitchen of glasses. The sound triggers a memory, you are drawn back into childhood. A feeling comes over you of the spoon growing larger as you shrink back into childhood and become seven years old again.
Cold milk with floating Os
Clinking glasses in the sink
Shrinking tiny fingers
Pulling mind back to think
Oh those yesteryears
So simple way back when
They bring a smile to my face
Every now and then
Admittedly that’s not my best work, but as quickly as I am writing this piece today I am creating it without stopping and just letting the thoughts flow. I did not have an idea for the cereal or anything when I started typing this article. I might would go back and tweak this a bit to be better but for now I wanted you to see what can inspire a poem. And words don’t have to be beautiful stand alone words, or rhyme. By that I mean these poetically sounding words. They can just be ordinary words, which are what most of my work is.
Ordinary words touch everyone. You can understand one of my pieces instantly. That’s not to say mine are better than another persons, I just want you to know that just because you don’t think with those words doesn’t mean you cannot write poetry. You can write a poem in everyday words, and then look up synonyms and have fun with it.
Now I want to go into a recent poem I wrote and how it came about to show you the process. I dislike calling it a process because I really don’t have one. I think instead I will call it the creation of the poem. Even in my writing of this article I just let the words flow and go with it. Instead of correcting the use of ‘process’ I explained it and then created a new way of expressing my work. This is how poetry works as well.
The poem is Truth in a Picture. I needed a pick me up piece to do. I wanted to write something happy and full of life. For this I usually go to photos, sometimes of friends online but sometimes just wandering about the web. I wandered. I looked up some art paintings and happy did not happy.
The colors caught my eye, then sadness. There’s no doubt the woman is beautiful, but then you see more.
After the glimpse of color I saw the eyes and how they looked vacant and broken. It reminded me of pictures I have seen of female friends where the smile doesn’t reach the eyes.
That’s when the poem began, or perhaps it began as soon as I saw the eyes.
Thoughts came to me of what if I were the woman and knew what a man was thinking as he saw me looking beautiful but inside I didn’t even care because I knew the truth.
What if I knew why I looked the way I did? What if I knew this was my mask, my disguise?
Happy didn’t happen.
I’m not a long form poem writer very often, not that this is a long poem at all. I usually get my thoughts out as efficiently as they come to me. I looked at the painting and then closed my eyes and typed. I remembered the eyes, the nose and the lips. I thought of how makeup and lipstick are paints of disguise. I thought of how the paint attracts attention to disguise the harm caused by attention. I imagined her thoughts at each of his thoughts.
I then thought of the flip side of that and what the woman was underneath the pain and what the paint covered up. I altered the picture to show what was underneath.
Sleep circles and bruises. The colorlessness a woman feels . . . the lifelessness. I took each of the previous thoughts and made them the truth from her side.
The reaction to the poem has been encouraging in the honesty of it. I was asked how do I know what women think. My replies never really captured my thoughts. I don’t know that I do know what women think, I just know how I feel about something and then I put it into words. Somehow in this piece I contained an anger until after I was finished. The anger would have turned it into a much different piece. I’m not sure I could have written that piece.
I tend to tell a story in my poems, be it my autobiography or some societal thing that plagues my mind. I do try to have fun with it at times, but that is rare. Write what comes out of your fingertips. Let your mind take over, let your heart set the tempo, and get out of the way.
Neha, rhyme mistress and word wizard of ForgottenMeadows allowed me to be involved in this Virtual Blog Tour. Why and how she put me down as one of her choices for involvement I will never know. I’m a strange man in a strange land.
What can I say about Neha?
Her words are aloe,
Soothing broken and lost souls,
Is her magic gift.
Her poetry is varied. You never know what emotion she will pluck out on any given day, but you know it will happen. But is it her poetry that gets you? I have found the person behind the words is what makes the difference to me. Through exchanged comments and communications I find that her words fail to capture what she is. What can come close is when she opens up her site to allow others to contribute and grow as artists by joining together to create a montage masterpiece under her watchful eye. Wordsmith? Yes. Heart and much more? Definite.
Before you must suffer in my answers regarding my writing and creative process you get to enjoy the TALENTED of this show. How do you choose just three from hundreds of people you follow? I had criteria in my mind. Talent, activity, as in enough to keep them on my mind, and fascination with their passions. To me if there is no passion behind production then it’s pointless. There are many that could have been on this list, but I believe those reading this will agree with those I chose.
Mara says this about herself-“I’m apparently not happy enough to nag real people around me and feel compelled to invade also the virtual space. ” “I’m a bad photographer and worse poet, which doesn’t prevent me from sharing my creations with complete strangers.”
From those words above there is obviously modesty inside of Mara as well. Her photography is unique in that it captures more than your traditional postcard picture art you might see from some. There is life in her photography that even she is not aware of. Her eye and talent naturally finds it and I sometimes even am inspired to write a poem. I look forward to her revealing how her process works.
Oscar is . . . inspiring. Yes, he’s an author, but he more than just writes about what he loves he also brings it to life and encourages it. “I have worked with at-risk Native American youth in New Mexico for nearly ten years. My passion is two fold: creative writing and empowering Indigenous youth.” For more you must read his About page. There is so much more there.
I chose Oscar because of his passion, his writing, and his spirit. He’s not just an award winner, a scholarship winner, he’s also real. I want to find out how he does what he does. His inspiration is obvious once you have read about him and experienced his site. But I want to know how he takes that inspiration and then turns it into art.
“If you dream upon a dream, it’ll come true. I always identified with this particular song lyric/inspirational quote, because if I hadn’t worked as hard as I did, I wouldn’t of gotten so far in life.” And that is Megan. Megan is another inspirational author with books being published soon. Her true story is even more amazing than her creations. But you’ll need to read more about her to discover it all. It’s all in her site. She’s very honest and sharing of her world.
Again I want to know how one so young has been able to accomplish so much. Megan is the best example of write and don’t sweat your life. Just keep writing and get the story done. She’s taken bad and turned it to good. Girl after my own heart.
I mainly work on the content for my blog. I greatly enjoy the outlet it gives for my life. Most of what I write, even poetry, is autobiographical in nature.
In regards to works I would like published someday I have a YA adventure novel about a girl and her brother that I need to revise part of and then get into editing. But one work I really would like to attempt is transforming a Paranormal Detective novel I’ve written to include more personal feeling from how I am now. Then there is another book I have that is based on my experience with amnesia but used in a fictional adventure/thriller manner. I have no idea where that idea came from.
I have decided to buckle down and complete the YA adventure revise and editing process. This means perhaps a little less time blogging but then with me who knows. 2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I think I try to bring character realism in regards to emotions, conflicts and the like to the story more than just actions. Even the action that takes place says something about the person because of reactions, choices, and consequences. Is that different from everyone else? I don’t know, but it’s me.
I sit down with each scene and action and decide on the believability of it within the abilities of the character. Even with paranormal, fantasy, or science fiction I attempt to ground as much of the actual aspects of the characters in reality in order for the reader to connect, and in all honesty for myself to connect as well.
I don’t necessarily write for popularity but for release of thoughts and feelings I have. Descriptiveness of environment and setting is less important to me than characterization. I think I look for the reality behind the fiction.
3. Why do I write/create what I do?
For my blog I write to rid myself of pain and thoughts. The pain is the physical results of Fibromyalgia and Migraines, not necessarily some emotional trauma, although those two plus amnesia do have some impact on how I see things. I just wanted to make that clear. Sometimes it’s humor or my creations, but depending on the physical trials I am going through I find poetry especially a great outlet.
As for my novel work I believe my reasons have changed over time. At one time it may have been to be a popular writer but now it is too create a place that reflects who I am in the main characters and hopefully make a connection with readers in a way that will make them think. I believe every story has a reader waiting for it to touch and in a way heal. 4. How does my writing/creating process work?
For my poetry I sit down to an empty page, close my eyes and begin to type. Whatever is coming to my mind at that moment I just keep my eyes closed and type the words and descriptions that come to mind. I get out of the way of my mind and heart and just let it flow. Even if it is dark or angry, I let it go. I never sit down to purposefully create a dark piece. Never. I think my mind looks at something and sees what’s behind the image, or imagines what is behind it.
After that first stage I then open my eyes and see if there is something there to share. I sometimes sit down and so want to write a sunshiny piece and end up writing about pain. But somehow a few people might say they find it beautiful and I don’t really understand, or they find comedy in it. I just thank them and close my eyes for the next piece. I tell others that every piece you write has a reader waiting to find it, so don’t be afraid to share it.
Try it yourself. Just close your eyes and begin to type. As you do your thoughts will begin to form into a single line and become a message. Just keep typing until you cannot any longer.
Sometimes I will write a poem about a photograph I see as an escape from the darkness of some of my poetry. It is a much needed reprieve.
As for my novel work it is much like the poetry in that I let the characters write the story. I have an idea of who the main characters are and a basic idea of where I want it to go, but ultimately the characters determine what happens. I don’t force myself to stay on a path to my original intent. I may love a character when I create it before I start but the story ends up having that one be the one people won’t like, even I don’t like, and I go with it. I can’t change it. I have even had the main love interest end up changing within just a few chapters of beginning a project because the two people weren’t connecting.
I also put more and more of me in my work of late. At least I think I do.
Depending on the type of novel there may be a lot of research beforehand, especially if there are historical aspects that tie in with characters or the direction of the novel, such as action/thriller that involved things from WWII that affected current events.
If you made it this far, the wow. You made it through the wilderness and out into the sunshine. I want to thank Neha once again for including me. I never imagined to be involved in something like this. I do hope you all visit those above and see what I so miserably and poorly attempted to explain.
This has been linked to so I’ve reblogged it for today. It’s a bit of a truth of the women’s side of an issues. Please read, you don’t have to click like, but at least read and get a perspective.
Much Respect
Ronovan
I put this out over the weekend but I wanted everyone to see the people I chose for nominations. To those selected you can make your own badge to give to the next people and if this one does not fit with your blog then let me know. 🙂 This was just how you all make me feel.
It continues to amaze me that anyone would find me inspiring, especially enough to nominate me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. But for some reasonTess of ITYPEMORETHANITALKdecided to honor me. The truth is she’s the one that is inspiring; law student and blogger? Wow! So, what if she thinks she may want to go more literary . . . don’t we all at some point? Follow her and read and maybe you’ll find out she might be wanting to go in the right direction.
I wonder if she’s thought about working in publishing or an agency.
Here are the rules for the award:
1.Thank and link to the amazing person who nominated you.
2.List the rules and display the award.
3.Share seven facts about yourself.
4.Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated. 5.Proudly display the award…
It continues to amaze me that anyone would find me inspiring, especially enough to nominate me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. But for some reasonTess of ITYPEMORETHANITALKdecided to honor me. The truth is she’s the one that is inspiring; law student and blogger? Wow! So, what if she thinks she may want to go more literary . . . don’t we all at some point? Follow her and read and maybe you’ll find out she might be wanting to go in the right direction.
I wonder if she’s thought about working in publishing or an agency.
Here are the rules for the award:
1.Thank and link to the amazing person who nominated you.
2.List the rules and display the award.
3.Share seven facts about yourself.
4.Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated.
5.Proudly display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.
My Seven Facts to Share: (I didn’t even try to be interesting.)
1) I recently spent 10 months believing I was a year older than I am. No, I’m not that off in the head, it was just the concussion’s fault. You can talk to it later.
2) I write my poetry with my eyes closed so I can’t interrupt what is going on. Get out of the way of the heart and the brain . . . just type.
3) My writing career came about from wanting to be a comic book artist. I listened to my parents and instead of taking Art in college I became a History teacher, although I love that as well.
4) I am into Apologetics or what is also known as Defending Your Faith. This is basically believing the Bible is what the Bible is. I have listened and read various evidence for and against. I don’t listen to the whacked out Bible debaters who really just compromise and I don’t listen to the whacked out extremists the other way. I listen to those with well thought out reasons and respect them for their thoughts even if I don’t agree. (Pardon the used of the phrase “whacked out”.)
5) I am a Foodie in that I love the experience of food, not just the eating of it.
6) I recently lost 70 pounds in 6 months. (Apparently I haven’t been experiencing food very often.)
7) I like to make homemade pizzas with veggies on them, but veggies like zucchini. (With these final two facts I must be hungry at the time of the writing of this.)
Yes, she’s a great writer but again, with me, heart is what really inspires me to be a devoted follower. This lady has it. Follower her here on Twitter.
She has a way of putting humor with relevancy in her writing. She hooks me in and then punches me at the end and I have to laugh. This young lady has been a recent and wonderful find. She pushes me to examine my own writing and want to have more fun with it. This particular article just had me and like I said at the end I died. Follow her here on Twitter.
Dyanne is not new to blogging, she’s been around. I not only enjoy her presence here in our WordPress community but also her support on Twitter. There is something uplifting about her favoriting or ReTweeting something I put out. She inspires in many ways but those moments can just keep you going at times. Follow her here on Twitter.
Great writing and a very supportive Follower. I know authors sometimes don’t like to necessarily receive Blogging Awards but I give them anyway as a sign of appreciation. He has a book available on kindle. Follow him here on Twitter.
Would I like to know her name? Yep. But her writing tells me enough. Strong in her thoughts and what she believes in. Do you really need to know anything other than that? That’s really the meaning of a name, right? One of the most generous Followers in providing comments to my articles and honest ones. There has been a good relationship built on creativity and honesty. A recent article actually played off well on one of mine without even there being a plan. I greatly enjoyed it. Twitter? Alas, no. I wish. Then again maybe she does and just refuses to share it with ME!
What to say about Jenn? I’ll let her tag line say it for me. “Life is a series of transitions. It’s not about where you are right no. It’s about which direction you’re going. Smile, and drink a frappuccino.” This lady has such a background. And she is such a great follower on Twitter. She is a bright spot in my day. Follow her here on Twitter.
Vashti writes about her progress of writing her books but also shares heart in some of her other offerings. I always enjoy the looks into the woman behind the books. Again, author with a book available here, but I am showing my appreciation any way. Of course you must follow her here on Twitter.
Amber is a poet. She always has lovely things to write about and even works with friends to set her work to music or maybe the other way around. I love the photos she uses because they are always very well chosen and very light feeling. Twitter? She probably keeps that secret. Bummer.
Radiating does just that, she radiates beauty with her photography and words and always seems to have something show up just at the right time for me to maybe pull myself up before I slip all the way into that Lost Mind of mine.
Talented doesn’t begin to describe this man. His art is amazing. This particular piece hit me like an anvil and creative scenes for stories began popping into my mind. Follow him here on Twitter.
The only thing to say about Cristian is that he creates and keeps creating. I’m jealous of one his age so far ahead of me. Yes, he has books. And yes you need to follow him here on Twitter.
Megan is inspiring for her work, her life, her heart, and just for being a beautiful person in every way. I’ll leave it there and you find out the rest. She has two books on the way with one out this Fall I believe or August? Please ‘like’ her facebook author page to show support. You know we all need that presence for agents and publishers. I liked it as me and with my own author page.
Dearest George,
I must admit a fondness for your brilliance. You shine in the sun with metallic glints. But it makes me wonder though, why you are valued at only 25 cents.
Love the sound of the music here. Who better to tell us what is authentic Hawaiian than someone from there. Click and Listen and read. Follower her if you aren’t already.
ronovanwrites 