Who Does a Poem Serve?
It is important for writers of poetry to ask themselves from time to time: Who does a poem serve? Does a poem serve the writer? Does a poem serve the reader? Does it serve the speaker of the poem? Ideally should it serve all three? There is a spectrum that poems fall within. Usually when people begin to write poems, the poem serves the writer, which is one edge of the spectrum. Writing the poem becomes a process of listening to the self (the inner fish, what the body knows) and shaping this listening into words. What emerges on the page might be mostly a list of feelings or of thoughts, a remembering that carries with it stored up sensations. Releasing the energy of these recollections can be intensely gratifying, almost regardless of the words that land on the page. This kind of listening and written response can have a significant healing effect (If you would like to read more about the therapeutic benefits of writing, I recommend the books of a James W. Pennebaker, Ph. D. There are also good books written by poetry therapists; please see While profoundly valuable, this kind of writing does not necessarily lead to revision and refining elements of poetic craft.
When writers of poetry become interested in moving beyond the poem as a servant of the writer, they are ready to begin exploring elements of craft – a process that can be quite joyful as well as disciplined. What is the difference between the writer and the speaker of the poem? If the speaker of the poem is not the personal or lyric “I” than who is it and what does he or she want? Why is this important? What is to be gained by listening to the speaker? What does he or she know? Where does this knowledge come from? How does this knowing become embodied into the “right” words? Where should line breaks and stanza breaks occur? As writers become increasingly enamored with these questions and with responding to these questions through the revision process, they enter the segment of the spectrum where the poet serves the poem.
When the poet embraces the mystery of becoming a servant to the poem, the deep joy of writing can take hold. Everything that a writer needs to know about how to use language honestly and powerfully can be discovered through the practice of serving the poem. Teachers of writing at any level – elementary, middle, high school and college/university level – can serve students and their writing well by first grounding them in the art of writing poetry and then transitioning them into prose through prose poetry, the meditative essay and then the analytical essay. (Workshops designed to teach this approach to composition writing are available through River Lily Press.)
Furthermore, the disciplined play of serving the poem gives the writer a deep connection to his or her core being. This is where our truest voices dwell, our fullest voices – the ones that sing with the interlaced knowing of body, mind and soul/feeling. We know who we are, we know what we value, we can name our joys, we can name and often transform our hurts. And, if this wasn’t persuasive enough, we might also discover that place within where we as individuals hold hands with the transcendent – both human and divine. We can encounter the Infinite Creative Voice, receiving inspiration and sometimes receiving revelations. Amazing, how much meaningful living can emerge from time given to listening. Listening to our bodies, our worlds, our voices, listening to the worlds within words and symbols.
Elements of Poetry: A “Flow Chart” (John, should we include this here in its entirety? If so can you scan the copy you have?)
- Cyra S. Dumitru