I know Poetry Day is not just for kids, but I do think of schools and children when I think of it, maybe because back when I was teaching more than I seem to be now, Poetry Day was often used as an “excuse” to get Mrs. Guiney in for a workshop.
I always love working with children, and I find introducing them to the art of writing poetry one of the most rewarding teaching experiences of all. Over the years, I have worked with many kids who have learning disabilities, and by far the greatest disability that these kids suffer from is low self-esteem. Many of them can barely look you in the eye when they speak with you, and will only speak with you if they must. So writing poetry? And then reading what they wrote out loud? You must be joking.
And so I developed “Mrs. Guiney’s Rules for Writing Poetry” and whenever I teach my Intro to Poetry workshop, I always start with these:
1. DON’T THINK: let the words and ideas pop into your head, even if you don’t know why they did.
2. USE THE BACK OF YOUR BRAIN: often the most interesting ideas are lurking there in the back, just behind your eyes. Let them come forward (in other words, leave your editor’s hat at home).
3. LISTEN TO THE SOUNDS OF WORDS AND LETTERS, JUST AS MUCH AS MEANING: you don’t have to rhyme and it doesn’t have to “make sense” (at least at first).
4. and the most important rule of all: KNOW THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE A MISTAKE. If it comes from inside you, there’s no such thing as a mistake.
The results are quite predictable when I trot out my rules. First, there is laughter. Then, total disbelief and mistrust. And then, after a time, a classroom full of eureka moments. I have to tell you, there is nothing quite so wonderful as taking a sullen 15-year-old boy, convincing him that the stray words in his head actually add up to something wonderful, and then seeing the look on his face when those words are read and well-received by his classmates. And believe me, the same is true for adults. (Try teaching a 50-year-old businessman* that he can not only enjoy reading but also writing poetry and see what happens!) At that moment, I know that poetry has found a lasting place in that student’s heart and, dare I say it — every day can be poetry day.
* now, now – you know I have nothing against businessmen or women. I’m just making a point….
What a lovely post! These simple rules are actually the same as the ones put in more complicated language on more advanced courses. I love that idea of tapping into the subconscious you hint at here. And also emptying your head or the poems just won’t ‘pop out’ ever.
Mrs Guiney indeed!
I love this Sue! Why is it that we learn SO young the mistakes are unforgiveable EVIL and that our creative thoughts are MISTAKES! Yay to every day being Poetry Day! Love Niki
I used to love writing poetry aged about nine or ten… Somewhere along the way I stopped and became self conscious and then terrified. Isn’t that sad?
This was a lovely post. Thank you.
What a wonderful post! I don’t write poetry myself, but this business of writing from the back of the brain sounds very much the way it works for prose fiction, too.
I love your rules. It’s probably more true of poetry than any other writing that many of us were scared away, afraid we weren’t doing it properly. It’s nice to know we can’t make a mistake.