Some online poets I know are learning poems to recite--mainly other poets and are buying lots of poetry books to read--the old poets and the ones of today. I wonder if I am a true poet. Because I don't care to learn poems. I think if I need to learn a poem, it should be some of my own, so that I can recite them to people when I want to impress them. I read some poetry, like Neruda and a few others that I own. But the urge to go out and read all these new poets...well I don't have it. How can I be a good poet, if I don't want to read what's out there today????? To use poetry by others as a tool to improve my own work???
It's not that I don't read poetry other than my own...I do. And I enjoy what I read most of the time but.... the drive to be a professional poet who knows more about poetry than most text books do... it's not there.
Maybe that's why at heart I'm a writer. I do read and have a thirst for a good story. And I learn from what I read--style and presentation...what works as plots and the importance of timing... One thing I've learnt since I started listening to Audio Books is how a book sounds read aloud. Is there awkward sentencing? Does the dialogue sound normal?
Yes, I may not be a true poet but I know in my heart I'm a writer. And I can live with being that.
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2 comments:
well, you're definitely not a false poet
Reading other peoples work is a way of connecting with other writers... it can help you develope new ways of writing sometimes ... try some Benjamin Zephaniah for a something new
http://www.benjaminzephaniah.com/rhymin.html
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