Poet Heart: #1

NIGHT - Louise Bogan

The cold remote islands

And the blue estuaries

Where what breathes, breathes

The restless wind of the inlets,

And what drinks, drinks

The incoming tide;

Where shell and weed

Wait upon the salt wash of the sea,

And the clear nights of stars

Swing their lights westward

To set behind the land;

Where the pulse clinging to the rocks

Renews itself forever;

Where, again on cloudless nights,

The water reflects

The firmament's partial setting;

- O remember

In your narrowing dark hours

That more things move

Than blood in the heart.

I studied Literature at university where I was taught to analyse, critique, and tear open poems and novels to get to the heart of what they truly meant. But never has one spoken so directly to me than the last few lines of this poem. 

"...more things move than blood in the heart."

It reminds me to look beyond myself to nature and also to live well. 

There is a little bit of regret in me that I didn't get to study Bogan's poetry, but then when we look so closely at things doesn't it remove a part of the magic that made it great in the first place? So perhaps it's better to enjoy the words simply for what they are. 

The poetry I read at college left me cold, but delving into my giant anthology of poems from across centuries of writing, I find myself picking out the ones that speak to me and that is what poetry was always meant to be. A poem to the heart of the reader.

Do you have a favourite poem that means something to you? I love for you to share it. If you'd like to share yours here on the blog, drop me an email--> paperpocketblog@gmail.com I'm going to be sharing more poems in the coming weeks and I'd love for you guys to get involved.

Peace and Love, Bloggeroo's

xo

On writing for a wedding...

So, my best friend, @bondybaby on twitter, asked me to write a poem to be read at her wedding in August, which was so sweet of her and a vote of confidence in my writing skill. I've been working on it for a while and for the longest time the pressure got to me and I came up with trash, all of which ended up in my recycling bin. Finally, I've got something I'm happy with though it's still being worked on. If you ever have to do this, here are some words of advice:

 Invitation made by @bondybaby.

Know the people.
Chances are if you're asked to write a reading or poem for someone's wedding you'll know them quite well. I started by listing the things they like, what inspires them, thoughts and feelings about the couple. This will help form the tone of the piece. Also, knowing the theme of the wedding helps.

It doesn't matter what form it's in.
If you like to work in certain, set forms of poetry, great. For me, I write in free verse most of the time and for those of us who aren't natural poet's it works really well. I start by writing a paragraph which i'll chop and change until i'm happy. Then i'll split the paragraph into lines on a page and go back and edit again. Once I have one section i'm really happy with I find it inspires me to keep going.
  
It doesn't have to be about True love, finding "the one" and "knowing instantly".
Sometimes we feel it poems and readings for weddings have to be about true love. They don't. Another friend of mine who is getting married next year asked me for advice on finding a special reading for her ceremony that wasn't lovey dovey. I suggested looking through her favourite books for paragraphs about home, family and the things that her and her fiance really cherished in life. Things that are important to you make a better statement on the day. Of course if you or your friends did know instantly and did find "the one", there's nothing wrong with that, but only say it if it's absolutely true!!

Ease the pressure.
It's difficult to write something for someone you love dearly especially when it's going to be read aloud as part of the most important day of their life so far. I set it aside for a while and only wrote when I had something to say and tried to forget who it was for. Focus on the writing, and forget about the performance...for now!

I hope this helps a little if any of you find yourself in this situation!

Good night, bloggeroo's.

(Covered in snow)

cred

It's raining white frost again, making the British temperature drop to silly, silly cold and icing up the pavements so pedestrians walk in the cycle lane, and cyclists are in the road and no one very much is driving. This kind of weather always gets me thinking about the things that I pop in a little box, in the corner of my mind, marked "FOR WHEN IT SNOWS" in big black letters just like that. This morning I began pondering over whether I should go back to university and take my Masters degree. Either creative writing or publishing... or maybe Geology, then I could tick it off my list. I also thought about quitting work and taking a year out to finish writing the novel I started, but then I could have done that before I got this job and I didn't so what would be different? There are no guarantees that after having taken a year to finish and perfect it, the manuscript would be published or picked up by an agent. These are risky times and risky thoughts are running round my head screaming "Put me on paper!".

In my head I have a wonderful image of my immediate leave to France, where I would rent a small cottage and live and write there until... Until what? Until it stops snowing. Until I have an entire manuscript. Until my dreams come true.

Yes, these are all the things in my head, but there is nothing quite like my imagination.
XOXO

PSSSSST... This song by Laura Marling is spectacularly snowy.

Words from my notebook

I've pulled it out of the darkroom

In an attempt 

To reclaim what was taken.

That box of snapshots

Sitting on my floor,

As I scatter these images, memories

One by one.

I'd never looked

At her beauty 'til now.

Her skin is mine;

Her hair,

Her essence.

I would give anything

To capture her again

But she belongs to me

Only in photographs.

xoxo

I am a bit of a thought nomad.

Unlike the female stereotype i'm not at all very good at multi-tasking, so when I focus my attention on one thing, something else slips. Something else being the blog. You know I think you guys are awesome, if a little nutty, but hey who am I to talk.

Just lately I've been focusing on other writing which you can see here on page 45-48 ----> <3<3<3
It's kind of fun but a lot of hard work and i'm trying to decide if I want to use my press pass and go to London Fashion Week and write an article...I know it sounds cool, right?

We'll see.

Just wanted to pop in and give hugs. I'm still here!
xoxo

tonight my mind wants to tell a story...

...and this is where I would love to write it. How cute!

<3

I haven't written a story for a little while, so i've been spending time gathering inspiration for all the pieces that have yet to be freed from the inner workings of my fuzzy little head and now they are ready to be put to paper. Right now i'm about to start work on a screen play based on an idea that my Mr and i have been ping ponging back and forth for 6 months or so. I'm taking a trip back to days when Sunday afternoons were spent watching old movies and television drama's that marked the start of Autumn and wild imagination. Ooooo it makes me feel all cosy inside just thinking about it :) This may explain why i've been obsessed with fairytales lately... i can't help it!

What will you be doing tonight? (Please leave a comment. I love hearing what you guys are getting up to or what you think!)

Oh and does anyone else write????

<3

xoxo

Some call me lucky...

others, names I can't repeat. The reason? My dissertation is not one that most students get to undertake. While the rest of the third years hammer away at their academic and research based dissertations I get to leisurely write the beginning part of a novel, 10,000 words to be exact. Except it's not leisurely. It's not even easy. They have a hammer and a chisel; I have nothing but a toothpick and a stale piece of gum. I've spoken to several people who gave the impression that I was lucky. Hell! I get to make the whole thing up after all. So excuse me for feeling a little put out when I complete it and then have to re-write it 59 million times before I can even begin thinking about handing it in. 

For the last week I've had something similar to writers block, only it's not quite the same. I can write, but the quality isn't there. Nothing reads well and it's starting to really grind on me, especially since I have a tutorial with my dissy tutor tomorrow and I have nothing new to show her. Nothing of any worth any way. Maybe now would be a good time to emmigrate to New Zealand.