Blog: Poetically Violated

Poetry's become a huge part of how I express myself. I grew up sort of in a sheltered environment where I was kept closed-minded to a lot of things I should have been exposed to, but then again exposed to all the things I should have been kept away from. I don't ever remember being told how to defend myself, speak up for myself, be a strong person, therefore some of the things I've learned growing up I've picked up on my own along the way.

Sometimes my mind acts like its own literary press and you'll always find me jotting down something that popped into my head...if I don't put it down on paper right then, whether it's a paper towel, napkin, back of an old envelope, scratch sheet of paper...whatever I can get my hands on, the poem is gone in a flash and I've lost the train of thought just that fast.

I've learned a new term, "Poetically Violated," and it comes from some reading back and forth I've been doing and from having heard about Larry Jaffe's book, that it came to me. It basically means to me, being caught in a translucent state of being, when words are swimming in your mind forming a once in a lifetime poem that you must grab in an instant once the very existence of that poem becomes real. The pen moves while your mind glides over the paper.

Today I see poetry in a whole new light. As I plan for my third book to come alive, it will dance with words playing tunes it's never heard before. "Imperfections." Yep, that's what I'm calling it. It was going to be "Imperfections of a Poet," but I thought..."hmm, why not just shorten and let it play on the minds of would be readers. Then again I could call it, "Poetically Violated." That, too has a nice ring to it.

Anyway, it's 3:38 a.m. on a Sunday morning, November 23. What's got me sitting here at the computer pecking away at the keys? The irony of rejection.