2020 Camp NaPo Campsite

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1. 
   

   BluesClues
   BluesClues · Mar 2, 2020

   and here we will see if BluesClues actually manages to do even a single daily challenge
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   BluesClues
   BluesClues · Mar 11, 2020

   March 10

   
   I obviously haven't done a single daggum one of these, BUT I participated in @Hedwiggle's poetry write-in even though I did not actually write a poem so I wanted to make a note of that. For posterity:
   
   Two of my favorite poems:
   Swimming, One Day in August by Mary Oliver
   anyone lived in a pretty how town by e.e. cummings
   
   What draws me to a poem:
   I like poems that have strong imagery/good poetic devices but are also fairly straightforward - they don't have to come right out and tell me what they're about, but I like poems that don't purposely obscure meaning, either. I like to get some semblance of meaning from one read-through, and then more meaning each time I come back and read. That said, I do also enjoy a good poem for the sheer beauty of it when it's unclear but full of gorgeous language. (I'm pretty sure the poems above basically include one of each.)
   
   How I stick to one theme:
   This is something I've really had to work at; my poems used to be more of the obfuscating kind. But usually my idea is for a single theme, because it's either some strong emotion I feel in the moment or an idea I might like to turn into a poem later - this might be a line, a title, a concept, a specific emotion or thought, and it gets written down in my poetry journal until I return to it. (That's what I'll be mining for poems this April.)
   
   My advice for new poets trying to stick with one theme:
   Images, metaphors, and other poetic devices drive themes, so if you want to stick to one theme, you need to pare down your poetic devices: as few images and metaphors as possible. Your first draft can be word-vomit that includes every device that came to mind, but after that ask yourself, "what am I trying to say and am I effectively saying it?" If certain images and metaphors contradict each other in a non-purposeful way, don't add to the theme, or address a different them entirely, cut them.
   
   This has been my main challenge to myself over the last few years and has resulted in much clearer, more straightforward poetry. I keep getting the comment, "I don't normally understand poetry, but I liked this!" I don't know if that means people are actually understanding my poems or just that they like them even though they don't understand them, but I'll take it. It seems like it'd be easier to write a poem this way, but it's actually a lot harder than the more obfuscating poetry I used to write: it forces you to really think about what you're trying to convey and to choose images and metaphors more carefully to make sure they get that message across.

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