POETIC LICENSE
September 2, 2007 by Shirley Allard
Poets paint their art with words
Their brush, a mighty sword
With innuendo here and there
They strike familiar chords.
With words absurd, their meaning blurred
They seduce a fleeting thought
But never assume it’s their personal gloom
For often it is not.
The pain and joy they oft employ
To render their reason to rhyme
Are tainted by the readers’ eye
Unequipped with a poet’s mind.
So when you read a poet’s words
With toil so well defined
That a miner, with a lifeless bird
Is planted in your mind.
It may well be reality
Just not of their own kind.
© 2007 Shirley Allard
How many times I’ve experienced this as I write my own poetry. ‘Will the reader automatically assume the poem to be autobiographical?’ I loved your allegorical reference to the miner’s canary, too, especially the reference to its lifelessness. I constantly guard against superimposing my own ‘reader’s eye’, often unsuccessfully.
A huge revelation, Shirley, delightfully chronicled… we’d all do well to heed its message.
Thanks! When I first started reading poetry rather than just writing it, I took many things literally myself. I learned by discussing poetry with a good friend that one is not always speaking for oneself. Once again, we are at the mercy of our readers.
I like the last verse about the miner. I look at art as being a very broad area. It is more than just paint on a canvas.
Terry, Thank you! I agree.
shirley,, i have expressed this to my readers… as often times they feel that simply because melancholy and gloom are my greatest poetic backdrops that i am forever sad… i am not… but often times my poetic reflection is… i loved this…..
Jodi, thank you and I think it happens to everyone who writes.