You the Poet at Word Woman

home      about rosemerry      hire rosemerry      books & recordings      you the poet      words for you
 
 
You the Poet

“I have so appreciated this time to write and reflect. Thank you for your thoughtful presentation, your warm acceptance of me and for sharing from your heart. I also appreciate the way you look direct into my soul. Thank you.”
      —Carol, school teacher, Delta, Colorado

“Rosemerry is a fine teacher—she reaches out, she coaxes, she encourages, she listens, she shares her passion. Poetry just comes alive through her.”
      —Laurie Wagner Buyer, poet

Writing a poem is like taking a brief vacation in the backyard of our minds. Although we enter a familiar world—coffee machines, weeds, successes at work, unreturned love, raising children—poetry reframes what is commonplace and gives us a new entry point for understanding. Unlike learning facts, writing a poem appeals to our intuitive mind. The answers aren't laid out as in a simple math equation. In fact, in poetry, there may be many answers suggested.

On this page, you’ll find columns I’ve written about the art of poetry, as well as exercises for energizing your own poetic practice. If you do any of the exercises, send me what you wrote!


Musings on Poetry: Columns about the Art of Poetry
 

Speaking from the Hated Place

One wonderful side effect of a poetic practice: It can lead us toward great compassion, as past US poet-laureate Louise Gluck exemplifies in her poem “Witchgrass,” pasted below.

There are so many groups of people that as a society we try to marginalize, weed out, separate ourselves from, and ignore. Old people. Sick people. Crazy people. Homeless people. People of different races. Entire Article Here


Rabbit Brush: What Renders Us Human

At 4:30 a.m., I was the first person in Seattle to arrive at gate N-15 for the 6 a.m. Denver flight. I slunk into the black plastic chair, my feet propped up on my carry-on. The next passenger to arrive was a man in a leather-brimmed cap. He found a seat kitty corner from me across the aisle.

For half an hour, we had the terminal to ourselves. We chatted about fog, dying grandparents and airport security before talk turned to poetry. Entire Article Here

Ideas for Critiquing Your Poem (And Other People’s Poem’s, Too)

Things to Consider:

  1. Are you trusting your reader? Believe in your reader’s intelligence.
  2. Is it novel? Is there a sense of discovery? No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.
  3. Did you say something worth saying? What is the point? Are you focused? Entire Article Here

All is Write with the World: Where Nature Meets Human Nature

For centuries, poets worldwide have written about the natural world’s wonders. Thich Nhat Hanh celebrated how “water flows from high in the mountains.” Gary Snyder exulted being alive “on a mid-September morn/fording a stream/barefoot.” The Eskimos reveled in “the arch of sky and mightiness of storms.”

And what about you? You know what it’s like to stand beneath a night sky so clear that you want to sing to the stars. You have been humbled by mudslide or flood. Entire Article Here

Down, Girl! How to Converse With Your Inner Critic  

Let’s say that while dreaming about how to boost your business, you come up with a few new ideas. But before you flesh them out, a raspy voice enters your head and says something like, “That is so stupid,” or “That will never work, you dummy.”

Some folks call this voice the inner critic.

I call it the inner rottweiler: a powerful, merciless predator that knows how to bite into your most vulnerable places and render you helpless. Entire Article Here.


Pulling White Rabbits Out of the Air

Last April I was in Tulsa doing a poetry program in the schools. I asked the kids, “What is a poet?”

One of the boys in sixth grade shot up his hand and said, “A poet is someone who says some words, and then something happens.” Entire Article Here.

Negligee and the Art of Poetry

Victoria’s got a secret. Well, actually two.

Secret Number One: Sex sells. The company pulls in about 4 billion dollars a year in total sales.

Secret Number Two: A little lingerie goes a long way. Regardless what’s underneath the silk robes and garter belts, that glimpse of flimsy red lace or thick straps of black leather lets the imagination meander in a myriad of mysterious, delicious ways. Entire Article Here.

The Art of the Practice: Poetry Exercises for You to Try

Ever get stumped by a blank white page? One thing I do when this happens is read other people's poetry and look for poems I love. Then, when I stumble on something marvelous, I try to identify what it is that I love so much about that poem and then give myself an assignment. Here are some examples of poems that I love and love to build on.

Feeling Out of Control? Write, Write, Write
Emotions 101
And This Is Why I Hold You
Becoming an Instrument
From Abstract to Road Map
Giving Advice
Looking Into the Crystal Ball
Making it Beautiful
Pantoum
Sestina
Writing about Writing

Rosemerry and sister poet Julie Cummings at play in Denver


Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
P.O. Box 86   Placerville, Colorado  81430
Rosemerry@WordWoman.com
Phone:  970-728-0399  -  Fax:  970-369-0989