The Everything Writing Poetry Book (29 page)
Capturing Your Place
The imaginary place you create is special to you. Perhaps you are the king or queen of an imagined empire, or maybe you are a visitor to a distant land. Your ideal place might resemble one you have experienced before, but the subtle variations you add make it more magical. Over the centuries, a great deal of literature has been written about idealized or invented places, such as Camelot, Brigadoon, Narnia, Middle Earth, Oz, Shangri-la, Dilmun, and the Elysian Fields. The word
utopia
is used for such places, where readers are drawn to follow the heroes and travelers they admire.
To write about your own imaginary place, you must work through several journals or free-writes. You won't capture anything beyond the barest essence of this place if you write only one description of it. Take several days. Turn the place over in your mind and observe it from all angles. What does it look like? Who are its inhabitants? What is their currency? How do they dress? Travel to the boundaries of this place and describe what you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste at every step. And don't simply describe a place onceâyou must describe it during different seasons, at different times of day, and under different weather conditions.
Don't forget that your invented dream place is unattainable for a reason. Consider this fact, and ask yourself why a place like this could never exist on Earth. What about human nature, animal instinct, or the environment would not accommodate your utopia? This idea might add shadow (see the discussion
of shadow
in Chapter 10) to your poem.
Once you have begun your descriptions, you can set out a list of reasons why you visit this place. Is it the beauty of the landscape? Is it a place where you find peace and solitude? Has the place helped you find a new facet of yourselfâa desire for adventure, a new motivation, or a strength of character you never knew you had? Have you fallen in love with someone there? Have you located relatives or friends in this place?
Two ideas that you may wish to incorporate into your poem about your ideal place are beauty and longing. For example, this place may be so beautiful that you long for it even when you aren't imagining it. You can't, however, simply use the words
beautiful
and
longing
and expect your readers to experience what you have envisioned. Work diligently to bring these feelings to life using simple and clear details.
Chapter 14
Writing about Work and Play
S
ince the majority of your waking hours are likely spent working at a job, it's inevitable that many of your ideas for poems will be inspired by your workplace. Whether you work in an office, in the outdoors, or in your home, you have plenty of material to draw from. Fortunately, life is not all about work. During your hours off and on the weekends you can devote your energy to family, friends, and personal hobbies. These activities can generate material for poems just as easily as your job.
What You Do
It's impossible to escape one basic fact: The major reason why most people work is to support themselves. While a job provides you with income, it also hopefully gives you a sense of accomplishment and purpose. Whether you have dug a hole for a swimming pool, balanced a complex business account, or waited on 100 dinner guests in a single evening, knowing that your skills are useful and appreciated is a gratifying feeling.
Like your home and your family, your job says a great deal about who you are as a person. Right or wrong, people perceive you based upon the job you hold, and they create an identity for you this way. As an exercise, make a list of occupations and then write a number of your own preconceived notions about them. Are your ideas accurate or stereotypical?
A significant part of this satisfaction comes from the dignity of the work you do. If you work as a counselor at a high school, a sanitation worker for your city, or a lawyer who protects the innocent, you are providing a valuable service to your fellow citizens. That basic satisfaction you feel about your work can be very useful in your poetry. Conversely, your job might just be a way to earn money, or perhaps you were forced into the job by a parent or spouse. Whatever your situation, the work you do can give you great ideas for poetry.
William Wordsworth's well-known poem “The Solitary Reaper” takes the “fly on the wall” approach to the subject of work. The speaker of the poem spies a woman working in a field and listens to her as she sings:
Behold her, single in the field,
    Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
    Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
o listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound
.
No Nightingale did ever chaunt
    More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
    Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides
.
Will no one tell me what she sings?â
    Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
    And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?
Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang
    As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
    And o'er the sickle bending;â
I listen'd, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more
.
Wordsworth's speaker tries to pinpoint the source of the woman's song. Is it a “melancholy strain”? Does she sing of “sorrow, loss, or pain”? The speaker admires this woman's song and the difficult work she does, and she intrigues him. By choosing concrete details about your job, you can intrigue your reader in a similar way.
Textures of the Workplace
If you sit at a desk at work, examine it closely for a few minutes. What material is it made out of? Is it littered with papers or clean and organized? Is there a computer, a calculator, a stapler? If you work at a restaurant, do you have your own cubby or locker where you keep your personal things? If you own a landscaping company, do you drive a truck filled with tools or a car with your logo on the side? These details create a texture that makes your workplace different from your home.
If there is a cafeteria or break room at your workplace, take the time to examine it. Since this place likely has tables, chairs, a sofa, and perhaps a TV, microwave, and refrigerator, it would most likely compare to the kitchen or living room in your own home. Are there any differences? Which space is more comfortable? Why?
Invisible Elements
Generally speaking, the workplace is designed to be functional, and your home is designed to be comfortable. The details of furniture, decoration, and lighting contribute to the comfort level of a space. Revisit the break room in your workplace. Is the sofa lumpy, or is the upholstery too rough, too cold, or too slick? How does your sofa at home feel in comparison? Also, what is the temperature like in your workplace as compared with your home? Is your office kept cold by central air conditioning, while your home is warmer due to a fireplace?
Write a poem about the different textures of your workplace and your home. Describe how a similar object in both places feels to you. Write down key descriptors, such as fabrics, colors, and temperatures. Also, describe the things you see at work that you don't see at homeâfiling cabinets, uniforms, or heavy machinery.
Though they are not in the majority, some people feel more comfortable at work. For example, if you live in a very small, modestly furnished apartment in a city, you may enjoy the comfort of your leather office chair, the wall-to-wall office carpeting, and the art hanging on the walls of your office. Companies often provide their employees with extra benefits so that they may do their jobs more efficiently. If you sit in a chair cozier than any chair you have at home, you probably favor your work environment.
If you work at home, take a look at the area you have set aside for your job. Does it have a feel different from that which you find in the rest of the house? How do you set up boundaries to keep the work area distinct? Do you keep a separate work area at all? Compare the elements of working from home with jobs you have had in the past. Do you prefer working from home or do you miss the companionship of coworkers? Do you find it easier or more difficult to motivate yourself in your home environment?
Textures of Relationships
The relationships you have with your coworkers are similar to the other relationships you have in your life. You must share a particular space with your coworkers, just like you once did with siblings and roommates. However, these people do not necessarily come from the same background that you do, and they are likely to say and do things that you are not used to. But you will generally share interests and skills with these people, as you all hold similar jobs in a single location.
Your boss, if you have one, probably acts a bit like a parent. She may train you in your job tasks and in the work culture of your company, and very likely she will set policies for your dress code, your workspace, your deadlines, and your meal times. Similarly, if you have people working under you, they may seem a bit like your children. You set certain guidelines for them to follow and you give them particular responsibilities.
However, there is a large difference between your work mates and your family members. You can, in some cases, pause your work relationships the moment that you leave your job for the day. And when you quit or lose your job, you don't have to retain any ties with the company or the people with whom you worked. Family relationships, on the other hand, are always with you. For example, you probably have pictures of family members at work, but you likely don't keep pictures of your boss and coworkers at home.