The Everything Writing Poetry Book (28 page)
Neide Messer was writer-in-residence for the state of Idaho in 1990 and 1991. Her first book of poems,
In Far Comers
, was published by Confluence Press. Her poem “One Blessed Thing” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her work also appears in
Circle of Women
, a Viking anthology of Western women writers.
Travel Poetry
Travel writing, believe it or not, is probably the oldest form in Western literature.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
, first set down in written form between 3,500 and 4,500 years ago, relates the life of a wandering strongman, Gilgamesh, who becomes king of Uruk and undertakes two important quests: one to defeat Humbaba, the guardian of the cedar forests; and one to find Utnapishtim, the one-time mortal who holds the secret of immortality. Some written works, like
The Epic of Gilgamesh
, have followed the travels of heroes on wondrous quests, while others are more down to earth and involve more personal matters.
The Travel Log
The act of traveling often causes you to enter unfamiliar territoryâphysical, emotional, or spiritual. This kind of journey can lead you to many insights about yourself. Poems may deal with the changes, discoveries, and decisions that come with travel, they may involve the speaker's feelings as he is traveling, or they may simply explore new sights and experiences. The idea of travel and the act of traveling itself offer you, at the very least, a sense of change and excitement that can add spice to your poems.
In one travel poem, Neide Messers “Flying Home Late,” the speaker is traveling home and anticipates a reunion with her family:
Circling above the city lights,
the moving ribbons and intermittent flashes,
I attempt to find home, the exact location,
the one light raised against the boundless
black gesture of night
.
Later, near the rotating baggage claim, I wait
impatiently, stare at the poster of vanished
children. I can't get home fast enough,
the way I couldn't wait to get away
.
Driving home I imagine my own sons
asleep, one curled like a question,
arms anchored around a pillow,
the other with arms flung wide like a king
or an eagle riding high wind
.
Under the lamplight I unlock the door
and slip soundlessly inside. I tip-toe
through the quiet dark, check each sleeping son,
like two halves of a contrary longing,
the one curled close, the one flying
.
From
In Far Corners,
Confluence Press, 1990. Reprinted with the permission of the author
.
The speaker, knowing her sons well, imagines the positions they take during their sleep as she returns home. Her guesses are proven true when she finally sees them. While the overt discovery has to do with her sons, the speaker is discovering something about herself tooânamely, the “contrary longing” she expresses in the next to last line. Her sons have become symbols of the two desires she expresses at the end of the second stanza: “I can't get home fast enough,/the way I couldn't wait to get away.” Messer, in quick, easy strokes, is describing feelings many people have. Though you may periodically have intense impulses to travel far away, you are probably always relieved to return home again.
Bright City Lights
The city was initially regarded as a center of civilizationâa place of law, religion, and culture. Early cities contained temples, churches, castles, meeting halls, and other structures to house the ruling classes and awe the common folk. Today, cities carry much of the same purpose and influence, though they have expanded to house great populations of people and thriving businesses. Inhabitants continue to take pride in their cities and the variety of cultures, foods, entertainment, and housing available there. Excited by urban progress, people even hold ceremonies to celebrate the groundbreaking and completion of new building projects.
Big City Dreams
If you have ever been to the top of a tall building like the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, or the Space Needle, you know that you have been treated to a rare sight. The cityscape stretched out below youâthe bright lights, the people, the cars, the buildingsâis an incredible sight. If you have visited the museums, libraries, theaters, stadiums, and arenas in a particular city, you have had the privilege of experiencing the cultural opportunities that the city has to offer. All of these aspects of a city can inspire your poetry.
It is said that you can read the values of a people by finding the largest buildings in their cities. In ancient times, the largest buildings were temples and churches. During the European Renaissance, the biggest buildings belonged to the kings and their governments. Nowadays, the largest buildings tend to house corporations.
With so many different kinds of people from so many distinct cultures, there seems to be endless writing material in a city. You can write about a discussion you had with a homeless person on a subway a group of pigeons you watched in a park, or a fantastic restaurant where you ate one evening. You can also explore a dream or wish you have had about a city. Perhaps when you were younger you wished to see some marvel in a far-off city, like Big Ben in London, England, or the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Did you ever fulfill that dream when you got older? If so, what was the trip like? Did it meet your expectations? If not, why haven't you gone to visit that site? Do you plan to go in the future?
If you live in a city that has received wide literary attention, you might want to write about a less popular landmark. Instead of discussing Seattle's Space Needle, for example, describe the Pike Place Market. Instead of writing about southern California's Disneyland, explore the Modjeska Historic House and Gardens. This will help you create more unique poetry for yourself and for your readers.
The Quiet Side of Cities
Of course, a city is not only about traffic jams and skyscrapers; it has its quiet places as well. These are great spots from which to gain inspiration. Perhaps you will see a young boy sailing a model boat on a pond or a little girl flying a kite in a park. Watching the wildlife in a city can give you good ideas as well. Take note of the birds that nibble on fallen crumbs as you sip coffee outside of a café. Locate a squirrel in a tree carefully watching the passersby. Describing these moments will give your city poetry a unique spin.
The “fly on the wall” technique is also useful in citiesâsome call this “people watching.” You can draw a comparison between the people you see walking down the streets and those who are working in the shops. Contrast the people riding the subway to work early in the morning and those taking it to a club at night. One exercise to try is a series of brief descriptions that capture the people you see around you. Focus on their actions and appearances, record the bits of dialogue you hear, and try to create a strong impression of these people without speaking to them.
To give your city poetry a really quiet atmosphere, try doing writing exercises without using the sense of sound. How would you describe a truck rumbling by without the rumble? How would you describe a jackhammer without the rhythmic pounding and cracking? Focus on the visual aspects of the scenes around you.
Take note of the same details of the cityscape around you. Describe the buildings, the streets, the sidewalks, the carsâall of the features you can see, hear, smell, and touch. Then go back to the descriptions of nature that you made before and compare your notes. Locate any similarities or wildly opposing details that you can juxtapose in your own poem. Read your poetry aloud to yourself. Does it capture the feel of the city?
The Downside of Cities
Since cities attract people from all walks of life and press them together into a confined space, problems inevitably arise. A brief walk through the heart of any major city will take you through a number of situations, intense and trivial, tragic and frustrating, overwhelming and upsetting. Generations of poets have confronted these problems with their verses, storing images that are familiar to many. In the late 1700s, William Blake wrote a poem called “London” that captures the misery of the people trapped in the city:
I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe
.
In every cry of every man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice; in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear
.
How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls
.
But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born Infant's tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse
.
If you're having trouble beginning a poem about the negative sides of a city, try using the immediate problems confronting you personally as a start. Focus on the broken bottles that litter the sidewalks outside of your apartment, the graffiti on the walls of the train you take to work, or the gravel that scratches up your windshield when you're driving.
To write a poem about the downside of a city, you do not need to overwhelm your readers with a list of existing problems. Instead, you should focus on creating images through the use of detail, as Blake does. Write out descriptions of the homeless man who stands in traffic with his tin cup, the mountain of stinking garbage in the alley behind your office, or the woman clutching her arm after a mugger has torn away her purse. These small pictures will say more to your reader than any blatant denunciations of homelessness, pollution, and crime.
Imagining the Ideal
One of the pleasures of daydreaming is imagining an ideal place. For one person, this place could be a deserted beach with sunlight reflecting off the waves. For another, the perfect spot might be a mountain cabin with a crackling fire and a comfy overstuffed chair. Or your ideal place might not even exist in the world. Perhaps you imagine a new nation, a new planet, or a new universe. Even if the place doesn't exist anywhere else but in your mind, you should still describe it as though it is tangible and real. In fact, you should pay even more attention to your descriptions of imaginary places than real ones. Since the place does not exist, you must bring it to life using sensory impressions and believable details.