Poetry Reflection

We have finally finished the poetry unit and I have to say that I have gained a new found respect for poetry. Through the countless classes or group work I have discovered how difficult it is to write poetry WITH OTHER PEOPLE. Everyone has their own thoughts and their minds work a little differently. The direction that I would sometimes like to take things may not necessarily work for other people. The really tricky part was coming to terms with that fact that this is okay. Through collaborations what was once a good poem to you could be expanded upon and become a very meaningful poem.

I have to say the the most difficult task that I had to overcome during this unit was not my blatant dislike of poetry, but was allowing other people to read my rough poems. As a writer I am strongly opposed to people reading any of my work, in any form of creative writing, before it is complete. I guess you could say that I am OCD that way. When compiling the poems for our final anthology, there were numerous classes devoted solely to the sharing of our poems with other students in the class. Regardless of the fact that I was reading their poems, just as they were reading mine, I was still very uneasy about it. To be honest I felt very exposed. Poetry is very different from story writing, it is more personal. Poems are like a direct expression of the writer's thoughts and emotions. My unpolished copies were very raw, at least in my eyes, and it hurt me to have to present these poems for criticism. Even praise was still taken with a feeling of discomfort.

But at least it is finally finished and my feeling can once again be my own! :)