On Wednesday I spoke about my thinking in quatrains, I went searching in the archives for a previous post when I wrote on that subject and came across a post with the poem you see below, originally titled ‘WIP’ and finally ‘Angry’.

It is effin’ brilliant! I wrote that poem in one fell swoop. No hesitation, no hard thinking and no revision – it came out of my brain just as you see it. I usually handwrite poems, edit them and then type them up, but this I don’t even have in my notebook – I thought it and immediately typed it out. The post was titled “WIP” (work in progress) because I felt there was one line that needed work. When I look at it now I can’t identify that one line.

Angry 

I am angry
And in my anger
inarticulate.

A woman, grown old
but a child still,
in shadows and silent.

I want to be loud
Shout out
Hear me, See me.

But I don’t exist
as me. Just
a place for you

To lay your life.
To have me be
a sponge, a sop

For all you are
And have been.

© Grace St. Clair
June 8, 2021

Effin’ brilliant that is, if I have to say so myself.

But mostly when I write poetry I start from an instant couplet or quatrain – something that popped into my head and then I WORK for the rest. Sometimes I start with a concept or an idea – as when I write a poem for a specific reason – my humorous poems start that way.

A recent brilliant poem (in my opinion) was inspired by a song – I actually turned it into a graphic –

This one was WORKED as you can see here – a poem in the making

Poetry is not easy to write. Aside from the rare occasion when lightning strikes, it is writing, re-writing, editing. Making it make sense. Making the idea, the concept, the metaphors, the rhythm or rhyme, consistent and cohesive.  But it is the one format that my thoughts go to first, instinctively.