How To Write Poetry That Moves People
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Only Use Symbolism That You’re Familiar With… At Least Initially
As poets, we are free to use whatever words we like to express emotional intent of a writing.
Remember: our goal is to move the reader emotionally.
We want to take them from where they are to some other place. In this way, we will leave a mark upon them. To do this, we use symbolism, metaphor, and other tools to evoke something in their mind.
Here is where a problem comes, we are tempted to use everything and anything. And yes, we are allowed to do so, but often it’s better to choose things that we are familiar with.
I had a neglectful and traumatic past, so I can speak to that with relative ease, but I have not experienced war; so any attempt for me to speak about the direct, lived experience or armed conflict may come across as shallow or lacking.
Our readers will know. Everyone has a bullshit meter. While they may not be able to explicitly state the problem, they certainly will feel it, then it is just a matter of time before they click away.
To avoid this, only use symbolism/metaphors etc that you have experience with at least the beginning. That way, your words will come across as more ‘real’, and your reader will feel the authenticity.
Overtime, and with practice, you’ll be able to move into different areas. Extrapolating your lived experience into different fields and areas.
I am loathe to speak of a desert. Why? I’ve never been to one. But I can speak of water and forests. Why? Because I have experienced them.
Similarly, I have lived experience with mental illness, medication, and the impact of an affliction from both sides of the coin. So I speak on these topics, and use those topics to enhance my writing. To illustrate this point, consider the following two poems, Take The Damn Pill and Sertraline. The former talks of my frustration with relatives refusing to take their prescribed medication, medication that is literally saving their lives. The latter talks about my experience being on one of these medications.
Take The Damn Pill
Take the damn pill,
You’re on it for a reason.
It’s to stop you feeling ill,
To keep you from self-treason.
Sure, you’re feeling fine,
But how long will it last?
You know you’re not divine,
Just look back at your past.
There was that time you went cold turkey,
When you knew it would be fine.
Instead, your mind went murky,
And you turned to a life of crime.
Or when you got the jitters,
So bad you couldn’t sleep.
Feeling your skin crawling with critters,
Causing you to weep.
Or that time you almost died,
When depression came back strong.
Or the time that you lied,
To yourself that something wasn’t wrong.
Take the damn pill,
You’re on it for a reason.
I don’t want to be reading your will,
As the last act of the season.
Sertraline
Medication?
More like calcification.
The myopic solution;
Replacing anxiety
With apathy.
Losing focus,
Focusing
On what I have lost.
My thoughts,
Circle the drain.
Both hope and fear
Falling in turn.
I am lost.
A rudderless raft,
Left to drift
Upon a dead calm lake.
Fog obscures the bank.
Fog obscures desire.
I am far too calm
To stay safe.
Life and death
Seem equally desirable.
I drift.
Cold rationality;
The last remaining
Life preserver.
The small subtle voice
Whispering
That this too shall pass;
The sun will shine,
The wind will blow,
And I will have purpose once more.
Having had those experiences, I could now perhaps my writing into related fields, drawing upon those experiences, to inform my writing in the new area.
For example: if you have lost a loved one, you may be able to extrapolate that feeling to describe the loss of a job for example, or a pet’s passing, a move interstate, or perhaps even a feeling of internal displacement from an unexpected life change. But you may not be able to fully describe, the intense raw emotionality of been cheated on, unless of course you’ve lived that as well.
I’m not saying to not write about things you haven’t lived, but rather to focus your efforts on what you have.
The pains and elations of your past will produce the most evocative poetry you are capable of.
Start there and share.
~ Zachary Phillips
If you resonated with this piece, you would love the book, ‘How To Write Evocative Poetry: A Guidebook For Unlocking Creativity, Expressing Truth & Captivating Imagination’
