Becoming a poet – leaving a legacy">Becoming a poet – leaving a legacy
Published June 5, 2009 | 
">Bruce WhealtonIt wasn’t that long ago that I wrote a poem called “To Live Forever,” where I wrote “I’m writing as fast as I can.” I know that it is not a question of just writing anything or writing many, many poems… That, in itself, would not advance any goal of living forever in ones poetry. In this blog, I chose the title “On Being a Poet and Other Existential Ideas,” because in many ways, even in the poems I write, I explore that notion of existence and meaning. In relation to poetry, there certainly is a issue of identity and self-actualization. Being a poet is more than just any other hobby, for me, or any job. It’s much more a reflection of one’s being and identity.
For me there also is the notion of recognition. How do others see me? How do they evaluate my poetry and other writing (mainly my poetry)? This, for some reason, is an important issue for me. I strive to leave a positive impression on others. I strive to be known for who I am. I suppose that is why I was drawn to the “Confessional Poetry” of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. I don’t think of the typical notion of confession being what it is that I am meaning here. However, perhaps this is what fits, from Dictionary.com:
Confession
2. Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one’s faith.
The above is cited on Dictionary.com from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
That’s the definition that seems to fit… It’s an example, for me, of being very open with regard to what I share. I try to paint a description of myself, in my poetry, that is complete and predictive, if you will… a kind of sense that one could ask “what would Bruce do?” and feel like the collection of poems that I’ve written would give one an answer to such questions.
Of course, all of this is somewhat different than whether or not I am creating poetry with literary merit, artistic/literary quality and memorable. Perhaps, my readers will answer this question for me.
Becoming a poet, continuation from my commentary on my poem "Gifts"">Becoming a poet, continuation from my commentary on my poem "Gifts"
Published March 17, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonLet me continue with my discussion on becoming and the subsequent idea of being a poet, which I began with a prior posting here entitled “Comments on my poem ‘Gifts’”
I had started to explore my interest in poetry, some time in 1991 when I had a mentor by the name of Martin Kirby. I would visit him on Sunday’s and read some of my own poetry, get guidance, and listen to poetry that he wrote and we’d read poetry from famous poets. His wife was there as well, Peggy. These were somewhat like “readings” but at the time I had never read to a group of strangers. I knew them from the church that my parents and I attended. My mother had said to Martin that I was interested in poetry. So, I guess I had started to think of myself as a poet back in 1991. Martin was a professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at Paine College in Augusta, GA.
It was the advice and support that I got from Martin that helped me see myself as a poet in the making. He offered so many suggestions, guidelines and more. He would also tell me if and when a poem was “publishable.” He also strongly pushed the notion of many, multiple revisions in writing poetry.
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