The Poet and the Writer
10 Tuesday Jul 2012
Written by Nicole Rushin in Dream Speak, Poetry, Prose, Writing
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This is the title piece from my latest Dream-Speak e-book.
I thought I would use it as a jumping off point.
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I have a friend who insists on calling me a poet.
I tend to think I simply write poetically and that it’s
more about living a poetic life than stripping things
down to verse and shortened lines.
I have never counted a syllable in my life, but once
took up the practice of counting birds.
I was once involved with an online poetry site, but I
left because they were so taken by the writing of it all.
How strange.
I want to kick around in the the garden, in the yard,
understand people, understand what makes them tick,
understand the language of the soul and then maybe ~
I’ll write about it.
Is this backwards?
In the end it might be the difference between the poet
and the writer.
Writers having schedules and deadlines – and poets
having lives.
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I went searching online to see how writers and poets define poetry. Most of it was stuffy nonsense about words, arrangement and the freedom of emotion.
The quote I liked best was this one from Bob Dylan;
“I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I’ll die like a poet.”
I felt validated when I came across this line because I have always considered Bob Dylan to be one of the best living poets. He is high on my list of greats simply because his life lives in his lyrics.
In my words -
‘We find poetry when we get on with the business of getting on with our lives’.
It happens when I shut my laptop down in the evening. It happens over breakfast and in that half awake place between lunch and a nap. It happens in the ten thousand things I count myself grateful for everyday.
Poetry happens when I give myself the freedom to live.
It happens when I notice and thread events together that might otherwise seem insignificant.
And then there is the sharing.
Maybe my friend is not so wrong to call me a poet after all because I am – getting on with the business
of getting on with my life.
But in the end, it is not really mine to define.
I have never found meaning in the black and white.
I once asked for truth and I was shown a great light.
I dove in – and found only more life.
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15 comments
July 11, 2012 at 7:45 AM
somebody once told me, “what other people think of me is none of my business.”
Or maybe a poet is just one of things you are.
July 11, 2012 at 7:55 AM
I had this in a frame at my desk for years. ‘Your opinion of me is none of my business.’ So true. That last bit about the Black and White tied into what Anna and Dean were speaking of about releasing the need to define.
N~
July 11, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Nicole, I love this, because it proves how naturally poetry comes to you. I agree with you that poetry comes in those moments inbetween the doing, but you–you do have a gift.
July 11, 2012 at 10:50 AM
Thanks Alisha,
I think the only gift is the gift of noticing. I pick up on the little things that flash out of the corner of my eye. I guess most people think they are random – I don’t.
N~
July 11, 2012 at 12:22 PM
Dear Nicole -
I think all good writing is poetry.
It does not have to rhyme but it has a certain cadence – a beat.
Writing is painting with words.
Poetry is standing back and feeling the words in your heart.
Have you ever noticed that all of your prose is poetry? I have..
July 11, 2012 at 1:39 PM
‘Standing back and feeling the words’ – I like that. I try not to notice that there is poetry in my prose or prose in my poetry. The defining seems to be a dead end.
N~
July 11, 2012 at 12:55 PM
So, I’m not the only one who thinks you’re a poet
This months ebook was brilliant! I have to admit I was mostly drawn to your poem ‘Ghost’…
“I hung my ghost
Like a coat
To be worn”
Your words hold so much in them….I call my ghost my shadow. Perhaps it’s time to take my ‘coat’ of and hang it up.
(sorry…I know it likely had a completely different meaning…and I’ve read it differently)
I always used to think poems were rhyme, or had a certain structure, or took on ‘free verse’…but as you said, poetry is in living…
…watching my horse eat his hay…galloping across a field…laughing…that’s all poetry….
“poetry happens when I give myself freedom to live”…
…I agree…whole heartedly…I’m slowly starting to realise if you let go of everything..life is more beautiful…let everything go, and you have much more freedom.
I hope you keep finding the poetry in your life, and allowing yourself the freedom to see it.
July 11, 2012 at 1:37 PM
It is time to hang up your shadow. The war element in the poem ‘Ghost’ was referring to a personal struggle so it is great that you connected to that. You don’t even need to worry about those damn wrinkles just hang it up. Put on a new coat. Look ahead and where your feet are at now. It is beautiful!
N~
July 11, 2012 at 1:03 PM
Hello My POET friend,
Could you be possibly talking about me???? I thought you were talking to me so thought I would ask.
You are a poet and glad Bob Dylan re-emphasized what you have known all along and finally accepting it!
I am a writer, I am a poet, I am loving words!
In love and light,
Nancy
July 11, 2012 at 1:33 PM
Ha! You caught me. Yes – I was referring to you! Thanks for trying to define what I don’t want to.
N~
July 11, 2012 at 2:25 PM
Absolutely you are quite welcome and feel happy that you are defining this for yourself!
Nancy
July 13, 2012 at 5:01 PM
Nicole: I find my inspiration for writing through everyday life. My life is fill with inspiration all around me all I have to do is open my eyes and be more aware. I have stated being more aware and ideas pop in my head all the time, but I do not know whether I am a poet or a writer. Right now, I do not have a schedule, but I do have deadlines and no social life. So, I guess that would not make me a poet?
July 13, 2012 at 5:27 PM
It is not for you to define. The definitions bring us up against walls and blocks. Do the life stuff. Do what you enjoy. Being a poet is found in the living not in the words.
N~
July 13, 2012 at 6:41 PM
Difficult as you could say poetry can be similar to trying to define something that’s unknown and making it known, but with the additional bonus of being loaded with symbols to make sense in all sorts of environments. Versus writing, maybe can be just as creative but is maybe what you could say has more details, very descriptive, more applicable for more specific situations, something like that.
July 17, 2012 at 10:57 AM
Hi Matt,
Sorry for the delay in response. We have been out of town. I don’t there is a need to define these things. Or a need for us to define ourselves into corners. Once you hit black and white where else can you go? It is as though it creates a dead end. And I guess the thing about dead ends is that they are always very intriguing. Truth just offers up more life, more poetry, more of the good stuff.
Nicole~