The Crooked Halo column
by Joann H. Buchanan
What is Timeless
Through dark of night
And razors edge
A timeless past
Has come to hedge.
For what was once
An unending tale
Has turned into
A darkened hail
If we can see
Through the night
And get back
Our passions light
The timeless tale
Will start again
The endless circle
You’re locked within.
Poetry is one of my favorite expressions in my work. More often than not my readers will gain a glimpse of the soul of certain character at the beginning of my chapters. These small word whips can paint an entire picture with the fewest words possible.
Some of the most timeless books ever written have poetry in them in one form or another. The poetry portrayed is not meant to steal you as the reader away from the journey of the story. It’s meant to enhance and create a deeper dynamic within the story.
Throughout After Dark book 3 of The Children of Nov fantasy/horror series I took this to a new level for myself. Some of the poems at the beginning are dark and deadly meant to reflect the tone of that particular chapter.
Professors will tell you poetry has to have a rhythm in order to be counted. So I pose this question. If I post this…is it a poem?
To run
To jump
To dance and scream
Are all of life’s true breaths.
Is this a poem? Or is this just a gathering of jumbled words?
If poetry is a form of word art then I feel so long as the author provoked an emotion then it is art and if it is art then it is poetry.
Through the years I have talked with many authors who have the hardest time editing down. Editing down is when you go through a manuscript and take out unnecessary words. One of the ways I myself learned to deal with this was poetry. When you write a poem it’s generally done with as few words as possible. Practicing poetry is good for this. It’s the kind of art forms that touches the soul one second and makes you want to scream the next. Poetry when written correctly can cause the soul to soar and the mind to breathe. (I bet you’re thinking hey wait, the mind doesn’t breathe) yes it does. The mind also hungers and longs for passion. Feeding it poetry breathes life into everything…especially the stories we tell.
Try writing some and post it here. I would love to see what you come up with.
Hugs and love,
Peace out.
Joann