Writing Poetry from the Heart

Finding yourself falling in love with poetry is natural. So often a little note from the heart can touch us all. Reaching inside to mine the diamonds of your soul is what poetry is all about. To find what your heart is saying, you have to still your mind, and reach inside your subconscious and find the one truth you want to say at that moment.

I have been writing poetry for years and performing it in cafes, churches, schools and so on. I find nothing more gratifying than reaching the audience and making them feel something, make them find something true about themselves or life.

You can write pretty poems full of imagery and sounds, or you can write eloquently about real issues. Both are poems. I listen to the Bible, and as a Christian, try to "Fight the good fight" with my poems and raise the moral conscious of my audience. Most people want to be good, and feel guilty when they experience tawdry material. I don't like to degrade my audience that way.

You can really touch people with poetry. It says things words aren't capable of saying in normal conversation. There was a real need for poets after 9-11. The agony of loss and fear were overwhelming. And there will always be a need for poets. Whether for greeting cards, or songs, or teaching, a love of language and a sense of duty to poetry is all that it takes to open the door.

You need to open your heart to creativity. You can do this by becoming aware of things around you. A flower, a calling bird. Awaken your senses by becoming present. Describe the things that are real to you. If you feel pain, acknowledge it and find a way to describe it. Good writing can be uplifting, it can be about triumph over difficulty. It can be heartbreaking and sad, it can be beautiful and sentimental.

In writing about the truth, mining your heart and experiences for wisdom, you can touch others and lead them to greater understanding through poetry. You can lead them to beauty and make them appreciate life more in your snapshot of life. Or you can inspire them to being the best person they can be.

We each reinvent poetry as we write. Each person is an individual, mining their heartaches and joys for inspiration. We are all travelers on a journey, and poetry can be a rest for the soul. Some of my favorite poems come from, Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky. You can learn a lot about poetry by reading it. Learning the attitude, the use of words, the meanings that are used, the subjects.

Become a student of life, use your interests and develop your heart. You can't really inspire people if you watch TV all day and drink beer all night. Live a full life, full of laughter and tears and joy and heartbreak. Love well and learn a lot and poetry will bubble up from your soul.