Power of Words: Voices of Poetry

By Winners 2011 Poetry Matters Literary Prize, Lauren Welch, Jamie Boquist and 9 more

Power of Words, voices of poetry is a tribute to the 2011 winners of the Poetry matters Literary Prize. The poets range from middle and high school students,adults and seniors. Their voices hail from as far away as Australia, to all regions of the U.S. Experience the thoughts of some of the newest voices to the world of poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9780982140789

Book preview

Kline

Introduction

The writing of this introduction was no easy task. You would think it would be. Talk about the experience you had in putting this anthology together, my publisher tells me enthusiastically. I was excited at first. I re-read the poems and began writing this tale of traveling through mountains and forests of words and experiences; I dressed up metaphors and practiced clever uses of alliteration…blah, blah, blah. It just didn’t fit. I switched gears and started writing about the process it took in putting together a book from beginning to end, but I added too many details and the task seemed so daunting written down that I knew I would lose the reader.

Truth is I’ve gone through many things personally in conjunction with putting this book together, which contributed to the loss of the perfect intro. September, I was a bridesmaid and part time wedding planner for my best friend’s wedding. That same night, she revealed to me that she had cancer. The first week of October, my Uncle called all the family together from out of town because his lung cancer was progressing rapidly. A week later my 4 year old had an asthma attack when he’s never had any respiratory problems before. He had to spend the night in the hospital. My uncle passed October 18. I was a wreck. It wasn’t until I had a quick moment of stillness and silence that the words flowed onto the computer screen.

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with poetry for as long as I can remember. The thing I love about poetry is how emotionally deep you can take a poem. You are allowed to dive deep within yourself and pull out emotions and thoughts that you had never uttered before without feeling ashamed or having to explain yourself. Poetry allows you to be free. Sometimes a period behind a sentence is too much and poetry says it’s okay if you don’t want to use it. Sometimes you don’t feel linear-lining every sentence beneath the other one with all lines left aligned on the paper. Sometimes your feelings are jarring and erratic and words need to be right aligned or bigger than the word next to it. Poetry gives the poet this outlet to do as he/she pleases and it is ok.

Another love I have for poetry is how it transcends age and time. People from all walks of life can relate. It is a universal language.