Fishbowl

By Thomas W. Morris

The first works of Thomas W. Morris, followed by poetry collections of a negative and positive nature, disconnection, surrealism and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas W. Morris
• Release date: Jan 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370926954

Book preview

Introduction

. . .

There will be moments in life when you feel like a fish in a small bowl of water. Wanting to explore what life has to offer, but being confined by a glass dome. This is my experience of that feeling, my first three years of writing poetry, and the expression of personal emotions and creative energy.

If you asked me a few years back what I would be doing with my time, writing poetry would never have been on the list. For the first three years of writing poetry, I was quite embarrassed by it. It sounds silly to be embarrassed by something productive, but the area where I was raised as a child did not have much culture surrounding the arts. If I was writing poetry in school, there is no doubt that I would have been bullied. This meant that I was keeping my poetic experience and my real life separate, always posting under my pen name – T. W. Morris. Eventually I got a grip and came to terms with myself. During the development of my website, I decided that I need to be free with myself, and express what I have created. Being held back by opinions of others is quite ridiculous; everyone will have likes and dislikes, and are free to express those opinions.

That is why I call this title ‘Fishbowl’ as it is how I have felt for the past few years, a fish wanting to explore the ocean but instead feeling trapped. Hopefully this title marks the start of my adventure outside personal confinement.

I have ordered the book into genres of poetry, but the first chapter will be my very first works. It may be unusual to begin a poetry book with my most amateur work. However my intentions are not to make an elite, gilded book of master literature. This is more about personal expression.

The Chapters:

‘Connecting with words’ contains my first ever poems.

‘Floating through void’ contains personal poetry that I have written in moments of feeling disconnected from the world, outcast and alone.

‘Black Clouds’ contains poetry of turmoil and distress, referring to mental illness, substance abuse and other inflictions.

‘Patters of strange’ contains surrealist and often weird poetry.

‘The lighthouse beams’ contains uplifting, fun, happy and children’s poetry.

‘Heart Shaped’ contains romance poetry, both positive and negative in nature.

If you are a writer wishing to collaborate, a student or charity wanting to use my work, or if you need a poem written for any reason, you can contact me and I will try to help out. The entire process of this book has been done alone, including formatting and editing, I apologize for any unnoticed mistakes.

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Connecting with words

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Prior to writing my first poem ‘Ann’ in November 2013, I had little to no experience writing poetry. Of course I had a brief education with poetry in school, but the poetry we had to study was so uninteresting and dull that I lacked focus. I don’t even remember the name of the poets we studied. There’s no doubt that Shakespeare was on the list, and a great writer he is. However I think poetry has moved on a lot from Old English works, and schools should start to modernize their classes.

Once my interest in poetry developed, I had to learn about the subject on my own accord. After publishing my first few poems, I went on to make a collection called ‘The Journey’ which would contain several types of poetry as I went on to experiment with the art form.

My journey ended with the conclusion that you don’t need to know much at all to create a great poem, it doesn’t need to follow a pattern or be about a specific subject. As long as your poem flows without unintentional obstruction, it can be good. As literature, poetry is very controversial. For that reason, rather than trying to fulfil the emotional needs of readers, I write it for myself. Anyone who boards the train as I travel is a very welcomed companion.

This section of poetry contains some of my very first pieces. Despite wanting to go back, I never rewrite a poem once it is published. They mean more to me in pure form.

Ann

The birth of a burden

The bitter breeze coated her soul,

Their encounter wasn't protected, she should have known.

Looking down at the future with a bitter perspective,

She wants it to blow over but the