Jackie Baker

Salty Tears, Woof barks the Dog, Blooming Flower

At one time or another in our lives, we have all heard of a song that leaves us either crying, laughing, or just in a happy mood. We have all experienced the exhilaration that is felt when our favorite song is played on the radio. We turn up the volume and we sing at the top of our lungs. However, we have all experienced hearing a song which we find to be horrible. We would prefer hearing the sound of a nail scratching a chalkboard than hearing the song again. The question is how can one song make us happy while another leaves us annoyed?  What are the sparks that keep one song sparkling for years to come, while another sinks to the depths of the sea?

I have chosen to make a reference to music because the musical lyrics that make us dance and sing are very much in relation to lyric poetry. A Dictionary of Literary Terms defines lyric poetry as a poem that, “expresses the feelings and thoughts of a single speaker in a personal and subjective fashion. Lyric poetry is no longer designed to be sung but it does hold true to the melody, the emotion and the subjectivity that is related to a song. Similar to a good song, in order to write a good lyric poem, there must be a strong use of poetic line, images, and the use of surroundings as a background to evoke feelings in the reader. Songs and poems that lack these qualities can never touch the reader because they are too abstract to be understood.

It is very important to use a poetic line which is in relation to the theme of the poem that you are writing. If your poem is supposed to be a comical piece, do not confine your poem under a basic unit of composition. Alana Nesteruk in the 2008 creative writing class uses the following line structure to talk about her dog in a comical sense. The following lines are her poem:

Does Booster want a treat?

WAG!              WAG!

WAG!               WAG!

A doggy bone for you!

   G   U   L   P!

           It’s gone.

 Alana Nesteruk used vivid lines to bring to life her dog’s actions. The eye was averting to each line but the eye did not go crazy with the lines. The stair step effect of her lines was highly effective. Chapter 1 of the Three Genres says the following, “Poetry has never lost its roots in the spoken language, nor its reliance on the line” (2). So, it is very important for a poet to use the line effectively. When a reader reads the poem, the line has to be in a cohesive state with the theme of the poem. In relation to the line is also the typography, the arrangement of words on the page. Chapter 7 of the Three Genres says the following, “The reader could identify the subject simply through the arrangement of words on the page, but because we know what is being described from the onset, the shape of the lines becomes a part of the total meaning” (107).  For example when Alana uses the words “Wag, Wag” and arranges them in a mixed up manner, the reader can actually picture the dog wagging its tail. The poet must be able to understand that the line and typography must be used effectively, in order to avoid confusion.

It is very important to have strong images in the poem, in order for the reader to grasp the poem. Chapter one of Three Genres textbook says the following about images, “ Think of images as objects we can see, but actually anything that responds to the five sense”( 3). A poet cannot just rely on what can be touched but he must make the reader smell the flowers, hear the sounds of the city streets, and taste the Indian spices in the curry. The poem must become alive with life and the only way to do this would be to employ the use of the five senses. In order to remember to do this in my poems, I think about bread and water. Bread and water are very bland in taste when eating alone. When I begin to add ingredients to spice these two items up they begin to have flavor. I can add olive oil and rosemary to my bread and I get garlic bread. I can add lemon to my water and I get lemon flavored water. I used this example to show that everything is better with color. Let your poems come alive with sweat, strange tastes, and jarring noises. Don’t be afraid to live.

Another important component to an effective lyric poem would be the use the use your surroundings and personal background to evoke density to your poems. In order to have an effective lyric poem, the poet must evoke feeling in the life of the reader. Chapter 3 of the Three Genres textbook says the following, “Stop, Look, and Listen” (45), to your surroundings. The inspiration for my poem was the aunt’s trailer park community. I had been to the trailer park many times before but I had never looked at the trailer park with the eyes of a writer. If you are having writer’s blocks try to look around at your surroundings.

Before taking this creative writing class, I did not know much about poetry. I have never really liked reading poetry but I learned that I did not like it due to my lack of understanding of this particular genre. Similar to a good song, a poet must employ the use of poetic line, images, and the use of surroundings as a background to evoke feelings in the reader. Songs and poems that lack these qualities can never touch the reader because they are too abstract to be understood.