Formed by our experiences

With the poetry that we read this week, one thing that became very clear to me was that we bring ourselves to poetry. Whether we are reading poetry or writing poetry, our expierences go into the poem. I think that is different than prose just because there is so much left up to interpretation.

I guess because we started with Eliot and the discussion of war, I can see war, whether mental or physical in all that we read this week. The poets seem to be both angry and contemplative and in search of something bigger than themselves.

I start poetry with my students tomorrow and I have to admit that I'm more excited about it than I have been for a while.

Shifting focus

Well, it is another year and another class and so I'm glad my blog is still up--not exactly up and running but at least up. This time the focus will be poetry and I'm both excited and nervous. Poetry scares me a little because the meaning is not always concrete, but is often up to interpretation and I always worry that I'm miles away from the author's actual purpose. I hate when I write something and the point is completely missed and so I try to interpret carefully. I'm looking forward to being back on the blog because it forces me to write, which is something that I love, but that often gets pushed to the back.