Rewards of Poetic Purging
I was reading my Roots Book and as I was going
through my poetry corner, I was
surprised to find it read like a diary.
I remembered the times I had written the poems and the circumstances that inspired them as I read
each line. I especially recall writing the poem "Gloom" for instance.
I was riding on a bus heading for Winnipeg where I was going to catch a
flight to Toronto to visit my daughter.
Things had not been good at home that fall and as I rode in that bus my depression was overwhelming. To alleviate the oppression, I took out a
small notepad from my purse and purged my emotions onto the paper. (I have often done that, still do it now, in
fact.) Purging is a great catharsis. It helps to put things in perspective; helps to put the problem out there where you
can look at it, analyse it and often even fix it. It definitely makes it easier to live through
the bad times and it definitely helps you come out on the other side of the problem.
Poetry is more comprehensive
than prose for some reason. It tells
much more in much fewer words. The blue
poems seem to be the ones that “tell” the biggest stories and carry the most
emotions. The other poems “tell stories" as well and they also take me back, they make me recall special moments too. But the blue poems are so much more poignant
with the memory, (at least mine seem to be). Somehow prose just fails
to convey emotions the same way. But I
realize now how the important writing that poetry was to me. It helped me through the bad times. It
still does. It gives perspective, clears
the mind and lets you get past things, times that are not worth dwelling
on. I’ve had people tell me that they
like my poetry because they can “relate” to it.
Perhaps it is because all of
us have had “blue times” some time in our lives. Some people express it in music.. I express mine in poetry. Others have still different methods. But whichever method you use, it is better
than drugs , alcohol or some other form of self-mutilation and poetic purging is certainly
much more productive and rewarding!
