If you’ve seen my last blog post, any of my recent content, or perhaps have picked up a copy of Pushing the Pen, then you may be asking this question. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then not to worry, I’ll link to my latest blog post below.
Now, why emotions and the body? It’s simple really.
I think that for starters, poetry is embedded with emotion. It oozes and drips off the page, from the words to the reader’s eyes. It winds its way from the poet’s mouth to the listener’s ears, like a sweet melody. Powerful poetry is a personally emotional experience. That is just my belief and my philosophy as a poet. My best works are ones that connect my emotions and experiences to that of my audience, allowing for a soul-tie like experience.
So that explains emotions. I wanted to ask poets to think more explicitly about emotions and how they explore them in their work. Adding an exploration of the body, of the physical form, just felt like the appropriate and natural supplement. Especially since we use our bodies to emote and manifest our feelings. To me, it just felt right and made sense.
Joining the two themes together, I feel, provides the opportunity for some great exploratory work and could birth some really interesting, personal, and powerful collections of poetry. That’s another reason why I chose these themes. I figured that they would work well in conversation with each other and provide room for an expanded discussion beyond the confines of the prompt book.
So, that in a nutshell, is why “Emotions and the Body” is the theme of this prompt book.
You can find Pushing the Pen on Amazon, linked at the top of this blog, and at Barnes&Noble.com.
Dre Hill 