WHY I WRITE POETRY?

This week, I get the opportunity to answer the question, “Why I Write Poetry.” Robert Lee Brewer of Writer’s Digest.Com’s Poetic Asides posed this query to poetic masses. The link to the site is listed below:

walter-j-wojtanik

 

 

 

 

 

Again, thank you to Robert for his guidance and support and to the many poets who make this site a great place to play poet! 

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DEAD END AND BEYOND

Body worn and torn between birth and the end of the line. It would be fine if we nodded off to sleep keeping memories of our time here behind to remind the world of our stain. But we remain to carry on, still worn and torn, born to exhaust all the possibilities that we possess! Feeling depressed and without vigor, finger on the trigger
and muzzle pressed to chest. But you know, your best is yet to transpire, and still you feel so tired and if you expired tomorrow
would your sleep be met with great sorrow? Sit and rest, lay head to bed and slumber, and arise to lumber through anew. There’s still so much more left for you to do!

do we really end,
or move to life’s new station
without cessation?

 

(C) Walter J. Wojtanik – 2016

POETIC ASIDES April Poem-A-Day Challenge – Day #30: “Dead End”

FORGET WHERE YOU’VE BEEN

It doesn’t matter where you were,
the further you go from there
the less it matters. And don’t
flatter yourself because
your trophy shelf is full
of awards and honorariums.
Do not construct your museum!
Forget all that. For in the end,
they will only ask one question.
Are you a good person?
Are you a mensch?
Did I mention, do you serve
humanity? Does your brand of insanity
translate well in the Great scheme of things?
Be the you that you need to be
from this point through eternity!
Free yourself from the shackles
and pay no attention to the cackles
from the salacious depths of despair.
Always remain here, not there.
Live for today. Live for this moment.
Forget where you’ve been.
Be here now. That is surely
how your life will matter!

(C) Walter J. Wojtanik, 2015

POETIC ASIDES / Robert Lee Brewer – Prompt #325: FORGET__________

FORGETFUL JONES

Never forget Forgetful Jones.
He’s the man who made his bones
in a most forgetful way!
He would remember things until this day

if only his “remembery” was working well!
Folks around town would always tell
their deepest, darkest secret
and he would certainly keep it

under wraps for a moment or two
but he couldn’t tell a soul or you
what you had decidedly said
because every thought inside his wide head

would have hightailed it out without so much
as a note or phone call or such.
So he was labeled with that name
that has secured his forgetful fame.

Besides, what’s in a name? A Jones
by any other name would make his bones
in anyway that he’d see himself fit to do!
As long as he could remember what it was he was up to!

(C) Walter J. Wojtanik, 2015

POETIC ASIDES / Robert Lee Brewer – Prompt #325: FORGET__________

HALTINGLY BEAUTIFUL

In the distance, she stands in silhouette,
a profile that could shine over the miles.
From the first glance she steals your breath,
you would swear that death could not leave
your lungs any less capable. You are unable
to move; you are paralyzed by the beauty she exudes.
Your true heart beats erratically, a statically charged
rhythm. Small steps ensue, as you inch ever slowly
hoping to bring your lowly stature within her realm.
She is captain at the helm of your ship, full sail and rudder
at the ready. Slow and steady you proceed, a man dutiful,
dedicated to a love so haltingly beautiful! From the start
she stands in silhouette casting her shadow on your heart!

(C) Copyright Walter J. Wojtanik, 2015

POETIC ASIDES / Robert Lee Brewer – Prompt 323: Hesitation

 

GUEST POSTING AT POETIC ASIDES: SCIENCE AND POETRY

Extremely pleased that Robert Lee Brewer has accepted my guest post that appears on  the POETIC ASIDES blog this morning. Always fascinated by Science and Poetry , and stirred to action by a prompt during the Poem-A-Day Challenge in April, The thought of a PERIODIC TABLE OF POETIC ELEMENTS sprang to life. The correlation between science and poetry has been discussed by more brilliant minds than mine. But the bond they share makes for some serious inspirations for both.  The link below will take you to the WRITER’S DIGEST/POETIC ASIDES presentation of my guest post!

The Science of Poetry (Guest Post)

 

NO COMPETE CLAUSE

Another challenge offered
I proffer my poetry,
it’s all I have in me.

I tell myself each time
I will hold onto my rhyme,
let these challenges be.

I’ll sound repetitive,
but I’m not competitive
despite my poetic voice.

I’ll never be the first choice,
I’m seldom in the top ten,
yet submit again and again.

Old Laureates never die,
they only lose their forms,
sweaters keep their muses warm.

So, I’ll write my rhymes, so sweet,
for the joy, not to complete,
and stay home to pen my tome.

© Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

POETIC ASIDES with Robert Lee Brewer – Triversen

SPLENDOR

Many splendored is love,
a truly pure emotion
a notion of the heart.

She has marked your place,
sharing a space together,
love will blossom and grow.

You know her like she knows you,
knowledge gives perspective
each reflective thought says so.

In the closeness of a breath
we’ll go from birth to death
joining our hearts as one.

When our lives are all done
we find our love continues,
love keeps our hearts alive.

We live to love each other,
we are sisters and brothers,
we are friends and lovers.

We sing of pure devotion,
a notion of emotion,
a many splendored love.

© Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

POETIC ASIDES with Robert Lee Brewer – TRIVERSEN

WHITHER GOEST SPRING?

Winter holds animus.
She refuses to depart
to allow Spring to start.

We languish in her grip,
slipping on her icy floor
& more snow than we’ve needed.

We’ve pleaded for an end,
offering to send her
on the vacation of choice.

But inside our heads, her voice;
a sinister laugh and taunt
and howling winds that haunt

and toss us, to boss us
into cowering here
where it should be flowering.

Whither goest Spring?
Come prove you don’t hate us
and end your hiatus.

© Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

DIVIDENDS

Words are the currency spent
in the expression of love
in a true poetic heart.

We start with an idea,
a thought that permeates
through to our very souls.

It controls our feelings
leaving us reeling with heat
from that smoldering ember.

We choose to remember it,
to hold it in our hands
and write the way it feels.

Then, as our hearts reel
it steals a bit of us
to share with all present here,

all are willing to spend their words,
investing in the thoughts
other words have inspired.

© Copyright Walter J Wojtanik – 2014

The form is TRIVERSEN and is highlighted at POETIC ASIDES with Robert Lee Brewer. The form is eighteen lines (6 stanzas, three lines each). Each stanza is a complete sentence divided between the three lines; each line a thought in the sentence.