What is the mood of your Poem ?

What we write , the one that reaches across to others , is mostly the very words that echo our mood for the moment. Sometimes , when you are in a particular mood  , experiencing a particular emotion , it is very much possible to capture it in your poem within a few hours than to do the same , a few days later.

But I feel,  everyone's writing has a mood of its own. Years back , when I started writing , most times I wrote to let my fears and thoughts out of my mind. It were not happy times and the nights would be a little too hard to handle. That's when I discovered poetry writing and it helped me cope up with my feelings. In the process , my writing took a character of its own. A face that is kind and sad at same time. A voice that talks of past and is hopeful of the future too. A mood that is aware of the pain it has seen and expects but also knows that love exists.

Whenever I have written with such mood and honesty , not just have I felt satisfied with the poem but the process itself has been rewarding. And its same with so many bloggers I read around. I can almost judge the thought process , the mood , the projection of the thoughts from them to me. It is a sense of familiarity that envelops me when I read such poems.

I agree that one should step out of boundaries and try new writing ways , new techniques. But can not the same feeling be expressed in hundred different ways ? Is it so important to write happy poems even if you know you are doing a below average job with that ?

Writing is about being honest . To please yourself . Not to appeal to others.


On second thought , If you still want to try changing the mood of your poem, once it is finished , I will suggest you to give it few weeks. Let the feelings fade , and then sit with words not with your heart  , but with a critical head. Let it talk , argue back to the mood , change it on your whim and voila ! you might have a completely new picture for yourself.

This link might give you a stepping board for this task.

Leaving you with this lovely poem -

A Mood

A blight, a gloom, I know not what, has crept upon my gladness--
Some vague, remote ancestral touch of sorrow, or of madness;
A fear that is not fear, a pain that has not pain's insistence;
A sense of longing, or of loss, in some foregone existence;
A subtle hurt that never pen has writ nor tongue has spoken--
Such hurt perchance as Nature feels wen a blossomed bough is broken. 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

~ Nimue

Lets make Poetry together !

While I was wondering what to write for this week , I thought to ask from my friends on Facebook to help me with a topic.  Anup , the guy who started a wonderful Poetry Group / Club for all poets of my city [ called PACH : Check the link to know more ] suggested me to write on duel poetry.

This reminded me of the few times I have unknowingly written along a friend and result has been a beautiful poem with alternate ideas and styles.

Little did I know this style of poetry has a name and structure since long time. Collaborative or collective Poetry [ wikipedia page linked ] is an alternative technique of writing poetry by more than one person. What I love about this style is the fact that two people can communicate and emote , linked by a similar thought. The voice can be of taking the story further or that of an opposing idea , but the fact that two people chose to communicate , in a poetic way is something that rejoices my heart to no end.

Its been a long time I was active on twitter , but I still remember replying to random tweets and watching so many others do the same with their own idea. This trigger of one thought and many poets adding to it or opposing it in their own fashion was what and how spontaneous poetry writing can be some times.

Historically , collaborative Poetry's origin lies in Japanese Poetry styles. Renga is the most popular poetry style which has been in practice from over seven hundred years. Also called as "Linked Poetry" , Renga is a syllable based poem form that opens with a 3 line poetry [ 5,7,5 haiku ] and others keep adding to it. Modern collaborative poets though are more flexible when it comes to form of every couplet.


With this mind , I searched the few posts , which I knowingly or unknowingly wrote in collaboration with other poets from blog / twitter. This is my favorite :

Some days
just some
I let go of
I think so
My regrets

In a moment
So many
I could forget
I think so
Those days

I think of
not just you
where I parted
of days gone
spent so alone

It happens
Always to me
Let it unfold
Soon I pray
As it will be.

The lines are blue are by another poet.

More such posts on my blog are here . 

[ If only I had an english duel poetry written by the two most amazing  poets I met in the poetry group PACH , I would have shared that instead of mine ] 

Although not really related , I also remember poems that inspire other poems , often as replies to the original voice. On another group blog , we use to refer these poems as "Reply Poetry" . Here is one such poem that I wrote as a reply to a friend's post on her blog. You will find links of all the poems that others wrote for this very poem. 

For me , any art form that inspires one to create another art form ( whether in words or image or music ) , has earned its worth and compliments. 

So some day , when you are out of ideas to write , pick your favorite poem and try to write a reply to it , in same voice or that of a stranger.

Or better, ask a friend to join in with you and maybe you both ( or more ) people can create a wonderful collaborative poem.

Any one of you willing to try that , can email me : nimuegal@gmail.com

~ Nimue

The Rules of Poetry and writing

Everything has rules. Even chaos has an order within itself. But Poetry is neither organized nor chaotic. I treat it as a chaotic way to unbalance some order or an ordered way to tame chaos in my mind. Either way it just flows through the head and heart if you surrender yourself.

Image source

So what are the rules?
I say NONE.

Not for writing, not for reading, not for supporting and encouraging, not for sharing, and not for hiding it either.

But learning to let go of the Rules does not come easy. It is a conscious and constant process that you learn to accept while your write.

I started writing six years back and to this date I can not understand my obsession with rhymes during that period. I actually spoiled many ideas for the lack of rhyming words. And those days I was unaware of rhyming dictionaries. ;)

A year later I switched to rhythm and thank goodness I discovered poetry forms that did not require me to rhyme. Not that the syllable count was any easier, but still, there was a sense of freedom as I penned those verses. Like miniature cupcakes put on display for all.

Bottom line: Follow rules of heart and not of the art!
Let yourself be free and dip into the creative pools that are as vast as your mind wants to wander.

Have fun!

~Nimue