I WROTE IT DOWN
I wrote it down. I felt it was so good
To make a perfect meaning with a sound
Then cross it out with joy where it once stood
I saw great trees at first, but not the wood:
‘Words howl for feral voices. Made not found.’
I wrote that down and questioned what is good.
It cleared the fog. Lamps turned on full-blown flood:
When vagrant sound makes light of common ground
It lines the voice where silent lines once stood.
I panned for gold, sluiced gravel through my blood:
Thick bleeding clots where feeling sense had drowned.
I put them down, I feared they’d be too good.
I turned an unturned stone beneath the mud:
Lost words unlocked laid claim a feral hound
And lined my voice where silent lines had stood.
I howled with wolves where dark-skied, blue moons scud<
And made a perfect meaning with a sound.
I wrote it down, I felt it was so good.
Then howled aloud again with joy. And stood.
Tim Coburn
July, 2022
Copyright © Tim Coburn
All Rights Reserved
I WROTE IT DOWN
Notes
Anyone who’s tried writing poetry will know how hard it can be to unearth the words, let alone the rhymes, that make a poem work. I Wrote It Down expresses the poet’s inner trial in looking for words that work. Using the structure of a villanelle, I tried to increase the repetitive intensity of the search, using howling wolves to accentuate the poet’s task as a search for the right sound, not just the right word.
FIND YOUR VOICE
Writing a poem is an adventure into new territory. Poetic form has a different phraseology to conversational prose – it changes the boundaries of how we usually speak. For expressive clarity, poetry uses more imagery, metaphor and story. Words and meaning are more deliberately considered. As well as making sense in written words, poetry conveys its meaning in sound and how it makes us feel. To make a poem work, our vocabulary is stretched, our word hoard expanded and our vocal identity enriched.
The development of vocal identity extends to every aspect of your life – your voice is the medium by which you get things done. With communication and conversational skills so central to who we are as human beings, I have always been interested in the effect writing poetry has on the clarity, confidence and effectiveness with which we talk. I addition to sharing poetry and my reflections on it, I offer short talk and workshops for leaders, team members and technical specialists who want to improve the quality and impact of their voice.
If this appeals to you, please get in touch.
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