My Poetry Takes A New Direction

In answer to the questions I posed to myself in a recent post, the Difference between amateur and professional poetry, I have been trying out a new way of writing poetry.

I am not sure if this makes my poetry any better, if it is any good at all, or indeed if I like it. However I am determined to "improve" my writing and this is very much an experiment to see how things work out. Thus far I have approached poetry as a means of entertainment. Coming from writing songs, my poetry was simply an extension of my lyrics. However the more I read about poetry, it seems that poetry should be more than this. I am not sure that I agree and this seems to be very much an academic view but to get anywhere in the various poetry writing contests and potentially getting published, one needs to join in with the fashions as set by those academics.

I intend to write a post about my feelings on this very soon. But for now, here is my newest poem:-

AUTUMN


Summer recedes,
days lengthen,
nights draw in.
Warm clothing erupts from hiding
deep in wardrobe recesses.
The year creeps on.

Shadowed trees
Proudly silhouetted
Against a darkening evening sky.
Leaves whisper,
“We are still here”.
Soon colours yellow, gold red and ochre
will carpet the ground
beneath those ancient giants,
boughs reaching
to the sky above.
The year grinds on.

Autumn extravaganza
Harvested and stored,
Larders bulging.
Winter arrives
The year slides around.
Almost a bout of free writing but there was a lot of editing involved. However, there is still not much use of metaphors and word pictures. Maybe I still need to work on it, leave it a couple of weeks and come back again; see where I can take it?

The project continues ....................