Totally Optional Prompts this week asks us to post about the poetry of place. I enjoy poetry with a real sense of place, some of my favourite poets are very firmly rooted in their sense of place, to mention just two Scottish examples: Kenneth Steven and John Burnside.
When I select poetry to include on Bolts of Silk, I am drawn in by writers who can evoke the atmosphere of a specific place (though a sense of place isn't a prerequisite for poetry being selected!) Recent poems on Bolts of Silk inspired by place include:
Firewirks owre Bressa Soond by Christine De Luca
Fire Ranger by Bob Bradshaw
If I Were Young Again by Michael Lee Johnson
Place is often the starting point for my own poetry, especially the poetry I post on this blog. Place offers a wonderful starting point for exploring nature or history or emotion. I also think including the specific details of specific places in poetry adds immediacy. Some of my recently posted poems inspired most directly by place include:
Mountains
Through an Open Window
Arizona
13 comments:
I really like poems about place too. Just checked out Bolts of Silk. Really awesome!
poetry of place. yes. i like it too.
rocky mountains red
double rainbow up above
crowning endless plains
i wrote this one while attending mass at the red rocks amphitheater in denver.
thank you for visiting my page, and for your kind comment.
I am so pleased to find my way here via your comment. There will be much to discover in your archives I can tell.
I know Arizona a little and was drawn to the poem of the same name. The choice of language in the second section is particularly striking - the disharmony in the couple parallels the disharmony of man's relationship with the natural world. Beautiful.
mm - thanks for visiting me back and for your comments!
yansidrara - thanks for visiting and your lovely haiku!
Deb - thanks!
Gorgeous.
Juliet I've tagged you on my blog -- questions regarding advice to poets starting out and I'd love to hear what you have to say. Don't worry if you're pushed for time. Thanks.
I love your poetry. Always. These too.
What a delight. I remember two of your from before and love them all. The poems you published on Bolts of Silk are fabulous. Well done.
I heart Arizona, too...and your poem brings it right to my eyes and senses.
The open windows really spoke to me. How else can we experience life if our "windows" aren't open?
The details in here are perfect! ~Linda
Thanks for the links. I enjoyed them.
I took a look at your "Mountains" poem and loved the line - "mountains worn by age to gentleness" - that was the overwhelming impression we had of British mountains, quite unlike the more dramatic peaks of New Zealand
The first two places I really feel I can relate to - Arizona, brings a new place to my little world. Thanks for sharing them!
Read all them and always, they are are all good.
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