Publisher's Synopsis
Yes, poetry is personal. For me, talking and writing are an essential part of thinking; they help clarify and refine my thinking. Learning about this feedback loop surprised me. Through my writing, I often learn about my own feelings and thoughts. In journalism and technical writing, I never write in first person point of view, but in prose and poetry, I sometimes find it is the most personal way to tell a story, even if I did not actually live that story. Poems can be a great way to imagine, wonder, fantasize and invent, and they can also be quite entertaining. Also entertaining are rhyme and meter, so most of my poems use both. Some of my writing is 'heroically incorrect' (my term) - meaning: some of my expression goes beyond 'living with uncertainties and doubts', as described by the poet John Keats. In some poems, I allow myself fully-negative emotions like despair. Sometimes, life is not a hero's journey. I believe we should express all of it.
