The Flowering of Poetry
And I am stuffed with facts…overweight with the nightly news…Poetry is the bell …that saves me from being…all-consumed ~ From “Political Prose is Hard Labor” ~ by Colleen
Sharing a beer with my girlfriend, Jayn, at Over the Moon Café, a mutual friend approached us to compliment Jayn on a poem she had written, which appeared in the Museletter recently.
After our friend left, I said to Jayn, “Since I’ve been blogging, I haven’t been writing very much poetry, and I miss it.”
It was then that it came to me what the difference between writing prose and poetry is for me, and why I enjoy writing poetry so much. 
Jayn and I are both gardeners. We depend on and appreciate the vegetables we grow, but we LOVE our flowers. Both take the same amount of work to produce, but with one the work feels more like play. And even though we don’t eat our flowers, the reward they give us when they bloom is substantial.
Jayn and I decided that if writing prose is like vegetable gardening – growing staples that you can’t afford to live without – than writing poetry is like growing flowers. It’s a luxury you make time to afford.
Comments
Yes, the purple flowers are beautiful.....just like you!
Happy belated Mom's day xoxo
Posted by: Sherry | May 15, 2006 3:35 PM
They're bellflowers. If you were here now you'd be seeing them up close and personal. Hope you're feeling better, She and got lots of mother's day love for the kiddos.
Posted by: colleen | May 15, 2006 3:47 PM
I agree with your analogy. I'll add too that we kinda do eat flowers. They nourish us much the same way that food does. Kinda like eating "beauty."
Posted by: Kathy | May 15, 2006 4:26 PM
Very good analogy!
Posted by: kenju | May 15, 2006 6:52 PM
Great! I'll drink to that! A pefect analogy, Colleen. Your prose and your poetry are both wonderful...like Vegetables & Flowers...!
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | May 15, 2006 11:32 PM
I thought of you the other day while in the field making photos. It was such a nice peaceful moment and I was truly happy. I thought, "This must be how Colleen feels when she is writing." As I found little things that I thought were art worthy (to me) I realized I can't use words well but I have my little pictures to express myself.
This post today just reminded me of that moment.
Posted by: Deana | May 16, 2006 8:04 AM
Hi Deana, What do you think of the scarecrow? Joe brought it home from DC, where he found it in a dumpster. Picture me seeing it for the first time, jumping a mile because I thought someone was in our garden!
Yes, we collect images and words all day long, translating our worlds through them.
Posted by: colleen | May 16, 2006 10:44 AM
This is so true...I do alot of things that seem like produce...taking care of the house (sometimes better than others), playing in our gospel band sometimes feels that way to me (because country does not come naturally to me)...some of the other volunteer work I do is "work". BUT when I write music, it is so satisfying and fun. But it is the thing that often gets pushed to the back...
Posted by: angela | May 16, 2006 2:11 PM
I read poetry to my vegetable garden. So I find this theory intriguing.
Posted by: Rick | May 16, 2006 6:39 PM
yes you make time for what you enjoy..
Your flowers are lovely!
Posted by: Ivy | May 17, 2006 7:57 AM
I had to turn in my flower book back to the library so wondered what these were. They are lovely.
Posted by: srp | May 17, 2006 8:04 AM