It is a bright dreary morning here in Puyallup and it made me think about a poem I started but have not worked on in a while. One thing that can bring a deeper thought into a poem is using the opposite of what you normally would say.
Normally you hear: It is a bright beautiful morning. Now with the bright dreary morning I used, as a reader, did it make you stop and go “hmmm?” If you are from this area of Washington, you might have laughed because you know what I am talking about!
Take the few lines in the poem I have so far. There is no title other than Crickets Caw but that may change:
Your arms cloak my heart
as the cricket caws under moonlit sun.
My heart cannonballs along.
Prepare, compare, beware
cat plays in water that turns to sand.
Arms can’t cloak a heart! Crickets don’t caw. Cats playing in water? What world is this? How does water turn into sand? Obviously, you may need more of a poem to go on to decipher why I am using such opposites. For now, you will just have to trust I have a point–even if I am still unsure of that point!
Part of poetry writing is just free writing. Have fun. See where it takes you. Try new things! Try opposites!
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