It wont be long

Poem

                                                      Love

                                                     

                                        Love is a four letter word.

                               Not akin to any other four letter word.

               It can cause heart break and broken dreams if used incorrectly.

             So, my love when I use this word to describe the emotions I have for you.

                It surely will not mean heart ache and broken dreams for you.

                                 

                                          Just wanted you to know that.

                                             

                                                                  To, Sierra

                                                                 

                                                                 From, The Cameleon

                                                              05/27/2022/Present Location: Miami,Florida

Reviews

[JayG]

• Just wanted you to know that.

So you, someone the reader knows nothing about is telling someone unknown thqatv they have unstated emotions for them.

Shouldn't this have been sent to them? What can a reader say in response, but "Uhh...okay," before they turn away? You've given them data without context, which involves the reader not at all, so the piece doesn't involve them, or make them care. As E. L. Doctorow put it, “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it’s raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”

Emotional involvement is why we read poetry. Do you worry about my mind-state, or how my day went? Of course not. So, write from your chair, of course, about what's meaningful to you, but make it meaningful to the reader, as well. Always edit from the reader's chair, knowing only what they know at the start of the piece, and having only the context your words evoke or provide.

Instead of saying something like, I cried at my father's funeral, we give the reader reason to weep. Using only your words, arranged well, you can make someone you'll never meet weep, or laugh. And THAT'S a super-power

Poetry and fiction have a dramatically different approach from what we use for reports, papers, and letters. That—the kind of writing we were given in school and use on the job—is nonfiction, with a goal of informing the reader. But the goal of poetry and fiction is to entertain, by giving the reader an emotional experience. So the methodology is emotion-based and character-centric, as against the fact-based and author-centric methodology of nonfiction.

So what you're calling poms are, for the most part, short essays, written without poetic language or approach. Yes, you're expressing your feelings, but you're not inviting the reader in and making them WANT to know.

Follow the link below to download Mary Oliver's, A Poetry Handbook. It's a really good way to get on board with poetry technique. And, it makes writing it both better and more fun to write.

I also recommend the Shmoop site. You log in as Student, and select Poetry via the button in the middle of the first page.

https://yes-pdf.com/book/1596

[John the Baptist]

A nice note of romantic love here. I like the acknowledgment that this kind of love can have a dark, as well as a light side. Whatever, I am sure Sierra will be pleased with it.