I loved writing poems when I was growing up. Now, I only write them for special occasions like my husband’s milestone birthdays. Sage is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World.

Her equally talented friend and writer, Christina Katz, introduced us. I’m honored to have her as a guest here. Can you just see me doing my Barbara Walters pose and her sitting across from me?

How does poetry make the world a better place to live?
I think poetry fills the gap left by the so-called objective truth that dominates our media, science and legislation. Many of us want to comprehend and communicate the complexity of human experience on a deeper, more soulful level. Poetry gives us a shared language that is more subtle, more human, and–at its best–more universally “true” than we are capable of achieving with just the facts.

How has integrating the reading and writing of poetry into your life impacted you?
I will risk sounding melodramatic in saying that poetry saved my life. I stumbled into a writing practice at an extremely vulnerable time in my early teenage years. Poetry gave me then, as it does today, a way of giving voice to feelings and ideas that felt too risky and complicated to speak out loud.

There was a kind of alchemy in writing through such vulnerabilities…by welcoming them in language, I was able to transform the energies of fear, pain and loneliness into a kind of friendly camaraderie with myself. In a way, I wrote myself into a trust that I belonged in this world.

Do people need an advanced degree in creative writing in order to write poetry?
Absolutely not! Sure, poetry has its place in the classroom; but no one needs an advanced degree in creative writing to reap its rewards. What most people need is simply a proper initiation. I wrote Writing the Life Poetic to offer such an initiation. My goal was that everyone who reads it come away with a sense of how to tune into the world around them through a poetic lens. Once this way of perceiving is awakened, anything is possible!

Why did you write Writing the Life Poetic?
While working with writers for the past fifteen years, I have observed that even the most creative people fear that they don’t have what it takes to write and read poetry. I wrote Writing the Life Poetic to put poetry back into the hands of the people––not because they are aspiring to become the poet laureate of the United States––but because poetry is one of the great pleasures in life.

Who is Writing the Life Poetic written for?
Practicing poets, aspiring poets, and teachers of writing in a variety of settings can use Writing the Life Poetic to write, read, and enjoy poems; it works equally well as a self-study companion or as a classroom guide. Both practical and inspirational, it will leave readers with a greater appreciation for the poetry they read and a greater sense of possibility for the poetry they write.

What sets Writing the Life Poetic apart from other poetry how-to books?
The craft of poetry has been well documented in a variety of books that offer a valuable service to serious writers striving to become competent poets. Now it’s time for a poetry book that does more than lecture from the front of the classroom. Writing the Life Poetic was written to be a contagiously fun adventure in writing.

Through an entertaining mix of insights, exercises, expert guidance and encouragement, I hope to get readers excited about the possibilities of poetry––and engaged in a creative practice. Leonard Cohen says: “Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” My goal is that Writing the Life Poetic be the flame fueling the life well lived.

Is it true that your book and your baby were conceived and birthed at the same time? What did you learn from this process?
Yes, I often refer to my son Theo and Writing the Life Poetic as my multi-media twins! I found out I was pregnant with Theo about two months into the writing of the book and I was making final edits to the book in layout two weeks after he was born.

It was fascinating to have two of the most potent creative processes I’ve ever experienced happening in tandem. What I learned is a great respect for the birthing journey; it is one that has completely rewritten me along the way.

I am writing a monthly column this year for The Writer Mama zine titled “The Articulate Conception” which chronicles my journey of becoming an author and a mom. Through the course of ten essays, I am exploring this double-whammy birth trajectory–from the twinkle in my eye to the bags under my eyes. The first column is available here.

What makes a poem a poem?
This is one of my favorite questions! I’ve answered it in my book, but it’s a question that I’m answering anew every day. And that’s what I love about poetry. It’s a realm where invention is not limited entirely by definition; there is room enough for the endless possibilities of the human.

Every time we try to draw a line around what a poem is, something spills over into the next frame, shifting the point of view and demanding new names: olive, token, flax, daffodil. A poem is all of these, or none of them, depending on the quality of light and how the blade in the next room stirs the night.

What do you think people’s greatest misperceptions are about poetry?
I think the three greatest stereotypes about the writing of poetry are:

1. That one has to be a starving artist or deeply miserable to write great poetry.
2. That reading and writing poetry are available only to an elite inner circle that shares secret, insider knowledge about the making of poems.
3. That poetry does not fund prosperity.

I hope very much that Writing the Life Poetic helps offer alternatives to some of these attitudes and perceptions.

Why is National Poetry Month (April) a great time to read and write poetry?
Every month is a great time to read and write poetry! But National Poetry Month is special because there are a number of inspiring opportunities to read and write in virtual tandem with poets everywhere, which creates a feeling of momentum and community. On my blog, I have a brief list of some fun ways to plug into the fun.

I’d love to conclude with a poem of yours. Would you be willing to share one?
Of course! Happy to!

Leaving Buckhorn Springs
By Sage Cohen

The farmland was an orchestra,
its ochres holding a baritone below
the soft bells of farmhouses,
altos of shadowed hills,
violins grieving the late
afternoon light. When I saw
the horses, glazed over with rain,
the battered old motorcycle parked
beside them, I pulled my car over
and silenced it on the gravel.
The rain and I were diamonds
displacing appetite with mystery.
As the horses turned toward me,
the centuries poured through
their powerful necks and my body
was the drum receiving the pulse
of history. The skin between me
and the world became the rhythm
of the rain keeping time with the sky
and into the music walked
the smallest of the horses. We stood
for many measures considering
each other, his eyes the quarter notes
of my heart’s staccato. This symphony
of privacy and silence: this wildness
that the fence between us could not divide.

Thanks for visiting, Sage!

About Sage Cohen
Sage Cohen is the author of Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry and the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World. An award-winning poet, she writes four monthly columns about the craft and business of writing and serves as Poetry Editor for VoiceCatcher 4. Sage co-curates a monthly reading series at Barnes & Noble and teaches the online class Poetry for the People. To learn more, visit www.writingthelifepoetic.com. Drop by and join in the conversation about living and writing a poetic life at www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com!

What questions do you have about poetry? If you write poetry, why do you do it?

Tags: poetry

I enjoyed reading Great Writing from a Small Child. When I read the post, my 5-year-old had written a poem. The requirements were the poem had to be about you and the end of every line must rhyme with dog. Can you believe not many words qualify? His poem:

I have a dog.
I like to sing about a frog.
In P.E., I sometimes jog.
I never go out in the fog.

The second line is too true. He sings the “Life Cycle of a Frog” many times in a week since learning that in pre-school. I had fun helping him with this. I wish homework with all the kids would be this enjoyable.

We started by coming up with words that rhymed with dog. He went through the whole alphabet. We added frog.

Next, he came up with the first line easily. I told him to pick one of the words and try to make a sentence out of it about him. If the “og” word didn’t come at the end, I talked it out with him to rearrange the sentence until it did.

I loved writing poetry when I was a kid. The only time I do it as an adult is for someone’s birthday or a special occasion. I did one for my husband’s 30th and 40th birthdays.

How I wish I had those poems I wrote. I save my kids’ poems. They don’t do one often. Last year in third grade, my son’s class did poems where the first word or two had to begin with specific works:

I am…

I wonder…

I hear…

I see…

I want…

I am…

I thought that was a wonderful idea. He wrote an amazing poem. This from a kid who hated reading and writing — so it surprised me. It was that good.

Maybe we adults should try the above and see what we get.

• The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!: Indeed!
• Freelance Writers and Referral Fees: Would You Charge (or Pay) One? I tried to thank someone for referring me to a new client and she wouldn’t accept it. I also don’t expect payment for referrals as like the article, networking goes a long way.
• Signing Client Contracts: When Negotiation is Futile: Excellent points of what to expect.
• What I’ve Learned About Writing From My Friends Online: Proof that participating in the blogosphere can be valuable.
• 30 Poems in 30 Days: I used to write lots of poetry while in school. Boy, I wish I put them on my Apple ][+ computer, then I might still have had them today.
• Wikibooks: “Community for creating a free library of educational textbooks that anyone can edit.”

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Cool Hunting: Hunting down cool things.
• U.S. Paralympic Team: I wish the games were on TV!
• GuysRead: Hilarious author Jon Scieszka (and a popular one in my household) started this site to provide book recommendations to guys of all ages. His list hits all the biggies in my household (two sons).
• TeenReads: Like Guys Read only for teens.
• Book Adventure: Motivates kids to read.

This past entry addresses the dying art of letter writing (by hand and snail mail!). Cursive writing becoming a thing of the past looks at cursive writing’s decline in the classroom. Students typically learn cursive writing in third grade and I believe this should continue — but not with a heavy focus on getting it perfect.

Rather, the kids should remember how to do it and legibly. Just like learning new spelling words, they need to learn to read and write cursive. Neatness, like art, is subjective. Some people are good at it and some people aren’t.

Kids today have to learn more than kids did 10 years ago. They have computers and keyboarding added to their list of things to learn plus 10 more years of history. Remember memorizing the American presidents and the years they served? I clearly remember that from 9th grade, but I’ve forgotten the order and years. Is there any point memorizing this? Well, perhaps, it gives us an idea about when the president was in office. For instance, we know Lyndon B. Johnson didn’t serve anywhere near Lincoln or Adams — but somewhere around Kennedy and Carter.

My parents took me to Washington, DC for the first time when I was about 10 years old. We visited the Smithsonian museums where I bought presidential flash cards (OK, I was a nerd … sometimes). I learned them on my own, but promptly forgot them by the time I had to learn them again in 9th grade.

We also memorized poems. I still recall the ones I had to say over and over:

* Shel Silverstein’s Captain Hook from Where the Sidewalk Ends in 2nd grade.

* The Highwayman in 7th grade.

* Edgar Allan Poe’s Eldorado in 7th grade

* Kipling’s If

* Mark Anthony’s Caesar speech in 10th grade

* Shakespeare’s All the World’s a Stage

I hated memorizing poems at the time. But you know what? Some of these have become my favorites. I can still recite Eldorado without help. There was a time when I was into finding poems like The Highwayman and discovered The Shooting of Dan McGrew by Robert Service. It turned out my grandmother was also a fan of his work and we spent a little time discussing his poems. As a result of this interest, I started writing epic style poems. Wish I had them (That’s why I try to pick some of my kids’ work and kept them in a safe place.).

In middle school today, kids learn about one poem per six weeks — depending on the class. The poems are tied to the curriculum.