"Poemy" voice

[Luckieman]

Well, yeah, sure. Image, sonics, metaphor, some internal structure to hang it on. But for me as a writer and reader a successful poem comes from, evokes, emotion. Spontaneous emotion is the best starting point for me, without it all the polish comes to naught. So I think it’s fine to have techniques in mind but a memorable poem, for me, comes from someplace less controlled, the wild bit that soars. But when I take a long enough break from writing and consistently reading poems to forget what they are “supposed to sound like” the return is certainly not improved by the forgetting. Nothing wrong with using tools if you can use them to make art. 

Only just found this, Ella - many thanks. You've made a very important point in saying 'a memorable poem, for me, comes from someplace less controlled, the wild bit that soars'. There's actually a physiological basis for this. The left hemisphere of the brain primarily deals with logic, sequential thought and language, and the right hemisphere with intuition, holistic and spatial appreciation and emotions. I refer to this distinction as left brain-plodding, right brain-flying. I find that poems that work for me (my own or those of others) are born of flight by the right brain. The difficult task for the poet is the effective translation of the holistic images of flight into the sequential verbal form for transmission.

It's a delicate balance. My favorites usually hang on an invisible skeleton not immediately noticed. The poem soars on its own but with repeated reading the framework underneath becomes apparent and I realize why it sticks. As a writer, for me it takes a lot of work to edit a poem to its best yet stick to the chosen (or made up) form but I am convinced that is the magical spot, the difference between a keeper and and an okay piece of work.

I think you've just expressed the translation process very clearly. The right brain deals in images, which have to be conveyed by the left brain in words and structures. It's almost certainly an iterative process unless the work product is very short. I woke up yesteday to a five line poem entire and finshed, but that's probably about as much as can be completed in one throw. And I find revision really needs to wait until the right brain takes off for another flight, otherwise I amend and revert (tinkering). The danger is letting the left brain take command instead of being your assistant, as then the right brain shuts down and no more images emerge. I guess this is what frequently leads to mismatch between message and form.