Verses on a Bird

I am a writer that completely struggles with poetry.  Most of the time when I teach it I am faking enthusiasm for it because I am much more of a fiction or drama reader because I feel like I can wrap my head around those concepts in a clearer manner than I could ever dream possible with poetry.  With that being said there are two main techniques that I wish I could pull from Er's poetry in verses on bird.

In the beginning portion of the book she has an absolutely wonderful way of using her language to appeal to nature.  Within my own writing I struggle with conveying thoughts and feelings about nature in poetic forms.  Looking at Er's writing helped me realize that I can take those risks and that not all writing needs to be in prose form for me to get my point across.  For example,  Er writes, "Stripped of leaves, only then does the tree belong to the bird.  Can the lead-gray sky stuff all ears with feather not to hear each beak clamor an existence you do not solicit?" (15).  The aestetic value she places on words emphasizes her closeness with nature that I want to use within my writing. Trees and birds must live together and the tree is the master with leaves but the bird can ultimately overtake the tree once they are gone.

Imagery is a crucial poetic element that I always second guess myself with within my own writing.  I wonder if the images I'm speaking of in the poem are coming off as vivid as they should.  In Er's Watermelon Juice, imagery is evident throughout.  The poem powerfully opens with, "You say you've never seen watermelon being eaten with way: held up to the face, drunk with sweat pouring down nose tip, forehead and back" (39).  I could mentally picture that very easily and hope that readers of my poetry can do the same.  The imagery of many of the sections within her book accurately depicts various situations that stimulate the senses and in my writing I try to emulate that as much as possible, even if I'm not always successful.