Writer's block

[Jaime Lync]

No inspiration
What am I to do?
A writer without a drive
A pen without any ink left
That isn't right!

Blocked
Locked
Stuck
But I refuse to rhyme that last line with a curse word

I'm in a cursed world
And I'm suppose to be the blessing
But my lack of inspiration has got me stressing
I'll admit it - I'm weak
But thanks be to God that in my weakness
He is strong
So I'll write a new song
And sing it out loud
Write out loud

These words come from my heart
I'm in love with you
Now and forevermore
I'm in love with you
Now, now and forevermore

[Christina O Phillips]

I love poetry. Are you open to constructive feedback?

[Jaime Lync]

I am in love with constructive feedback. It's one of the main reasons I share my poems. I think constructive feedback is vital for growth as a person in every arena of life. So, please feel free to critique my work.

P.S
I love poetry.

[Christina O Phillips]

I have always liked poems that talk about writers block; it's something we do: we are blocked so let's make a poem out of it and hopefully that helps to unblock us. (My favorite poem on writers block is The Circus Animals' Desertion by WB Yeats.)

Anyway, I loved the flow and the rhymes and the rhythm until the line "I'm weak." After that line, it just felt like a completely different poem to me. And I did not feel like the last stanza worked in this poem either.

I think the beginning is about writer's block and that the middle "I'm weak" should have been like a turn maybe? The writer being unblocked? But I don't think this part worked as well as the beginning that you set up.

I hope this is helpful and does not insult you in any way. Tone is very hard to convey over text and it's harder when you don't know someone.

[DATo]

I have always liked poems that talk about writers block; it's something we do: we are blocked so let's make a poem out of it and hopefully that helps to unblock us. (My favorite poem on writers block is The Circus Animals' Desertion by WB Yeats.)

Anyway, I loved the flow and the rhymes and the rhythm until the line "I'm weak." After that line, it just felt like a completely different poem to me. And I did not feel like the last stanza worked in this poem either.

I think the beginning is about writer's block and that the middle "I'm weak" should have been like a turn maybe? The writer being unblocked? But I don't think this part worked as well as the beginning that you set up.

I hope this is helpful and does not insult you in any way. Tone is very hard to convey over text and it's harder when you don't know someone.

Greetings Christine! And welcome to the Online Book Club [:- )

Actually, I had a different interpretation. I don't know if this is what Jaime had in mind but I see the poem as an indictment of the futility of words to express the deepest meanings of the heart. Even a master poet can only approximate it. In the case of this poem my view was that the poet, as a result of "writer's block", essentially says, in a fit of frustration, to hell with the written word and then simply shouts out her feelings of love. Sort of like wanting to rescue a drowning puppy and finally when all else fails simply jumps off the bridge and into the water in a desperate effort to achieve her aims. I found this idea to be the main thrust of the poem. I also like your suggestion of a "turn" however. That would be another way to resolve the plot of the poem.

Anyway, nice work Jaime! More poems please!

[Christina O Phillips]

Hello and thanks for the welcome, DATo.
I just did a poetry lesson with my students and I told them that no two people read the same poem and our comments are a prefect example of that.
I'm excited to have a place to talk with people about poetry. Maybe eventually I will be brave enough to share my own.
DATo, do you write also?

[DATo]

Hello and thanks for the welcome, DATo.
I just did a poetry lesson with my students and I told them that no two people read the same poem and our comments are a prefect example of that.
I'm excited to have a place to talk with people about poetry. Maybe eventually I will be brave enough to share my own.
DATo, do you write also?

Greetings Christina!

I agree. Art in all its forms remains subjective and I find that it is always interesting to meet someone with a different slant with regard to interpretations. Don't be such a sissy: I want to read your poetry! *LOL* I'm sure our members will be kind ... they usually are to me though I almost never deserve it *L*

I don't want to hijack Jaime's thread so I will send you some links to a few of my ~~~CREATIONS~~~ *LOL* in a personal message.

[Jaime Lync]

I decided to put p.s first because this is lengthy
p.s: DATo please feel free to share your poetry link here as I am also interested in perusing your poetry. The same for Christine, I advise you to share your poetry - I think we are propelled to grow as writers knowing that our work will be read by someone.

I am delighted that my poem inspired this conversation. Christina, I think DATo and I see this poem through very similar lenses. To me the persona is a writer who although he wants to write a worship poem to his God he cannot seem to find the words to express his love in an original or refreshing way...he is frustrated by his inability to write the poem that would bring praise to his God (I'm in a cursed world/ and I'm suppose to be a blessing)...and once he admits that he is not able to do it on his own the inspiration to simply sing (write out loud) his praise. He abandons the idea to write from the mind and embraces the song that swells from his heart.

Christine, from a literary standpoint I would actually see it like you do if this wasn't my poem. It just seems like two poems meshed together and in a way that is exactly what it is. It's like turning on a hot water pipe, at first the water comes out cold and then it gets hotter soon after.