I've been reading Dobyn's Best Words Best Order and in his essay, "Voices One Listens To," he compares the first draft and the final draft of Ellen Bryant Voigt's poem Amaryllis. In an aside he mentions that Voigt had already been writing poetry for 30 years when she started the poem. Thirty years!
2 comments:
To answer your missing question, I've always loved words from when I was a child. My mother tells me she used to read to me when I was still in her belly, so maybe I could hear the fairytales even then. I wrote baby poems, nursery rhymes, child scribbles. Words, stories were toys, amusing.
It was not until I was 18 that I thought, I could go somewhere with this. The year before I'd received a small recognition for some poems I'd written, and much encouragement from a teacher, and another poet who became an important guide for me.
So, I think I've been apprenticed to poetry for about 12 years, but maybe longer, depending on how you look at it.
Ivy,
I keep forgetting that people actually read litwindowpane, then I remember and start editing myself like mad. Maybe, I'm too shy to blog? On the other hand, if I did stop blogging I would miss finding your great comments. Thanks!
Post a Comment