where light
hides
confides
overrides
new shoots,
tender roots—
green bliss!
stretching, oh!
warmth of the sun
i imagine this
a singing—
poetry's dna
© lbaccus february 2 2020
'Poetry in DNA'
(Published on X March 14, 2025 | baccusbee)
You won't ever find me claiming or portraying myself as an expert on poetry. The only place I get to talk in verse and about poetry is the online poetry communities. My circle is small and almost none of them have an interest in prose and poetry and I'm not going to lead with or work my love of poetry into conversations with the people I interact with on a daily basis or in the community. Especially if they aren't interested in the craft, I don't want to make anyone's eyes glaze over. (Laughing.)
You guys indulge me and I'm grateful for it. I've been told I'm making a fool of myself before for sharing my verse which often waxes surreal.
I've shared before my poetry skills are self taught.
Outside of a creative writing class that left a lasting impression on me in high school, reading a lot of poetry and studying some of my favorite poets is the extent of my poetic knowledge.
The verse well up and bubble out of me. I suppose I have a genetic disposition to the poetic- if this is possible, I'm not implying love of poetry is genetic. I wouldn't be myself if contained them within. Clarifying this point for those prone to take every word I say literally.
T.S. Eliot was my first poetic love. After attending a performance in Oklahoma City of 'Cats' in high school, I was hooked. When I learned it was based on Eliot's 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats', telling the story of the Jellicle cats gathering for their annual ball, I had to read more! And I did.
Jack Kerouac is another poet I'm fond of with his spontaneous bops and American haikus. He often drew inspiration from Buddhism and I too, find myself at times inspired by Buddha.
Mary Oliver, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Robert Frost, and Walt Whitman are a few more I've appreciated over the years and still do.
While I do read a lot of poetry, I confess my inadequacies talking to other poets about the craft and articulating to them what I love about their verse. I'm not skilled in the common language of verse, I suppose.
For this reason, I am an imposter. At least I know it. I enjoy penning verse and continue awkwardly on in spite of my short comings. Engaging creativity through verse has been lifesaving for me. Worth noting though, I am improving here, the poetry community at large on X, and Substack are gold. I have a lot of opportunities to work this muscle reading and appreciating their verses.
Like I say from time to time- iron sharpens iron.
I'm just grateful to be in the room with them.
I have a little over 90 poems to left edit and set free here, then my poetry from my former X account before the time I deleted it for a few months and then returned because I missed the community of creatives, writers, and poets. I have several poems not yet published anywhere I'm working on and those will probably publish to Medium with links shared here on this blog.
Truly, I wish I would have started the editing process a long time ago, for I am learning a lot more about poetry and growing in my ability to talk to fellow troubadours about the craft in the process.
And it's made all the difference.
Personally, I owe my appreciation to a couple of teachers. My creative writing teacher and my speech teacher. One introduced me to poetry and I started rolling in the verse and the other took us to 'Cats'.
God Bless them, from the bottom of this self-taught imposter's heart.
Thanks for reading this far, I've included several links above to real poets for your reading pleasure.
I'd love to learn from you—feel free to drop your favorite poets in the comments to introduce me to new verse, or share a link to your own poetry/writing site so I can return the visit.
baccus bee
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