Manifesto

It's not in a poem guys, so try not to be too bored xD


I think poetry needs to come from the poet’s heart. It needs to be unique to the writer and not sound like someone else’s words. Each poem, good or bad, needs to mean something to the poet. Poetry should be able to make connections with people. It should make the reader feel something in themselves and provoke a response in them. For example, the reader could read a poem and feel the poet was trying to speak about human greed. This could cause the reader to try to be less greedy in their life. Even if that wasn’t the poet’s message, the poem still had an impact. The poet’s own message is also important, however, and when expressed well should become clear to the reader and make an impact. The poem should paint a picture in their minds that acts like an optical illusion, always moving and changing, despite technically being only one shape. When the reader looks at this picture in full, they are overwhelmed. When a writer writes a poem, they should be proud, but not so much that they don’t see room for improvement. Poetry should not be confined to a specific form. A writer needs to write what he sees in his mind how he sees it, and not worry about any rules. This is the main problem I have with Sestinas; I’m not saying that they’re bad altogether if that’s how a writer wants to write, but I find their rules to be too confining to write properly. I do believe there should be some basic structure, such as stanzas and form that allows the words to flow well, but not so much that it forces the writer to write a certain way, like the way Sestinas do with stresses on specific syllables or certain words the lines need to end in.