Hi poets and poetry lovers,
Yesterday, for our "In Conversation" stream, Herb suggested a fascinating topic that we didn't fully explore: writing poems based on other poems. This includes "after poems" and "for poems," where we draw inspiration from existing works to create something new.
How do you approach writing a poem that responds to or builds upon another poem? Have you ever written an "after poem" that pays homage to a poem you admire, or a "for poem" dedicated to its original author? What challenges and joys do you find in this process?
Share your experiences, techniques, and any poems you've written that were inspired by other works. Let's dive into this collaborative and intertextual aspect of poetry and see how it enriches our creative expression.
Songs. A great song evokes emotions or emotion-filled memories. My father owned a fishing boat. A part-time fisherman. Regardless,
In Cape Breton, you'll find Smokey Mountain. Once, and only once, we ventured from his mooring wharf to the base of the mountain. This was a gut-wrenching voyage across 60 km of open water, but we stuck to the shore a little bit. Awe! The only word that would describe my feelings. Imagine a five-year old kid looking up at the towering(to me) mountain. Leap forward twenty-some years to 1982 when Toto released TOTO IV and the song 'Africa'. I heard the lyics 'As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti' which brought me back to the boat. I struck upon my own line.: I strike upon a growing spark,
like Smokey Mountain's cliff rises...
from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. That stuck with me and a few years ago, I tired a poor attempt at an after poem
I didn't see this before I posted it, but I have popped up in the Share your poetry section one that might be considered an after poem? 'Sustained In Dreary Stillness' (title under debate).