Does the Best Poetry Come From the Heart of the Mind?

Does the best poetry come from the heart of the mind? (to be edited)

Leaders in poetry will confirm the reality that true poetry comes from the heart and soul. Without first having a heart and soul as the source, anything that would come from the mind alone would be meaningless and thus would not be considered to be true poetry. The mind has a role to play in creative writing of poetry, but it is not the original source of a poem.

While there may be those who suggest that this is not true, a genuine poet will only write when really inspired. Very few poets or poetesses will write upon demand, unless there is some element of inspiration included, as it is this inspiration that triggers the desire to write.

In other words, true poetry comes into being, simply because someone or something has touched the heart and soul of a particular person. It is put into an actual writing format of some kind, or penned into words in some manner, simply because the poet or poetess cannot help but write that particular piece of work.

When inspired, he or she may not have inward peace until that particular poem has some kind of written expression, which allows it to be retained and possibly revised at a later date.

It really does not seem to matter what time of day or night it is, when this phenomenon occurs. When inspired, the true poet or poetess will make a sincere and honest effort to save the poetry, in some way. If it is not captured in words immediately, it may just disappear into the wind, so to speak. The idea behind the poetry might be gone and completely lost forever.

With inspiration, writing generally comes about in four distinct stages: poemic, poetic, prosaic and the critique, critical analysis or criticism thereof.

In examining these unique stages of writing, one can begin to comprehend how poetry actually emerges into being, out of what appears to be nothing or absolute nothingness. This might be referred to as a process of emergence or a dimino effect. I will suggest that it is like a very dim light, emerging from what appears to be a void. It gradually becomes a brighter and brighter light, as it works its way out of, or comes through a dark tunnel.

Poetry may be regarded as the second stage in the process of inspirational creative writing.

Let me show you how creative writing and more importantly how poetry itself comes into being.

An example of an inspiration touching the heart and soul, leading to the writing of poetry or other forms of creative writing, might begin with one word, like the word love, as an immediate response of some kind, to someone or something. In itself, the word love, is essentially what could be referred to as a word that is still in its poemic form. It is not yet poetry.

It is more like a precursor of poetry, or essentially a poem-to-be, still in some very early format, which still remains to be penned, because it has not yet been written. This stage precedes the poetic format of writing, which we now know as poetry. It is easily depicted or described. It may be likened to the instantaneous or instinctive reaction of a person to another person, or a person's response to something like chocolate, a pet, flowers, scenery, etc. It is relatively restricted in terms of actual words, as it may be just one simple word. The poemic word then moves to the next stage of development, namely that of the poem.

The poem may be as simple as two words like "Love lives." As the poet or poetess continues to write on inspiration, the poem grows. "Love lives on." The work may be a very short poem, or something which could be expanded upon at a later time or date, in some more structured or unstructured poetic format. "Love lives on forever." It continues to be developed. "Love lives on forever in us."

There may be some inherent rhythm and rhyme added to it, but that is not always necessarily the case.

"Love lives. Love gives."

"Love lives on emerging, like the dawn."

"Love lives on forever and somehow dies never."

The prose writer, taking this and putting it into writing, in his or her own context, demonstrates a prosaic format, which he or she could also develop further at a later date. It might acquire a structure that includes formal sentences and paragraphs, which in turn leads to more clearly developed letters, essays, stories, books, etc.

The creative writing critic can take this a step further, by turning it into a critique, critical analysis or a criticism of what has emerged from the earliest poemic stage.

The bottom line, with respect to discussing all of these four stages, is the reality that a poem has to come from somewhere, in order to come into actual being. My suggestion is that true poetry only comes from the heart and soul, not from the mind alone. Like a dimino, when written, this heart and soul poetry will stand the test of time, simply because it is true poetry. Any mind can attest to that.

There is one after thought that might be taken into consideration as well. Who really divides a person's being into segments? Is it not a reality that the heart, soul and mind are actually one, irregardless of how any debate tries to separate the three, as the source of anything, including poetry?