Like any writer/poet/overthinker, I am constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of my writing. At the start of the new year, I grew to feeling that my pen had become stale and set out on a journey to find something new to breathe life into my work again. My pursuit led me to an impulsive visit to the Asian Art Museum.
It was quite lovely.
In the Arab/Islamic section, I came across texts that led me to a possible answer to my question. It was a writing describing the idea of poets of that age writing poetry that brings pleasure to as many senses as possible- particularly the ears and eyes.
My horizon widened in that moment. My relationship to writing, for a long time, was something I’d hide. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a writer, but once this was shared with others it was immediately shot down. A few years after that, my personal journal was read by my parents and I got in trouble for writing things they did not approve of. ( I wrote a remix to happy universal holidays in which I said something to the effect of ‘I don’t need anything because I already own anything I could ever want’. I also wrote about a crush I had.)
This led to me sort of abandoning journaling and writing. I didn’t pick it back up until high-school.
I’m saying this to say that up until that point, my poetry in particular has no sound. I write as if it was never supposed to be written, let alone read aloud. I immediately began to think. How can I bring sound to my work? These are the ideas that came to mind:
Giving Sound
Reading my lines aloud to myself as they are being formulated. This is the most literal application of providing sound to my poetry, but I think it may prove itself useful. I have never performed any of my work, and incorporating my literal voice during the writing process may sate the anxiety that comes with the thought of one day doing so.
Shift in Stance
My pen must become shameless. What does this mean? It means that I need to be unafraid of what I have to say, how it will be received, and what people will think/ know about me after I’ve said it. Due to the purpose of sharing my work in the first place, there is no room for shame in my work, and there is no reason for me to be ashamed for wanting to share what I feel.
The purpose of my pen is to release the burden that is on my heart. To create a space where others will find it safe to release their own as well, however that may look like. To achieve this, a shameless pen, however scary that seems to a shy person, is required.
