Devante+Taggart


 * Copper Poetry Portfolio **

- Intro After reviewing my poetry I notice that each poems title is simple. This shows that I don’t put as much thought into the titles of the poem as I do the poem itself. I think my poems express my articulacy throughout all of them. I try to make the poems have some sort of rhyming scheme throughout them but for certain topics it was hard to do. My poems tend to have a lot of imagery because I am a very imaginative person and I think that painting a picture through a poem makes it a great read. My poetry is wonderfully described by the quote I picked at the beginning of the project. A poet himself W.H Auden once said, "A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” I myself am definitely in love with language.

I guess you could say I think about the ocean often. I reference the ocean in my riff poem and my imagist poem. In the beginning I wrote my poems in a paragraph like form. Towards the end I started to write stanzas like “The Lighthouse” and “Kingdom By The Sea”. Most of these poems don’t rhyme and that is unfortunate because I tried to make most of them rhyme but it was hard to find a good inspiration for these poems. My riff poem had a good flow to it because I had an inspirational line to use. I was never a big poetry writer though so I guess this project was a good feel for it.

- Quote "A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language." - W.H Auden

- Memory Poem Scars

Most things don't leave a mark, those are the things easily forgotten But scars, scars with permanence those will forever be remembered without memorabilia, you have nothing to remind you but who needs a picture of a memory even though they tell a thousand words when everyday you feel this scar <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">which makes you feel, <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">that unforgettable pain

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">- Ode

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">A simple broomstick <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">but sometimes much more <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">transportation for a wicked witch <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">a tool to sweep you of your feet <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">found in everyones home <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">to get rid of all the bad <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">to make room for the good <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">made from simple bristles <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">all working together <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">a tool that everyone uses sometime

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">- Found Poem <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Where Oh Where?

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Write a poem with ten lines <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">where can we get these lines? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Anywhere, anywhere, anywhere <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">well, I need some inspiration now <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">where can I get that? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Anywhere, anywhere, anywhere <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">should it rhyme? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Maybe, maybe not <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">so I ask again <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">where can we get these lines? <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Anywhere, anywhere, anywhere <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">only ten though <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">so I cant just get them from <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">anywhere, anywhere, anywhere <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">so the question is <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">where oh where?

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">media type="file" key="Found Poem.mp3" width="240" height="20"

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">- I Was Raised By Poem

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">An upside down cake baking grandmother <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Glazed with lemon, topped with pineapples <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">A spades playing Uncle <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Always the first to notice a re-nigg <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">A military family <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Navy on one side army on the other <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Loving aunts <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">That always looked out for their nephews <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">A church going family <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Who attended church every Sunday <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">I was raised by <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">A loving mother <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Who let me live my life the way I wanted <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">And I thank them for raising me <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The way they raised me.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">- Riff Poem <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Kingdom By The Sea

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Line - "In a kingdom by the sea" <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">from Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">In a kingdom by the sea <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">that is where I want to be

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Seeing a never ending ocean <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">flowing endlessly <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">gives me a feeling <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">of endless possibility

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">In a kingdom by the sea <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">That is where I want to be

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Storms, come through strong <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">here and there <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">but it is a wonderful view <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">when the sky is clear

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">In a kingdom by the sea <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">that is where I want to be

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">- Imagist poem <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The Lighthouse

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">18th century stone bricks <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Moss covered and eroded <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Bout five stories high <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Overseeing the serene ocean <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Waiting for the sign of a boat

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Deep blue sky <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Full of clouds <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Crows flying <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">In search of prey

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">High tide <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">On the distant islands <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Lush green filling the landscape

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">- Detailed Study of Allen Ginsberg

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Allen Ginsberg’s early life was disturbing at points and I think this was the major influence in all of his poems. His greatest poem “Howl” referenced “angel-headed hipsters which to me is talking about drug abusers. Also he writes lines later “high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness” which is another reference to drugs. He was a spiritual man though, studying under gurus and Zen masters during the 1960’s and 70’s. This would be another inspiration for his poetry. “Howl” had many references to drugs and sexual activities, which caused it to be banned. He writes a lot about topics that were not always accepted by everyone and this caused him to have to defend his style of writing. I would have been one of those people who promoted his style of writing. He said, “Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private.” And I agree with that.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">In a haiku that he never published it seems as though he just wrote down his thoughts throughout the day. This I think is a great way of expression through a poem. It doesn’t have a rhyming scheme but it has the format of a haiku. Each thought is short but gets across a point. I don’t believe he can be categorized along with any other poets. He was a risk taker according to the things he wrote about and the lifestyle he lived. That carried into his poems influencing him to write about whatever he wanted regardless of the feedback he got from some of his poetry. One poem he wrote titled “Homework” was very unusual. He talks about cleansing the Earth but in his own unique way saying “put the planet in the drier & let it sit 20 minutes or aneon till it came out clean”. This poem let me know that he cares about the Earth by pointing out places that have been through a lot and wishing them to be a better place.

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Overall I think he is a very unique poet. Before this project I didn’t know much about him but after reading through some of his poems I think his poetry is inspiring. He once said, “I want people to bow as they see me and say he is gifted with poetry, he has seen the presence of the creator.” This is a little over the top at first which shows him taking another risk, but then he ends talking about being in the presence of the creator who I would assume is God. This is inspirational because he studied with Zen masters to get closer to god and he is saying that being closer to God has made him a better poet. I think anyone really into poetry should read his poems because it would definitely give them the inspiration to use their own technique as he did.