making art inevitable: on poetry

I thought I'd use this blog as a place for people to get to know me a little better as it seems marginally less psychotic than talking aloud to myself in my empty apartment. 

Today, I wrote a poem. It's not something I'm particularly adept at but I find that I can get a lot of creative energy from putting down the cintiq pen and giving myself the freedom to try something new and unfamiliar. 

When I started to see poetry as not dissimilar from film, it made it a whole lot easier to write. In film, it's constantly drilled into your head that you ought to show, not tell; to guide your audience to the emotional place you want to land. On the surface, poetry seems at odds with this mantra. However, I found that the best poems obfuscate the thing the poet wants you to "see" and instead gives you the smell of the thing, the texture, and the sound. This is how a poem "shows". It's not about frivolous and flowery language, it's about economy. In fewer words than a screenplay, poems have left me devastated and laughing out loud. It's kind of amazing.

I find that writing a poem before undertaking a new film helps give shape to the idea that might otherwise be just a plot outline:

Who is this character? How does you feel about them? How do you feel about the place it's taking place? Is it dirty? Sterile? Awe-inspiring? Paint the picture with words before painting with your brush and it'll be easier to find your way in the darkness of a new idea. At least for me anyways. 

All that stuff aside, I just had fun writing. I feel more creative and more myself. I enjoyed the process as much as the outcome and I feel like it's helped me to create an environment in which making art is not just acceptable but inevitable. 

Here's the silly tongue-in-cheek poem I wrote!