For Those Who Love Off Beat Poetry
I recently got a job teaching poetry. I thought I would share the experience and a poem I wrote for Valentine's Day.
Good day to all my subscribers. I have been given a wonderful opportunity to teach poetry. I feel so blessed to have this chance because a few years ago I taught poetry in a psychiatric hospital and I loved the idea that I was helping people going through one of the most difficult times of their lives.
Anyone who frequently visits my author web page at www.edmontonwriter.com will be aware that I offer a free download of my book “Alert and Oriented x3” there. It is in pdf format, but if you visit amazon, or email me, you can get a hard copy. In that book I have some poems that I wrote while a formal patient in a hospital in Edmonton. They were handwritten, and I scanned them into my computer just as I wrote them, then added some commentary.
What I love about writing poetry is, it seems as I grow older, I get a little better at it. Today I was helping teach a poetry class and decided to try writing a little. The result wasn’t earth-shattering, but I kind of feel as though the poem has potential. I even have been thinking about trying to publish it, but if I do, I would send it through many personal revisions and try out a few different things. Still, I want to share it with my readers, both free and paid subscribers. The exercise my co-worker chose for today’s lesson was list poems. He started out with an incredible poem by a woman called Aisha Sasha John. It inspired me to write the following:
I HAVE TRIED
A Valentine Poem
By: Leif Gregersen
I have tried fighting
and was met with resistance
I have tried crying
and was met with humiliation
I have tried helping
and was met with no thank you
I have tried writing
and was met with criticism
I have tried travelling
and was met like a stranger
I have tried working hard
and was met with injury
I have tried loving
and was met with kindness
In The End
Love Made it All Worth It