AN EMPERICAL POETRY VIEW

ADDENDA READING ALOUD Reading a poem silently ( as  compared to aloud)is the difference between staring at sheet music and playing the music on an instrument.Recitation  equates poetry to the experience of viewing a painting or touching a sculpture...each time the viewer / reciter brings a uniqueness of the moment to the 'happening' & thus the experience can differ each time . ..a byproduct of reading aloud can also be a useful learning /editing technique to use before finalising/publishing[posting] the poem POETRY A VISUAL FORM Poetry as a written artform naturally has a visual aspect thereto.We read with our eyes so line length&line breaks become key limiting factors to both our enjoyment&ease understanding.Fomat helping to distingush&separate poetry as an artform in its purest sense from the rival written art of prose&thereby puts poetry closer to art than literature. CADENCE&PUNCTUATION to punctuate or not that is the radical question we poets must decide as we pick up our stylus&follow traditions .As Black Mountain poet Olson put it.. can syntax be shaped by sound. Cadence is a poetic 'must have' for our art & traditions of capitalisation (&emphasis inherent therein) too often can be ' a technique too far' inhibiting expression & visually stilting the reading flow..e e cumings lower case poetry style showed valid alternative poetics .The 'one breath length' limitation being intuitive is perhaps a better cadence in any event . Admittedly grammar&punctuation are exercises to learn&understand before omitting&as such are a proven flexiblity to enhance our poetic art that can vary understanding ,&if omitted be safely left to the reader HAIKU is the ' phonetical&cultural original 'in Japanese'& in reality uses '17 'onji' (sound symbols)rather than syllables HIKU is the English language tristich (three line) version(including translations)with similar economy of words PROCESS The 'process' (itch to write),as with art forms like gestural abstracts action painting,so often is more significant than the content...a process within that desires satisfaction ...with enunciation .."the medium (that) is the message" POETRY HISTORY a creative- written & verbal art evolves naturally as the past century has revealed commencing with the Imagists in the early 1900's who 'freed up' traditional poetic thinking, along with the English language translators of Japanese haiku forms who thereby stimulated the interest & innovations in English short form poetics. Recited rhymes,commonly known by all, was stimulated into wider-spread interest in all poetry by the invention of the typewriter,soon followed by digital devices linked to the internet faciltated the process whereby poetry became a common art practised daily by thousands worldwide.The result being sites like PS in the early 21st century which continued & widened the evolution of poetry. CONCLUSION The art of poetry can have many different interpretatons , when read by another and of course particularly so,if recited aloud. This axiom has often been experienced following a posting of my poetry on the internet for nearly twenty-five years now.So often (& it remains a delightful surprise) when others see it through their different eyes( ie from their unique experience )the thoughts that I have poetised. The beauty of our poetic art (just like paintings etc) is seen through the 'eyes' of a beholder ,an added bonus to the satisfaction & joy of the creative process itself.