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Showing posts from January, 2010

Wanted: Musicians, Poets, Artists

Sometimes I am SO inspired by my job! Just when I think I should call it quits, my kids pull through for me and remind me of all there is to love in literature and in working with such amazing students. Today, during our poetry lesson several classes asked if I really think that poets put all the effort into their poetry that we try to squeeze out of them. I based my answers on my own creation of music, poetry, and choreography. In both classes, my explanation was something to this effect: I think poetry is often a combination of natural talent and skillful writing. At the most basic level, poets are poets because they instinctively associate words in ways the rest of us don't; words naturally flow from them with sophistication and beauty. But I also believe that when a great poet encounters a glitch in his writing process, he knows how to draw from his skill and training; he knows how to use his head to compensate when the words from his heart are insufficient. It's the