THE WAY OF POETRY in practice: the poetic notebook

“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”(P.B.Shelley)

Versione italiana al link: il taccuino poetico

Generally speaking, poetry is considered something difficult both to read and, even more so, to write. It is certainly a refined art, with its own rules, codes and intrinsic aesthetic reason.

In my experience, however, poetry is also a way of being in the world or a way to a new way of being in the world. It is one of the Ways of Beauty, and Beauty is a revolutionary and transformative force: it transports us to the ecstasy of contemplation, but without making us lose touch with the world of the senses. Indeed, most of the time it is precisely through the senses that we become aware of Beauty. 

What is needed, then, is a re-education of our perception that consists, first and foremost, in an effort to pay attention. It seems a triviality, yet let us ask ourselves: how much space does Beauty have in our lives? Our adult existence is too often set on automatic, repetitive, mechanical emotions and actions. This produces the same scenarios, evoked by the same emotional climate. Stagnation becomes a vicious circle that is difficult to break.

How to do this, through poetry?

One way to start re-educating our perception is the poetic notebook. I was given it at the age of eight by the first poet I met, who read and appreciated my first lyric.

This notebook should be, in itself, a beautiful or at least special object, inviting us to write - and to write with care, with grace, with awareness. During the day, then, let us make at least three efforts of attention that lead to three poetic annotations: they can be thoughts, reverberations of moods, details we notice for the first time around us, sounds, flavours. Let us be amazed, let us be touched.

Per prenotare  un colloquio  di Counseling contattatemi attraverso il mio sito  Le Vie per l'Armonia.