The author recounts a night at Project Wishope with poet James Hamilton and singer Meggo. They discussed the healing power of writing, referencing Miley Cyrus’ song "Flowers" as an example. Encouraging writing as a form of catharsis, the author emphasizes the shift from focusing on pain to inner strength through artistic expression.
poetry
Featured
Finding Places to Submit Your Work
The author, a successful writer with many published works, offers advice on publishing. Recommended tools include Submission Grinder, a free service that lists potential publishing opportunities, and Submittable, a platform popular with publishers, which simplifies the submission process and includes a tracking feature. Other resources include regular email updates from a specific website, Trish Hopkinson's website for poets, and Facebook groups.
Open mic
At open mics, we share histories. We have experienced something so significant that we had to recorded it on paper or computer screen. And to do more than just express it, we needed to spend more time with it and use the exact right words to do it justice. Sometimes we wrap our message in … Continue reading Open mic
Purge Your Mind with Poetry
A poem is a way to explain yourself. To decide how you want your story told. The more intimate you make it, the more you bare your soul. Which is cathartic. The surprising thing though is that the more you edit and make it more intimate, the more you get make a mystery of the … Continue reading Purge Your Mind with Poetry
Poetry Keeps Track
We need people to write down their histories. We need to read it like poetry.
Poetry- The Eagles
Yet, a good poem still has to hold truth. It has to resonate. It can't just have the right sounding words. These 2 lines, to me, resonated. When I was younger hurrying and worrying went together.
Speak Through Poetry
How often do you not feel heard? You are saying something you think is important, but the other person is just waiting for you to finish, so they can speak. Even worse, they don't wait. I believe this has become an epidemic, and perhaps it is because of the epidemic. We need to communicate and … Continue reading Speak Through Poetry
Decide How To Tell Your Story
Make Your Reality with a Poem
In a poem, Create a clean slate for yourself. The fact of the matter is that we all have our own reality. It is created by our minds. Our thoughts with a bias towards negativity and darkness. So why not direct our minds and take control of reality. Not to hide from out problems and … Continue reading Make Your Reality with a Poem
The Benefit of a Writing Exercise
On April 6th, 2023, I held a workshop on Poetry. I presented an exercise where we write a poem about a chore and then come back to it and make it about something more significant. Like the poem about carrying something heavy and really it stands for carrying an emotional burden. It should not have … Continue reading The Benefit of a Writing Exercise
Thomas Cannon Author 