My Poem is locked up in a sweet Mandarin; my Identity is sprinkled with spicy Cinnamon.

Description

Excerpt 1:

After writing this personal poem – ‘I come from …’ you will not believe how good I felt afterwards! Also, my creativity soared. The expression of my feelings and thoughts – at the same time delving into the great memories from the past – had released some feel-good hormones. As I saw the text in front of me – documented past experiences – my self-worth increased. It made my imagination sharper like you when you take an old pencil and sharpen it. My pencil looked refreshed – sharp – ready to ‘write.’ Can you see the sharpened pencil in this poem of mine?

EXCERPT 2:

I share 5 benefits of poetry and some advice in this article with you:

1. Improve cognitive function. I recommend you have an online – or hardcopy – dictionary or thesaurus next to you. Learning new words and finding new ways to articulate one’s thoughts and feelings will give your grey matter a jolt. Do you want to feel smarter? Write some poetry! 

2. Healing from emotional pain. I remember sharing a personal poem in a class at Uni: We had to share our poems online. One particular verse stood out for me – the lady of about 45 years old – had so much pain. The grief and pain oozed out of her poem. I felt so sorry for her. I then realised that one can be imprisoned if one doesn’t let go of those past hurts and disappointments. I recommend that you get rid of such emotions spurt them out on paper. Let the paper soak up all the bad blood. Grief is one of the most painful emotions we experience, and it’s also the source of some of the world’s most inspirational poetry. Loss can also be relieved through poetry. Let the ink bleed into the paper – use a fountain pen – see how the ink stains the paper. 

3. Revive self-awareness. Writing poetry constructively revives your self-awareness. “Inner reflection” will stimulate your feelings, the YOU locked into your soul. 

4. Spark spiritual enlightenment. Dig deep. Don’t hold back. Forget about political correctness. Be yourself, lay your heart and spiritual feelings bare. It is like counselling without a councillor present in the room. Cut your spiritual feelings free; let it run. 

4. Your poetry will inspire and educate others. We all have fears and anxieties. Those emotions are called ‘universal’ because everyone experiences them. Once we’ve done exploring and finding answers, we can help others by sharing them. I have shared my poem ‘I Come from a land of the brave‘ because it encompasses my identity, soul, and spiritual being. Why don’t you write your poem on “I come from…”? 

5. Celebrate yourself and your life! For some unique things in your life, a cake and balloons just won’t do it. You have to go deeper. Go deep down to a poem – those explorative words locked up in your inner being. Go and fetch it. Let it bleed out on paper or flow through a keyboard. Just write! 

Sketch of the hideout (sectional view in 3-D). Pen, pencil, & watercolour pencils. Credit: W Van Zyl (Nov 2018).