tanka variations

•260 / we watch barn swallows— their midday epiphanies— arching emotions across approaching thunderstorms, blue on the horizon—
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261 / we watch barn swallows arch their wide epiphanies across approaching thunderstorms, smears of bluegray resting on the horizon—
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In the middle of prayers at church, the deacon recites a phrase which triggers a literal, linear reaction in my right brain— I forget now what the chant said— all I know, an epiphany merged in the center of my head as an answer to a poetic problem which has troubled me for over a year. An issue of abstraction versus conventional expressions. How to push creativity and still maintain logic. The poem series in question fell into language poems without channeling emotion or purpose. In other words, my persona was on stage talking within a surrounding, specific undisclosed environment— and I expected (wanted/wished/hoped) the audience to understand the character’s full hidden back story without supplying any necessary information. This was dangerous to the music of the poem and the struggling themes hidden in metaphor.

But now, now the cycle shifts forward again— no hindrances. The grounding element these works needed was a hint, a suggestion of autobiography to show the writing process. Through text, adding a subtle reference to the creation process adds an element of personality of the writing— the style’s roots exposed, so to speak. The Poet acknowledging to the Audience that the words are musical tracks and poetic metaphors— creative expressions and not elaborate symbols.