Not exactly, I thought and paused a moment before responding. "It depends on what you mean by 'true.'"
There is something about poetry that makes it feel personal, confessional, and the reader often assumes poems are autobiographical. And sometimes they are.
But nonfiction they are NOT.
We invent details to orient the reader, we embellish to add texture. The poem is a living, breathing thing that grows as we are writing it, as we discover our own truths. That ability to root in two worlds -- Real and Imagined -- is one of the most precious things about the experience of poetry.
Matthew J. Kirby addresses the issue of truth in his book ICEFALL:
"My tale last night. Did it comfort you?"
"Yes."
"And was the comfort real? Was it true?"
"I thought it was."
"Then the story was true. And that is what is most important in the telling, whether Thor's chariot is really pulled by two bucks or not."
Don't forget to visit Carol at Carol's Corner for Poetry Friday Roundup! (Image found at Free Motion Quilting.)
How true! Love this thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Irene.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...something interesting to think about! Thanks, Irene.
ReplyDelete"That ability to root in two worlds -- Real and Imagined -- is one of the most precious things about the experience of poetry." I can see that this makes me want to look at poems more than once, which I do, but now you've given me more to look at. Lovely thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be the heart of faith, too...
ReplyDeleteLovely, "true" post - and the quilt is gorgeous.
ReplyDeletei've encountered people who assume that poems are autobiographical, too -- which they don't do with fiction -- and it always irritates me because it seems they are missing the point, based on a very limited understand of truth. whether or not a poem is "true" in the sense of an accurate reporting of "what happened" is really trivial, isn't it? what's essential is the truth that it creates, not the facts that it reflects ....
ReplyDelete