Poet’s Talk, February 8, 2025 — with long-time TPS member, Bernadette Rule… “Seminal Poems: Poems that make People into Poets.”
Distinguished poet, Bernadette Rule, gave a brief talk on a poem’s effect on one’s creative spirit. As part of this interactive presentation, poets were invited to share a poem that had such an effect on them.
Bernadette asked, “What was the first (or one of the first) poems that taught you the power of poetry, and perhaps turned you toward writing?” We were invited to come prepared to talk about a poem that stopped you in your tracks, made you wonder how the writer did that, how s/he created those effects.
“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?”
There were 17 folks in attendance!! — 3 TPS Execs., 8 members (including the Presenting Poet), & 6 non-member friends.
Bernadette’s friend, William Duane Tucker, passed away and left her his treasured book collection. She could tell that he loved his books as he seemed to involve them in his day-to-day rituals. They had notes in the margin and food and drink remnants throughout. The last book she opened ‘took the top of her head right off!!’ And, it sparked the idea for today’s workshop. The book was: “First Loves – Poets Introduce the Essential Poetry that Captivated & Inspired Them” (edited by Cormela Ciuraru).
Bernadette talked about certain poets and poems that had influenced her poetry journey. Then, she invited each participant, going around the room, to talk about what poems or poets had influenced them. Some poets (primarily teachers/professors) were readily able to cite certain portions of their seminal poems; others, read from notes and poems they had brought, and all talked about the effect that poets/poetry had had on them, on art they create, and work that they generated based on making/experiencing art; how events and experiences in their lives had informed their poetry journey.
Some of the works and poets cited through the discussions:
Juvenile – I’ve Never Seen a Purple Cow; Ted the Turtle (the origin of this one remains a mystery)
Jean Little – Growing Pains (“This made me feel like I wasn’t alone. It blew the top of my head off!” – N.S.)
Melissa Allen’s site, veryshortpoetry.com (The Journal of Very Short Poetry – 25 syllables or less)
William Wordsworth — I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
Homer, in Translation & Virgil in translation
Rainer Maria Rilke (in German)
Paul Simon — Sounds of Silence
What did Paul Simon say about sound of silence?
“The Sound of Silence was the first song I wrote which seemed to come from some place that I didn’t inhabit,” Simon tells The Guardian. “At age 23, it was unusual, well beyond my age and abilities. Then it happened again throughout my writing. Bridge Over Troubled Water was another song that came mysteriously.
Samuel Coleridge — Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Check out this Metal version by Iron Maiden)
Gerard Manley Hopkins, John McCrae, John Gillespie Magee (High Flight), and other war poets
Rod McKeun‘s poem “Gently, Gently”
World Poetry Café – Co-op Radio Station in Vancouver, BC (thanks to Ed for sharing – an interview will air on Feb. 13, 2025)
*** Bonus Resource: Definitions of Poetry ***
Whether people came to poetry early in life or later, there was always a poetic catalyst that got them started. We appreciate the participant’s eager participation. It was a neat opportunity to share in a way we don’t get to do in regular workshops. Thank you, again, Bernadette:)
Several people made connections afterwards and chatter continued outside the room and into the parking lot.
Upcoming:
- AGH Ekphrastic poems due by February 10!
- Poetry Parlour (open mic) — Saturday, February, 22, Westdale Library, 2 – 4 pm
- TPS Summer 2025 submissions due February 28, 2025
- next regular workshop — Saturday, March 8, Westdale Library, 2 – 4 pm
- Come celebrate Poetry Month by visiting the AGH — Saturday, April 5 & 26, 1 – 4 pm — Tower poets will be onsite to read the poetry that the art inspired. (A booklet will be available of the poems for the month of April so you can read the poems at the same time you view the artwork that inspired them.) Note, the Reading Event is free, as the permanent collection (2nd floor) is free access (no admission).