Deep Underground Poetry (A follow-up)

Hmmm, a southern gal ay?

Absolutely.

Well you're off to a good show of expression.  I think the important thing is that you're writing and sharing, which is the most difficult part for new poets to step into.  Once you start the sharing process, you'll begin honing in on style and the power of words.  If you're serious, you'll begin read both classic and modern poetry in addition to DU poets.  King once said “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”  And while many things can inspire us, they cannot teach us how to write, only we can learn that through exploration into language, literature, and of course, the power of words.

When you're ready, open yourself up to Honest Critique. I promise no one here bites. And the ones that do could care less whether or not you've requested friendly feedback or honest critique! LOL!

BTW, I was born in the south; and while you can take the girl from the south, you can never take the south from the girl. ;)

Thanks Ahavati. That is a really great comment for me, I was thinking of changing to honest critique and you have definitely cinched that decision. I must admit I do need to start reading some classic and modern poetry. Your suggestions are really helpful and thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed comment.  
 
"while you can take the girl from the south, you can never take the south from the girl. ;)" Absolutely. :)

You have all the fundamentals already there. For you, it’s just refining your skills and growing in them. The talent is very clearly there. You need to believe and own that first! Right now, it’s you spilling emotions because they need to get out. And that’s fine. That’s the main goal! Let it all out. We have no room to judge and don’t hold back or filter yourself. Be honest with yourself, anyone else doesn’t have to read if they don’t want to.

Once you spill it out, hey the words out there. I suggest walking away from it. Let the emotions you just spilt settle in the paper and out of your mind. That way when you come back you can manipulate the words, play with structure, move things around, focus on helping it flow, how it sounds, how you think it should read. Etc. then it’s fun. That’s where the creativity flows and unique style is born. The hardest part is just getting the words and emotions out? Which you do beautifully and naturally.

You’ll find that manipulating the words and the poem makes you gain more control over your emotions and your experience, because it’s tangible.

We ate all here to learn from each other! Don’t forget that

Thanks Julia, your encouragement has helped me a lot and providing so many recommendations on how to grow and get better at this is amazing. I really cannot thank you enough for taking the time.

Feel free to reach out anytime!! You’re going to be phenomenal, it’s all there!

You do have such talent ... I know it is tough putting your poems out there ... but I have found DUP to be a real supportive place ... so go ahead ... explore ... try different things ... read other poets/poetesses here ... or check out websites like www.poetryfoundation.org for access to a wide variety of poems ... they have a poem of the day that I read everyday before I get started ...

Thanks a lot LilDragonFly. You are right it is a little unnerving to put things out there at first but I am starting to feel better about it. :) I have been trying different things to see what works so I will try to keep that up. Thanks for the link, I will check that out. :)

In Your Bio You said something very similar to what i said in my Bio --

I am not really a writer or Poet.  You reminded me of me when i first returned here and now a year or so later
i am beginning to think maybe, just maybe i might be something with respect to spilling.

i've already read a few of Your ink here
and You could have fooled me when You say You are not a writer!!

Well, i'm off to read the rest of Your stuff!
(with every new writer i meet here, i go to the beginning and read all the SELF poems, then the SPIRITUAL, then the LOVE poems.  

I am glad I could bring back memories. ;)  

That is a really! nice thing to say, that makes me feel good so thank you! ❤️

And thank you for reading some of my stuff, I hope you find more things you like. I need to go read yours also. And I like your methodology.