Poetically Speaking with Veronica from The Talking (Blogging) Bookworm

Veronica is the founder of The Talking (Blogging) Bookworm–a YA book blog filled with thoughtful reviews and other fun features. Veronica was also one of the co-hosts of Contemporary Conversations this past March.

Today Veronica is talking a bit about the therapeutic properties of writing poetry.

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Ever since I can remember, I’ve used poetry to channel my emotions, frustrations, and . . . just about everything else. Some of my best work has come from writing when I’m most vulnerable, when I feel everything.

Writing poetry can be cathartic. You release all of this pent up emotion that you can’t seem to contain and you’re left feeling empty . . . in a good way. At least that is what I feel when I write. It’s the best therapy I have. Musicians write songs – I write poems.

In the Spring of 2014, I took a Creative Writing class at the local community college and we spent well over a month on studying and writing poetry. The professor was very surprised with my work. I will never forget what he said. He said, “I never knew such a moody tone could come out of you. Your work is impactful.” That comment has stayed with me and that is why I said YES to Emma when she asked if I wanted to write a guest post.

First, I want to say that very few people have seen my poetry because it is very close to my heart. If you want to know my innermost thoughts and feelings, they can be found in my poems. So what I will be doing today is tough, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and that is share a poem that’s very close to my heart.

The poem I will be sharing today is titled “Into The Night,” and it is about longing for something or someone that you’ve lost.

Into the Night

Isn’t it easy to pretend you’re alright?
When the motions of each day,
swallow up your time,
And it is at night when you have time to remember.
There are several moments in the day,
when you push those thoughts aside,
Hoping they won’t consume you,
and let you have the fake peace,
that you so ever desire.
Since when did it become like this?
Having to come to these measures!
To forget a person you once cared for,
To forget a person you didn’t want to forget.
Yet at night before you go to sleep,
you let your conscience open up,
and everything comes crashing down.
Hoping you’ll have one more day before it’s impossible to resist.
When that day comes,
I hope I make the right decision.
Whether to throw it all away or fight.
But for now, tonight, I’ll just open up the safe within my mind,

and let the memories carry me away into the night.

*deep breathe*

Have you felt this way before? I hope I’m not the only one who has experienced this inner turmoil. I still remember the day when I wrote this specific poem. I was brokenhearted . . . I had been for a while and I didn’t know if I should let go and move on, or cling on to hope. I sadly didn’t move on and I could have avoided all of the pain I was in for the next year . . . I think that I have learned my lesson since then and I have this poem as a reminder of the pain I went through. I won’t easily forget.

My advice for you today is to write what you feel. When we are vulnerable with ourselves, we grant ourselves the opportunity to really learn more about ourselves and see what we are struggling with. I know that may sound weird, but the person that we at times lie the most to is ourselves. We seem to love to be in denial.

(I also want to point out that not all of the poems I’ve written are about heartache. I’ve written about things I love as well. But that my friends is a post for another day.)
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Thank you again to Veronica for sharing this personal post and also for signing on to contribute to this feature way back in November when I started planning.

If you want to see more of her writing, be sure to check out her blog: http://talkingbookworm.com