Becoming a Poet

Karl and August Mewes, Quincy, Illinois, 1885, immigrants from Germany, parents of Lena Meves DeKoning

Becoming a Poet

During Covid I discovered that anyone can become a poet. To keep myself busy and do something that could be worthwhile, I joined an online writing group during the days when we were isolated at home. I thought that participation might help me with my blog posts, but I discovered that some members of the group were more interested in poetry. Just the mention of writing poetry worried me. Would this new group expect me to compose a poem? This might sound like a strange thing to panic about, but I have never forgotten the angst I experienced in 6th Grade when we were required to write an original poem. I just couldn’t do it, didn’t understand why, and worried a poor grade would upset my record of good grades. With total embarrassment, I did create something to turn in. The teacher must have been sympathetic to my efforts, as I did pass the class without damage to my academic record.

My new writing group was supportive and I did manage to write one poem while I was a member. I shared my poem in this blog back in 2021, but didn’t tell the back-story.

This past year I joined a church study group on the topic of gender identity. It was a surprise to me that one of our first activities was a request that we each write a poem about ourselves. While there was initially a sense of the old “poetry panic” within me, I soon realized that the request came with instructions, very similar to those that resulted in my first successful poetry attempt. My anxiety turned into confidence as I looked more closely at the prompt and realized I could follow the instructions and produce the requested product:

NEW I Am Poem

I am from the Alameda neighborhood of Portland, Oregon

Where moms cared for gardens and kids

And men were gone to work during the day

I grew up playing with dolls and joining neighborhood kick-the-can games

I dreamed of being a teacher

I am from Marion and Lena, my mother and grandmother

My strength comes from Northwest wind and rain, robins and dahlias

My family taught me punctuality and frugality

I am from pedal pushers and blouses for play, and hand-sewn dresses for school

Folk and camp songs were favorites as a teen

I had Instant breakfast in the morning, school lunches, and Hamberger Helper for dinner.

I am from hard-working house painters, contractors, bakers, business owners, and secretaries.

Going to Minnesota for college and spending my sophomore year in Europe challenged me to think for myself and explore who I was and wanted to be.

I am Carolyn Hayek, enjoying life, supporting family members, and trying to do my part to help the community and the world.

I don’t expect to win any awards for my poetry, but I’m very grateful to those who helped me see that, with a little help, anyone can write a poem. Now I’d like to explain that help is available for those who struggle with this task.

I recently learned that the format I was following to write my two poems is called the “I Am Poem” with prompts provided for each line of the poem. This type of poem is also referred to as a “Self-Portrait Poem” and has been widely used to help people get better acquainted with others and themselves. Here’s an example from the National Gallery of Art website.

You can find many more examples on the internet of both formats and completed poems. It’s a method used by many groups to help members get better acquainted with each other. In my second poem attempt, we were beginning a study of gender identity, a topic which can be challenging to deal with. Getting in touch with our own backgrounds and that of other group members was a good start to group learning.

Carolyn Hayek