When you say the word poetry, most people either draw a complete blank or they start rattling off famous poets like Tennyson, E.E. Cummings, or Milton. Historically, poetry has always been considered one of those long lost literary arts, something that is rarely appreciated in contemporary times. This may seem like it’s the case, but it’s not; We’re just not thinking outside the box. Poetry is most definitely an art form, and if you want to try your hand at becoming an accomplished poet, there are a lot of contemporaries before you that you’ll have to try and live up to. It doesn’t mean that it’s not worth trying your hand at traditional forms of poetry, but if you’re searching for something more relevant, what about song lyrics?

What’s your favorite rap song? Maybe it’s something with an infectious beat or something that makes you want to get up and dance, but if you stop bobbing your head around and listen for a moment, you’ll find that some of the world’s most successful rap artists are in fact accomplished poets. Take Jay-Z for example. Have you ever stopped to listen to any of the songs off his Blue Print albums? They’re not just about slinging drugs and getting ‘hoes’, although, there’s nothing wrong waxing on about it, it was a very realistic part of his life. But why shouldn’t it be considered poetry? Well the Jigga’ himself seems to think so. Stephen Harowitz interviewed the New York native a year ago to get his perspective on the contemporary perceptions of rap music, and the release of his book, Decoded:

“I hope readers take away from this book that rap is poetry. It’s thought-provoking; there’s thought behind it,” he said. “There’s great writing in rap as well. You never hear rappers being compared for like the greatest rap writers of all time. You hear Bob Dylan”.

I’m going to admit it right now, and inform you my view is most certainly biased. As an Afro-Canadian kid growing up in a predominately white, blue collar neighborhood, I was constantly turning to rap and hip hop to affirm my identity as a person of color. Before Jay-Z, there was Fresh Prince, Busta Rhymes, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill and a whole slew of artists that were using their poetic talents to get their point across. The Fresh Prince, or Will Smith for those of you who might not be too familiar with this particular genre of music, was a central artist in the game because his lyrics were completely devoid of profanity. His poetry was light, comedic and relate-able, a stark contrast to his rougher contemporaries. His lyrics were more pure, but they were no less  powerful or influential in telling the story of the American black man.

I think where we all sort of get stuck, is when we flick on MTV and we’re inundated with images of giant gold medallions, expensive cars, scantily clad women and piles of cash. These are certainly images that can potentially take away from the credibility of analyzing rap music as a viable source of poetry, but we can’t let it interfere with our examinations.

If you’re still not buying my argument, let’s do a little experiment. If you don’t already own a Public Enemy album, go to iTunes and download the song F*ck the Police. It is considered one of the most controversial songs of all time, but this wasn’t a song that was written for shock value. This was a song that culminated years of racial profiling, brutality, homophobia and any number of other offenses committed by crooked cops against the black youth of America.

I don’t want to take away from the brilliance of Robert Frost or Emily Dickinson, and there are definitely those scholars out there that wouldn’t dream of adding the likes of Jay-Z to their list of classic poets, but each to their own I say, and if you don’t think rap is a form of poetry, you need to open your mind.

I haven’t thought about Haiku’s for a very long time. In fact, I’m fairly sure I haven’t even said the word Haiku since the ninth grade. Wow, that really sends me back, and it also dates me, so let’s move forward shall we! Look, I realize that not everyone thinks of themselves as a poet, which is ridiculous, because poetry is like splashing some paint on a canvas, it’s completely open to interpretation. Yet so many people shudder at the idea of having to create their own poem. Did you know that most poems don’t have any semblance of a structure. However, there is a type of poem that I’ll be talking about today (yep, the Haiku) that even though has a specific structure, can be written by just about anyone! No special skills are required, maybe just a wee bit of imagination to make it interesting, but that can be said of any art form, right?

A Haiku is a Japanese poem, a short form of a poem actually, and it is characterized by three very specific qualities. And before we move forward, it’s really important to be able to discern the difference between an English and Japanese Haiku, because there are stark differences. So here is a step by step process to learning how to both appreciate and write a Haiku:

1) Know the Difference!

Like I mentioned above, there is a significant difference between a Japanese and English Haiku, and if you don’t want to appear a ninny, you’ll respect the differences. A Japanese Haiku has 17 different sounds. One of the sounds has 5 syllables, another has 7 syllables and another has 5 syllables. If you listen to a Japanese Haiku (or even listening to the Japanese language), the sound units are significantly shorter than that of the English syllables. In spite of this, the Japanese Haiku actually sounds longer, go figure! Japanese poets write their Haiku’s in one line, whereas English Haiku’s dedicate three different lines to each of the sounds. The thought behind this, is that the reader can pause, formulate an image within their mind, and move on to the next line.

2) A Haiku is Meditative

I had to try and wrap my head around this one a bit. The Japanese wrote Haiku’s as a way to explain to someone, what they had seen, or what they were feeling in a natural setting. Haiku’s were almost an ode to nature, and a far more sophisticated way of describing Mother Nature.

3) Your Haiku Should Including a Seasonable Reference

See what I mean? Haiku’s are all about nature. But you don’t necessarily have to directly reference nature, it’s more about the seasons, and how they make us feel. For example, Summer is often a season that is associated with love, fire and passion, and Fall is a season that is associated change, decaying, and bidding someone farewell. These are the types of emotions that you should include in your Haiku. Think about the season, think about what you’re feeling and marry the two, voila!

4) Always Contrast and Compare

This is where your English degree is going to come in handy! Remember all those compare and contrast essays you wrote throughout your college years, now is the time to put those skills to good use, in short form. Since you have a very limited amount of time and space to do a full compare and contrast, it’s best to show two similar ideas in the first two lines of your Haiku and then flip the script and present a completely different one in the final line.

5) Have fun!

Hi there, and welcome to The Quiet Stanza! This is my first official poetry blog, which is strange, considering I’ve probably been writing poetry longer than I’ve been writing prose. In fact, I’ve been writing poetry since I was in grade one and over the last few years (like twenty some odd years, not that I’m dating myself or anything), I’ve probably written a thousand poems. Everyone thinks that there’s this great art to writing a poem, and though they might be right, I happen to think its easier than one might think. I mean seriously, have you read E.E. Cummings, how is it that those very short, very concise, barely understandable groups of words can be called poetry. Not to hate on E.E. Cummings or anything, because I actually happen to adore his work, but don’t ask me to explain it, it just is. You see, poetry is like art, it’s open to interpretation. Yes, there are rules that you’re supposed to follow, especially if you’re trying to write a genre specific poem like a Haiku, a couplet or an elegy.

If you’ve never written a poem in your life, forget the rules for the time being, and take a deep breath. Poetry is an incredibly personal form of writing. It’s almost more intimate than writing in a locked journal, poetry exposes you in a literary sense, it’s a demonstration of your creative capabilities. And like prose, not everyone is going to like your work. Okay, so your sort of getting the gist of the intimacy behind a poem, now let me try to inspire you to pick up a pen to actually write some without feeling that you need to be the next Chaucer. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving poetic greatness!

1) Look for inspiration!

When you think about writing about poem, you need to find a canvas upon which to paint, a foundation. No I’m not speaking in tongues, what I’m trying to say is that sitting at your desk, staring at a blank wall is probably not going to inspire you to write anything poetic. Get outside, go somewhere public, where you can watch a scene. Or find a quiet place somewhere where all you can experience the elements in their rawest form, with little or no disruption. You might even want to consider medicating! When I used to write for a literary journal, I would sit for twenty minutes a day, in a quiet corner, and I would just listen to my own heart beat. Sounds strange, but it clears the mind right out of all the excess.

2) Write down everything! 

Just as an artist won’t leave home without their sketch pad, don’t leave him without your notebook and a few pens (because you’re bound to lose some along the way!). Make a habit of eavesdropping. Don’t tell anyone I said that! But people say some really interesting things, and sometimes they’re really inspiring. Or maybe you’ll see an interesting poster plastered up on a utility pole, or maybe you’ll hear the snippets of a song. Just write it down! And the ideas will come together later.

Look, this isn’t a blog for individuals looking to make big bucks of their work. This is for someone who may be a project manager by day, and wanton Shakespeare by night. It’s for people who like to be creative with their minds in an unconventional manner, but need a little encouragement along the way. Poetry is for everyone, at every age, and if you look around, life really is one big poem, you just have to open your heart to see it.

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Hey there foragers! Welcome to Fast Forage: an edible plant and foraging blog.

My name is Corinne, and I’ve recently become incredibly interested in finding my own food in urban and rural settings. I guess my obsession with gathering started back in December. I was traveling alone in Panama when I decided that I just couldn’t miss this full moon festival that was happening on some island in the Carribean. I called a number on a flyer and promised the guy who answered that I could fit into small spaces, and if they had a tiny bit of room, I could squeeze in.  That’s how I ended up in an old beat up SUV, with a bunch of strangers, on a journey across the small country. On the first day of the festival, I met a German shaman and his beautiful yogi wife. The next day, I ran into them and they were carrying a huge basket of greens. When I asked him what they were, he told me that it was watercress and that they were going to make a big salad. I’m aware this is going to sound incredibly naive, but it was the first time I’d ever thought about the fact that there’s so much in nature that we can just pick and eat. It was a huge paradigm shift for me. I started looking at every plant I saw thinking, “I wonder if I can eat that… or that… or that…”

Fast forward to today. This is a day that will go down in foraging infamy. Today, I found a course online that will be starting in a couple of months where you wander around Denver, finding plants and make a meal of it. Today I’m launching this blog, and I found this AMAZING crowd-sourced map of fruit trees in Denver (where I’m staying at the moment). I want to learn as much as I can about edible plants that can be found in the woods, in between the cracks of the sidewalk, or on Google maps.

So stay tuned for some free foraging tips and information.

Does your city have a foraging map?