My guest this week on Poetry from Daily Life is Allan Wolf, who lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Allan discovered the power of writing when he was 12 years old and began lettering on his bedroom walls. His favorite genres are poetry and nonfiction. One of his favorite book projects was The Day the Universe Exploded My Head, a collection of poems about the solar system that allowed him to pursue his love of space. Allan is the inventor of poggling, a combination of poetry recitation and juggling. ~ David L. Harrison
Connecting our world through metaphors
Let’s start with a little poem joke, shall we?
Q: What did the poet say to Luke Skywalker?
A: May metaphors accompany you!
As a poet by profession and passion, I have made this punch line my life’s motto. “Metaphors be with you” is a poet’s way of saying namaste, shalom, or peace! But to me, it’s more than just a clever play on words. I believe that people who look at the world through the lens of a metaphor are more in tune with the interconnectedness of things.
The two magical ingredients of metaphor are connection and comparison. Poets find ways to connect things that are not traditionally connected. A boxer is not a butterfly. A boxer is not a bee. But a boxer can certainly swim. And a boxer can certainly sting. No one would ever mistake Muhammad Ali for a butterfly or a honeybee. And yet poetry uses metaphors to show us how they are connected and what they have in common.
Try it yourself. Walk through your world and look for metaphorical connections. How can the tree in your yard be an old man? How can the toaster on your kitchen counter be a hungry volcano? Bonus points for making personal connections. For example, what You do you have in common with the tree in your garden or the toaster on your kitchen counter? You like the bookshelf in your living room? You Have knowledge? Are You robust, high, low or dusty?
Keep a list of all the connections you find. Maybe you can even turn one or two of them into a poem. In my poem “Metaphors,” I compare a poem to a sparkling firework, a loud rocket, a silent blossom, and a secret room. I even compare a poem to myself.
So what are you waiting for? Look for the many connections that make up your world. And be there with the metaphors!
Metaphors
A poem can be a rocket (Zoom!)
that I can ride beyond the sky.
A poem can be a secret space
where I can watch the world pass by.
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A poem can be a bright firework (boom!),
all rush And zing and exciting fun.
A poem can be a silent blossom
who turns her face to drink the sun.
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A poem can be a mountain ridge
this gives me a broader perspective.
A poem can be a stable bridge
that shows the way from me to you.
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A poem can be a zoom, a space,
a blossom, a bridge, a boom, a zing.
A poem can also be just like me.
We both can be so many things.
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Allan Wolf is the author of poetry collections, picture books, and young adult fiction novels in poetry form, including No Buddy Like a Book, How to Tantrum Like a Champion, and Behold Our Magical Garden. He is also a performance poet who travels the world reciting poetry to audiences of all ages. For more information about Allan Wolf, visit www.allanwolf.com or Google him.
