A collection of words from Spiegelgedichte, Identität (Mirror Poems and Identity) by Hilde Domin was the starting point for a poem:
who / doesn't / look / see / in / mirror / color / today / want / you / face / of / yesterday / must / like / invariable / ephemeral / things / beret / cap / watch / recognize / or / one / find / yourself / you / be / one / who / wears / cap / truly / you / are / again
in a writing workshop. The assignment was to make this disconnected group of words into a poem. In the world of writing, insights into individual and collective human existence are made clear. They can be recognized in the experiential space of poetry.
The Need to Create Meaning
Our minds strive to construct a meaningful text from the limited and unruly group of words. The need for meaning can be manifested as content, but also as sound or rhythm.
Stimulating the Imagination with Breaks and Spaces
Especially when sentences do not (have to) obey grammatical rules, as is the case with poetry, the imagination can spread its wings in the empty spaces. Words stand on their own meaning. They act as images and arrange themselves into stories. By contrast, our imagination often drifts off when confronted with the normal use of language.
The following poems were created as part of the writing workshop:
You are who you are You... want one! You... who else? In the mirror ephemeral, Find yourself Truly Today Ephemeral invariable. Ephemeral cap – the beret. Or the watch. Wear your face Again And See it in the mirror with the colors Of yesterday. - Reta Lusser Who doesn’t look in the mirror of yesterday And see ephemeral things Like an invariable watch A beret, a cap; or wears a cap. And today the face of Yesterday must see You find yourself, you are Who you are and Truly you are again! - Denise Haller The face wears ephemeral things Is it you who recognizes it In the mirror Truly seeing in the mirror The clock - Lilian Frei
Emotional Individuality
Each of the poems above is unique and expresses the emotional individuality of the writer. A complex and subtle scaffolding of experience and memory buttresses each individual text. It carries the writer’s views, thoughts and feelings.
The Emotional Process of Writing
The process of writing involves becoming aware of the world around you. One participant crossed off every word she used and self-consciously described this procedure when presenting her poem to the group. Just like when she was in school, she had proceeded diligently and conscientiously, but had also felt totally trapped and limited. In the second part of the poem, she broke away from that approach. She put the words into the text without thinking about it very much. The result was completely different, she told us with a laugh. She had ultimately allowed herself to be creative by flowing beyond the limitations.
At the end of the workshop, the poem by Hilde Domin was revealed. The “correct” solution was presented to the group by a participant, smiling at our convoluted thinking:
Identity Who doesn’t want to look in the mirror Today And see the face of yesterday. How invariable are the ephemeral things, A cap or a watch, That you recognize. It must be you who wears the cap, And truly, it is you. You find yourself again By the color Of a beret. - Hilde Domin, Mirror Poems and Identity
Andrea is currently Director of inArtes, an arttherapy institute in Zurich. Email: info@andreagrieder.com
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