oops, typo on H's bio:

Wendy Howe has been composing verse for THIRTY and NOT fifty yrs,  


*Thank you so much for the time and consideration you
have invested in reading and contmplating my poetry. 

I was very touched by the beautiful poem you write
about my verse on your Blog site. What lovely words
and imagery. 

And I am most grateful for  you bringing
my work to the attention of others, especially other
blog sites and some editors. I am a very modest person
who feels that my poetry has substantial, artistic
merit; Yet, I am always striving to perfect and hone
my skills.  It's an on-going process and my poetry
(writing styles, voice, technique) evolves as I evolve
intellectually and spiritually. 
 
....your courage in journeying to Ireland to become a full time poet: I
think takes a lot of determination and love of the
craft, itself. 

Ireland is a place that inspires and fosters poets and their work.  I think
it draws people to its artistic and scenic climate because of the
myth, the song, and the struggle that has defined the history of Ireland.
Perhaps, that's why poets may be able to thrive in Dublin and receive the
audience, respect and recoginition they deserve.*

 (obviously wendy doesn't practice in the warm pool of crocidiles, as jp D
has it here)
 
*You asked me about technique or a method of sanity to
my writing. I have been composing poetry for over 27
years. Presently, I am 42.  I started writing verse in
my early adolescence. At that point, it was all about
me and my struggle to understand life and my place in
the universe.  However, as  I aged and became a
teacher and mature poet, I developed some values that
have always guided my work and defined its thematic
essence. 
 
(1) I always write with the reader or the observer in
mind. I try to make my images, my allusions and my
messages accessible to people's sense of familiarity.
In other words,  I strive to employ words, metaphors
and ideas that people have experienced or encountered
in everday life.   For example, I would not use
references to tv shows, personalities, brand names 
that are typically American and only understood by an
American audience. I want to be understood by all
readers.
 
(2) I try never to weigh down my sentences with
multisyllabic words. I simplify my verse and use the
smaller words. Also, I avoid placing too many
modifiers in front of my nouns.  Too many adjectives
clutter the idea, take away from the clean lines of
the poetic symmetry. 
 
(3) I always wait for inspiration to come to me
randomly. A poem (for me) must happen spontaneously or
it sounds too contrived. I go through periods of
writer's block because of this concept but it's worth
waiting for a good idea to come in the end. 
 
(4) Sometimes, a glimpse of nature, a scrap of
conversation with a friend, a headline in the
newspaper or reading another line from a poem, sparks
an idea, an image. I always write these quick flashes
of inspiration down in a notebook. They can be
developed into poems sometime in the future.
 
(5) I am not afraid to leave a poem unfinished.
Sometimes I will start a poem and struggle with it for
days. At this point, I leave it and come back when I
feel I am equipped to complete it. And by length of
abandonment, I mean anywhere from a week to even a
year.  There are three poems I have left up in the air
for a year each and then returned in another  year to
complete them. Some people say how can this be done
when the writer loses his continuity of thought or
original intent over a prolonged absence from the text.
 I feel the poet can bring new perspective and insight
especially if he or she has been away from the
troublemsome verse for awhile. A break always gives
the mind a chance to rest and re-invests its frarme of
reference with new energy and stimuli. Those tratis
can help to re-shape a half-finished poem and perhaps,
lead it in a stronger direction.
 
(6) Always trust your gut instincts and imagination. I
have learned to be myself and trust what sounds right
to me. After all who knows my own self or thought
process better than I do. 
 
I am sorry if this sounds too didactic but I tend to
define my methods in list form. And yet, I must say
have no perfect or set formula for writing a poem. I
mostly  follow an idea and develop it into a storyline
or an observation.  

I always try to keep my details and images unified. If I start with sea
imagery, I stay within that context. If I use a bird, fire or water as my
main source of meaning, my images and actions feed of that idea.  I also
love history and often  find creative inspiration in the situations and
challenges of people who faced great adversity or achieved something of
worth in the past.  It's hard to define how I write but I work at it with
perseverance and imaginative diversity.  

Below are two links that describe my poetic working habits better. The first
is an in...

----

Well, for now I have rambled on far too long. Again,
Kevin, thank you so much for all your enthusiasm and
kindness. I deeply appreciate it. I hope I have
answered your question about my writing habits to a
satisfactory degree. You know it's difficult for
writers, artists or even musicians I think to define
their own work and the impact it has. At least, it's
difficult for me and I probably should not speak for
anyone else. 
 
I do have to run but hope this has helped you
understand my technique as a writer and my approach to
poetry.  And I agree, Baraka is stunning. His work is
intense and powerful. I came across him in graduate
school  and found his work riveting and unique. I
enjoyed reading that link to the interview. Thanks for
sharing it.
 
Best regards,
 
Wendy