Thursday, February 07, 2008 Alive and rhyming By Leticia Suarez-Orendain
IS poetry dead?
Bathalad, or bathalan-ong halad alang sa dagang (divine offering to the quill), is a group organized by Cebuano writers.
The members are between 18 and over 60 years old. Since many members are from Cebu, the natural tool of expression is Cebuano.
However, for members who come from other regions in the Visayas and Mindanao, the language might be Waray (Samar) or Ilonggo (Iloilo). They are still considered a part of the Visayan family.
Bathalad holds poetry readings every third Wednesday of the month at Turtle's Nest restaurant on Gorordo Ave.
Readers come from all walks of life. They bring copies of their own poems or those of their friends. That’s why we know poetry is alive, kicking, rhyming and free-versing.
While we’re at it, you might want to know how to write love poems for your crush. A poem is life in a capsule. That's why it needs more discipline than prose when selecting images and words. Here are some tips:
-- A poem may be structured (e.g. made of 14 lines as in a sonnet) or free verse. The latter refers to poetry that is not written using strict rhyme or meter. However, you can still recognize it as poetry because it has patterns, like the use of an image on each stanza.
It might be helpful to brush up on samples of poetry: limerick, haiku, sonnet, ode, and so on.
-- Don’t let writing daunt you. Just write down what it is you want to say.
-- When you’re done, step back to re-read what you have written. You must learn self-critique. The process can be painful as you rewrite some lines.
-- Seek the guidance of someone who writes poems, if you wishto improve your work. Otherwise, just do it for fun.
