I was the poet laureate of Ms. DeVignier’s 5th grade class and leaving elementary school for middle and high schools didn’t slow me down. For 8 years, I inflicted my hideous poetry on classmates, school magazines, my friends, and the public at large.
I even won awards from folks who should have known better. Awards for poems with words like ebony, anguish, keening depair, and soul-crushing.
And I was one of legions of teenagers.
Truth As Angst-Filled Teenage Poetry
When it comes down to it, nothing is more raw, more ‘real’, more authentic, than teenage poetry. Since the kind of introspective teenagers who tend towards writing poetry as an outlet are usually often shunned or depressed in high school, the poetry is indeed angst-ridden.
But not any less raw for its subject matter. Today’s MySpace, Facebook, and LiveJournals are no comparison to the duct-taped, bent, torn up, journals of yesteryear.
And it doesn’t end at poetry. Some teens turned to musicianship, composing songs which laid bare their soul. Others labored with pens, paint, or structure to create artistic reflection of their inner lives. Some danced, some sang, some acted – all while connected the utter ‘them’ of themselves.
Truth in the Real World
As we get older, our interests become more cerebral, less connected with our selves and our immediate experience. If we managed to stick with our teenage passions, we may be forcing it to make money and are probably just as removed from art as expression of the immediate self as someone who isn’t engaged at all.
Zombies
We can go through our lives like zombies, detached and hungry for more, with the exception of the rare moments of utter being. Birth, death, marriage, divorce – all can interrupt the lack of consciousness of our experience.
Kicking It Old School
…which is why I propose a return to writing poetry or jam sessions with buddies. Luckily, none of it has to be any good whatsoever.
And to anyone who suggests you ‘grow up’ and put down the guitar, or wonders why you are bothering to write when nothing is going on in your life – tell ‘em to bite you. Something is going on in your life and it is high time you got to experience the unadulterated ‘it’ of it all.
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April 29, 2008 at 7:03 pm
connie
Angst ridden teens, huh…I still write really hokey poetry! Usually, a thought comes to mind and I write on whatever is available at the time and then stuff it somewhere.
April 29, 2008 at 7:18 pm
thedailydish
I do the very same thing, Connie! I tend to accumulate scraps of paper in the bottom of my bag like other people collect lint and tic-tacs.
Hayden, I too was a teenage poet, who became a 20-something poet, and so on. I think poetry provides a release for emotions far better than other types of writing. These days I enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it myself. I will gladly join your poetry slam.
PS: Thanks so much for the kind words. I missed you too!
April 29, 2008 at 7:46 pm
daffy
I think there are more angsty teenager traits hidden in the older twenty, or thirty something, than we think.
)
I wrote poetry as a teenager, and stories and lyrics and then I suddenly felt the urge to stop wasting my time, to stop feeding my negative energy. Life goes on, you do all the stuff you are supposed to do growing up but it doesn’t feel the same. You haven’t been able to ever express yourself fully without the poetry, the stories and the lyrics.
I am using way too many words to utterly agree with you here!
That’s why at the ripe old age of 38 I am writing poetry,stories and lyrics and I’m encouraging my kids to do the same. (They don’t need much encouragement) I think after reading this, I might just mention to them that using their creative talent as an outlet has no age limit.
April 30, 2008 at 12:26 am
curlywurlygurly
ahhh, the teen years…i can’t really romanticize about mine because i relive them EACH DAY at my job–the behavior never seems to change, just the faces.
April 30, 2008 at 2:09 pm
persistentillusion
@ connie – LOL, I think it’s funny because the only person that actually wants to read my poetry is my brother. He reads mine and I read his, plus his song lyrics. You could join a writing group and while everyone is using words like ‘defenestrate’, you could go all Shel Silverstein on them. Good times!
@ thedailydish – I definitely don’t write as much poetry as I used to, but it comes in handy when someone ticks me off. One year for my father’s birthday, I wrote him a poem. It’s kind of like those letters that therapists make you write which you never send, except it was way more kickass. Artistic AND vitriolic; life doesn’t get any better than that.
@daffy – Your kids are SO LUCKY. I can just imagine you guys rocking a family poetry night on Fridays. (Imagine William Shatner Voice)
Jimmy, at school…the punk.
What he did really stunk.
Ba-da-ba chikidee-dee.
Sucks to be me.
@ curly – Listen, curly, you are ‘the man’. They are undercover so you can’t penetrate the real ‘them’. That show of arrogant apathy is just a front. They care, curly, they really care!
May 1, 2008 at 3:37 pm
The Deific Comedy of The Universe « Persistent Illusion
[...] had just addressed the importance of writing poetry in Live Your Purpose: Angsty Teenage Poetry. I had referenced the hideous poetry of my younger self, poems where I rhymed “fawns with [...]