Ode to Imagery and Form

Currently Inspired by:

Evie Shockley's The New Black

Imagery! Imagery! Imagery!

I scream these words at myself constantly whenever I review my creative work. Imagery is one of the most rudimentary elements of literary form. However, my creative writing endeavors have been lacking greatly in this department. My focus, when writing, tends to gravitate towards diction and its manipulation: utilizing wordplay, irony, and allegory in order to convey and negotiate particular thematic stances.

Form! Form! Form!

To be a radical and noteworthy force within the poetic community, one must take a number of liberties when creating their poetic form and style (poetic signature). Readers of poetry have increasingly become more fascinated with the mutation of classical form through the development of modern modalities and interventions, as well as contemporary formal aspirations. However, similar to imagery, I seem to continually overlook form.

---

Therefore, I shall be dedicating this summer to the exploration of creative license: 
my creative license. 
A goal of mine shall be to create a number new 
pieces, or work on revisions of old works, which will reflect my 
attempts at intervening in my own creative stagnancy. 
I wish to ensure that my form and tropes reflects the historical, 
social, and political context and content of my work. 
I wish for my rhetoric to be considered worthy.
Part of this 
will include doing lengthy research on the multitude of forms that 
currently exist and how writers use them; 

on the other                                                                          hand, 

this process 

will also require me to experiment with                                                                                       fo-

rm 

in 
my 

own 

individualized way. 

(poetic) stanzaic reform
allowing me 

to mirror what i see,
to digest it
--test it,
convert it,
 transform it.

(poetic) stanzaic reform! (poetic) stanzaic reform! 
(poetic) stanzaic reform! (poetic) stanzaic reform! 

I will either work on a new piece or a revision everyday. 

INTRINSICALLY, I simply am endeavoring to 


overcome 


overt obstinacy,  

the most difficult challenge I've faced 

as a literary artist. My triumph shall considerably 

improve my work, as well as my understanding 

of the creative writing process. I am confident 

that once this is achieved, regardless of the esteem 

that my writing does/does not evoke, I will consider 

myself a successful creative righter. 

These are my artistic shortcomings.
Lets see how this goes!

That something great...

Remember when I said I was working on something great...
That will possibly be in french?!?!

Well ....
Here is a little snippet of my current draft.

Inspiration:
P.O.V of the Low Clergy during the French Revolution ("Les yeux du "high clergy," du "proliterate," et du bourgeoisie est tres froids.)
**Excusez-moi pour mon francais; je parle le francais un peu!**
More edits/revisions to come.

Photography: The Importance of the Art

For a length of time, I’ve always thought the main purpose of photography was simply to express oneself artistically.  This way of thinking has changed recently though.  While I still believe this is true, I now believe that photography is more importantly a means to capture the most beautiful, memorable, thought provoking, and emotionally captivating images.

My mood has not been that great these past couple of days; I have been in a rut of sorts.  Nostalgia and longing controlled me, and it wasn’t until I began looking at some of the beautiful pictures that I have taken that I realized the gravity of my entire situation.  I was upset about a situation that I truly should not have been distressed about.  Dwelling on a negative occurrence is not good at all, and I was doing just that.  My inability to look past one of my darkest moments was putting a toll on me, but after looking at the pictures, I realized (once again) that the most important things in life are the moments that make everything worth whatever hardships I have to endure.  Essentially, it's the beauty of the world.

Reveling in the beauty of the world is quite easy because I have captured it; I have made it my own; I have preserved it.  Perhaps I’m generally just a sentimental person, but every time I look at the photos, feelings of euphoria rush over me.  I tend to find beauty in a lot of different aspects of life.  I have pictures of people, landscape, cookies, cars, clothes, beer cans, memories and so much more, and all of these photos  provide me with joy.

This way of thinking about photography may be normal for most people; however, it is a new discovery for me.  I hope it is promising and works in the future.  I know I will most likely return to the rut that I was just in, but hopefully, my photography can help me through it again.  Perhaps my photography can also help others as well.  It is a dream of mine for others to see the beauty that exists in the world and to learn to appreciate it.  If my photography can positively affect at least one individual, I can die happily :D

-Caleb A. Deveraux