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Poetry from Daily Life: Muhammad Ali could float like a butterfly. Your poem can, too

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Poetry from Daily Life: Muhammad Ali could float like a butterfly. Your poem can, too

Allan Wolf
 |  Special to the News-Leader

My guest this week on Poetry from Daily Life is Allan Wolf, who lives in Asheville, North Carollina. Allan discovered the power of writing when he was 12 years old and began to write on his bedroom walls. His favorite genres are poetry and nonfiction. One of his favorite book projects has been “The Day the Universe Exploded My Head,” a collection of poems about the solar system that allowed him to explore his love of space. Allan is the inventor of poggling, which combines the recitation of poetry with juggling. ~ David L. Harrison 

Connecting our world through metaphor

Let us start with a little poetry joke, shall we?

Q: What did the poet say to Luke Skywalker?

A: Metaphors be with you!

As a poet by profession as well as avocation, I have adopted this punchline as the guiding mantra for my life. “Metaphors be with you” is a poet’s way of saying namaste, shalom, or peace out! But to me, it is more than just a clever play on words. I believe that people who see the world through the lens of metaphor are more in tune with the interconnectedness of things.

The two magic ingredients of metaphor are connection and comparison. Poets see ways of connecting things that are traditionally unconnected. A boxer is not a butterfly. A boxer is not a bee. But a boxer can certainly float. And a boxer can certainly sting. No one would ever mistake Muhammad Ali for a butterfly or a honeybee. And yet poetry uses metaphor to show us how they are connected and what they have in common.

Try it yourself. Practice walking through your world in search of metaphorical connections. How can the tree in your yard be an old man? How can the toaster on your kitchen counter be a hungry volcano? Bonus points for making personal connections. For example, what do you have in common with that tree growing in your yard or that toaster waiting on your kitchen counter? How are you like the bookshelf in your living room? Do you hold knowledge, too? Are you sturdy, tall, deep, or dusty?

Try keeping a list of all the connections that you find. Maybe even turn one or two of them into a poem. My poem, “Metaphors,” compares a poem to sparkling fireworks, a loud rocket, a quiet bloom, and a secret room. I even compare a poem to myself.

So, what are you waiting for? Start looking for the many connections that make up your world. And metaphors be with you!

Metaphors

A poem can be a rocket (zoom!)

that I can ride beyond the sky.

A poem can be a secret room

where I can watch the world walk by.

∘

A poem can be bright fireworks (boom!),

all whoosh and zing and sparkling fun.

A poem can be a quiet bloom

who turns her face to drink the sun.

∘

A poem can be a mountain ridge

that lifts me to a wider view.

A poem can be a sturdy bridge

that leads the way from me to you.

∘

A poem can be a zoom, a room,

a bloom, a bridge, a boom, a zing.

A poem can be just like me, too.

We both can be so many things.

◆◆◆

Allan Wolf is the author of poetry collections, picture books, and young adult verse-novels, including “No Buddy Like a Book,” “How to Tantrum Like a Champion,” and “Behold Our Magical Garden.” He’s also a performance poet who travels the world presenting poetry to audiences of all ages. To find out more about Allan Wolf, go to www.allanwolf.com or just Google him.

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