Speaker of the Poem

CRAFT TERM

Oct 26

The speaker of the poem might be the poet, an imagined character, a creature or even an object that plays the role of the mouth piece in conveying the ideas of a poet to the audience.

via LiteraryDevices.com

Example

Excerpt from “My House is the Red Earth” by Joy Harjo:

My house is the red earth; it could be the center of the world. I’ve heard New York, Paris, or Tokyo called the center of the world, but I say it is magnificently humble. You could drive by and miss it. Radio waves can obscure it. Words cannot construct it, for there are some sounds left to sacred wordless form. For instance, that fool crow, picking through trash near the corral, understands the center of the world as greasy strips of fat. Just ask him. He doesn’t have to say that the earth has turned scarlet through fierce belief, after centuries of heartbreak and laughter—he perches on the blue bowl of the sky, and laughs.

Prompt

Play 20 Questions with your speaker. Ask questions that will help you understand who is speaking in your poem or who you want to be speaking in your poem. These can be questions like: how old are you? Where were you born? Who was your first love? How many siblings do you have? What was your favorite subject in school? Do you play sports? What is your biggest pet peeve? What breaks your heart? What heals you? etc…

After you’ve compiled the answers to all 20 questions, write a poem using your answers. Embody your speaker and see if you speaker is embodying you.

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Kris Kaila

is a Queer Punjabi Canadian poet, writer, book reviewer & blogger. Her poetry & nonfiction has been published in The Poetry Lab Resource Center, Harness Magazine, Usawa Literary Review, Salt & Citrus, in three anthologies by Beyond the Veil Press and in a forthcoming anthology by Read or Green Books. Kris volunteers with The Poetry Lab, Beyond the Veil Press and Crow Collective.

Find her on Instagram @krisesque_life | 📚 Read More by Kris