Interpretation

Interpretation is funny. We all see things in different ways. I have never liked to explain my writing. I don't like to analyze it, I don't like to discuss it. I think the sign of a real good piece of writing is it lends itself to various interpretations. A writing that can be used in different ways for different people is magic. Like music. A song can mean one thing to one person and a total opposite thing to another. That's a good song. It can evoke different emotions in different people. Something that doesn't just sit there and mean nothing to the reader/listener. Meaning is important. But, with the power of interpretation, we can misread things. Or, more to the point, read more into it than is actually there.

I'm rambling. My point is I don't usually like to explain my writing. However, due to some misunderstandings, I feel the need to clarify the subject of a couple of my more recent poems ("I Could" and "Falsehood"). These poems were written with King George Bush in mind. They were intended to express my distaste for his "presidency" -- Nothing more. It was not about anyone in my life. I do not write negative poems about people in my life. Sometimes I write poems for friends, but, rarely, about them.

This does, however, make me wonder what people must be thinking of me. A friend pointed out that the poems could have been about her. I can completely understand where she got that from, but she was wrong. I wonder if people think I'm just out there "trash talking" -- I'm the "trash talker" of Tennessee. I don't have the time to write negative poems about people in my world, because if I have anything negative to say about them, I'll tell them. Lately, I've been holding back a little bit (people only get about 89% of the whole story), but that's a subject for a later blog, I suppose.