Getting Home

Abstract

A collection of poems which handle an intricate sense of place makes up this thesis. I have explored both exterior and interior aspects of what one may consider to be home. Though the writing draws from personal or familiar experiences, these poems inherently resist a narrative or realistic center. They explore something nearer to the unfamiliar and often unrecognized places found in the natural world which I can attribute to a haven or home. There are moments of nostalgia, alongside self-discovery and a range of subjective interests, but even more so, there is an acute treatment of the effects of poetry in providing a working space for the imagination, a place one can easily slip into and live through. That effect, that intention is something closer to what I am after. This poetry demonstrates my attempt to solidify a poetic voice carried not only through the musicality in an expression, but also an inherent life and constitution of this musicality to expose the singular, organic and active mind in each of these poems. In other words, the poetry does not want to reflect an expression or experience, rather it becomes the experience itself. In this manner, one could argue this work has offered a dwelling for transformative experience of poetry unto a place I can call home.