Recently our own badger posted a poem in which he used the term "packet of crisps".   Badger is a Welshman living halfway across the world.   We are both English speakers.  But no one here in California would ever think of using the term "packet of crisps".  I got it, even though I would have written "bag of chips".   My granddaughter would have written " a Tacquis bag". {Tacquis are a brand of corn chips. The only kind of chips in her world, peppered with Jalapenos, hot and spicy.}  My grandkids have their own "English" language, don't get me started on that.  And texting, ik i♥️u2 translates, "I know, I love you too."  Did you know there are poems written in emojis?

I just finished binge watching 8 seasons of an Australian TV show.  I loved it; it takes place on a cattle station in the Outback.  Lots of horses and cows and having raised both on a much, much smaller scale, I understood the "cowboy" language, right down to methods for castrating calves.  Australians are English speakers.  My paternal grandfather immigrated to the US from Australia in 1902.  My paternal grandmother used to tell me stories imitating his accent and we would laugh even though, she was originally from Cornwall and had an accent of her own.  I have to admit, it took me a couple of seasons before I figured out some of the words they used on the show.   I had to google some.  And there were times when I simply didn't understand whole sentences because of the heavy accent.  We don't have an accent here in California, 😉.  

The photo is my crazy cat Molly, lying on the couch in my den.  My parents would have called the couch a "Chesterfield".  (I'm guessing that was a popular brand name of couches in their time.)  Some might call it a sofa or lounge.  What is it called in your part of the world?    "Den" is my chosen word for the space that flows off from my kitchen. It is the hub of my home.  It could be called a great room or family room but the area is much more than those two terms imply. It is the core.   den=cave, niche, nook, hollow, lair, study, cell, library, sanctum.   My "den" is an area 14' x 30' with two and a half walls.  It is open to my kitchen and partially open to my living room (front room, parlor} and entryway (foyier}.  It contains a dining table and chairs, hutch, two lounge chairs, a couch, an end table, a 40" TV,  2 bookshelves, and my desk.  From my desk, I can see the Pacific Ocean through a large front window and a forest of Redwoods out my back kitchen window.  It is the opposite of a cave, niche or nook. it is open, expansive and light.  But it is my lair, my sanctum, my "den".  Word choices tell us who, where, when and how we feel..

The words we use tell us much more than the language we speak.  They reveal where we hail from, our age, gender, and era. They also carry our feelings toward the subject we describe.  Dialects, colloquialisms, slang, accents, grammatically correct and incorrect language all expose who we are.  We share our lives through our word choices giving our poetry even deeper meaning than the subject we choose.   Next time you read a poem, you might want to investigate, who is the poet?  What more is this poet telling me?  Or when you are writing, are you sharing yourself in your words or choosing to hide behind the "grammatically correct" word or the universal word?

I have a long list of favorite poets many of whom have influenced my writing.   Near the top is Lucille Clifton, African American poet born 1936-2010.  Her writing set me free to open myself on the page.   Before discovering her writing, I was far more conservative in exposing myself through my work. It is something I still work on.   I relate to Ms. Clifton, woman to woman.  Through her work, I have felt the African American experience more than through any other medium.  Unless you actually are an African American I don't believe you can fully comprehend what it all entails. I have felt it through her work.  Her poems are raw, brave, honest, sometimes humorous and always powerful.   

Who is a poet who has influenced you?    How did they reveal themselves through their words?

~~Tinker aka Judi Van Gorder