I Think this is my final version of Poetry Is Jill

[jill stockinger]

I want to thank all of you for helping me with the poem, Poetry Is.

I made a few changes. The major one is dropping that last stanza.  

About the phrase," Pull my hair"-- Teachers have said things like, "Tommy, stop pulling Jenny's hair" in the classroom. (I picture a boy pulling on braids of the girl he likes, 

seated in front of him.)   So  I feel '"pull my hair" is a legitimate phrase.  I did find "pull hair" used several times, versus  using "pull hair out."  Jill

POETRY IS

 

a secret power,

crying out

in the wild,

and I cry out too.

Touched by madness,

I am filled with fire.

Words rise

into the air like flames

as if magic

breathed them entire.

 

I pull my hair

and howl.

Stumbling and cursing,

I rip open my chest and expose

my beating, bleeding heart.

I scream and write,

and write and cry.

 

Poetry is

a secret power

whose touch

of madness

may be a gift;

perhaps not.

 

§  Jill Stockinger

From one website:

What does it mean when you pull hair?

For many people with trichotillomania, hair pulling is a way of dealing with negative or uncomfortable feelings, such as stress, anxiety, tension, boredom, loneliness, fatigue or frustration. May 17, 2022