Ophelia's Wayward Muse: The Reawakening

Author's Note & Feedback

Once upon a time, five years or so ago, I published an anthology of poetry called "Ophelia's Wayward Muse." It is mostly a collection of poems about the facets of love, hate, and all emotions in between. The poems are not bad, but they are told through the eyes of someone in that painful stage of life where you move from "Entitled and self-obsessed new adult" to "I looked in the mirror, and my mother's face looked back."

That's the thing about poetry. It has a gift for reflecting the story of time passing by.

When you are 19, your 13-year-old self makes you cringe. When you are 26, you want to slap your 19-year-old self around.

Once you hit 30 and your parents and grandparents start dying, your friends need to be home by 10 PM for the kids or the dogs or because tomorrow they promised to take their parents to the farmer's market--- you realise the beauty in every stage of life because it all goes by so fast.

"Ophelia's Wayward Muse: The Reawakening" is a look at the same artist, one with a gift for intelligent imagery and tragic beauty and convoluted emotion, five years later.

Some of my earlier poems, those that did well and won awards and recognition, are included. Many are new works, some specifically written for Wattpad or other contests and challenges.

I am not a fan of poetry with a rhyme scheme, as a general rule. While I have some Shakespeare and Browning committed to memory, I prefer the lack of restraint provided by free verse. Lack of restraint generally means a person will create an individual set of rules and find their voice. It interests me to see what people choose to do with endless possibilities and a blank sheet of paper.

As such, almost all my poems are free-verse. There are occasional exceptions.

The theme of this book has a lot to do with the strength and empowerment of women, tearing down the false ideals, and humanising what has been objectified. Not that it matters, but I am a socially liberal person by nature. I'm sure my own feelings on things such as politics and religion sneak into my poems, but I try to keep it to a minimum.

Many of these poems are autobiographical, but compare my own experiences to female figures from art, literature, mythology, and music. Someone asked if I was a college-educated or artistic type.

Yes to both. It doesn't mean that you will not enjoy my poems if that is not you.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself a bit. I recently did a contest where this collection of poems received 2nd to last in the scores, and given a 43/100. I was so hurt by this unexpected response, I have not entered this collection into a contest since.

Oddly, my poems are for those who like to think. It is strange because my prose tends be to geared toward those who like to feel. It typically happens the other way around.

You may notice that if you read my prose, I'll immediately reply to you. I'll talk hidden meanings and literary criticism and advice for writers all day long. However, I think poetry is something very particular to each person. While I'll thank people for their feedback, I'll very rarely explain what I meant by a poem unless someone's taken a very sharp turn into the land of confusion.

If I do explain, it's typically via DM so others can continue to have their own uninfluenced reactions.

I do not appreciate your feedback and reads and votes any less. It's hard for a poetry book to become well-read on Wattpad without a large fan base or putting it out there a lot. Many book clubs don't like poetry, and many contests are used to 15-year-old teenage angst.

Not, of course, that anything is wrong with that.

When I was 15, I was full of angst and confusion. I was Ophelia.

When I was 23, I was the muse, flaunting sexuality and rebellion and wanted my opinions to be everyone's.

Now, I'm just a poet, I'm a dreamer, I'm a lover, and I'm a schemer...

Okay, okay, that song was a bit before my time.

But now, in my 30's, I'm finally the artist. I think it's a good thing to be.

Many thanks to everyone at Rebel_Town !!

Thanks also to the very gifted and good-hearted JJRothschild .

When I first came across her work, it was because of friendly competition in the Vampire/Paranormal categories. It was an honour for someone relatively new to WP to do as well as someone with so much talent, visibility, and experience. The fact she went out of her way to help me with grammar and punctuation on my poems means the world to me.

Thanks also to 8BadBunny8  .

This is a poet who is not only gifted, but full of wisdom, life experience, and a unique openness to life captured via art. I always picture the artists of the 1950's and 1960's, trying to change how society looked at itself via art when we chat. We don't know one another, but sometimes, you just kind of "get" people.

I think 8BadBunny8  ...

is who I will be when I grow up.

Thanks again for helping a humble book of poetry reach 1K in reads, and for all the help, discussion, discourse, and general thoughtfulness. I may not chat in comments like I do on my prose, but it's only because the mystery is half the fun!

*~ Alayna (JadedElegance)