This chapter is all about imagery, and how potent, sensual, and alive it can be. It reaches the reader through the five senses, pulling up memories like old photographs tucked in a drawer. Addonizio and Laux call this the magic of poetry, “a reality so real it’s like being alive twice.” I love that idea–the feeling of reliving a memory–because it’s what makes us human: the ability to feel, to remember, to carry fragments of the past into the future. It makes me think of déjà vu, those fleeting moments when you sense you’ve been somewhere before, inhaling the aroma of fresh bread or the crisp scent of autumn air, brushing your fingers over the soft fabric of a worn sweater, or tasting the sweetness of a long-loved treat. You can’t explain why it feels familiar, yet it resonates deeply, already etched in memory. That, to me, is poetry; that is its magic. Through imagery, a writer can illuminate what burdens the reader, make their emotions tangible, or convey meaning without spelling it out. As the book points out, moving from the literal into the figurative allows the writer to articulate feelings in ways that words alone sometimes cannot. T.R. Hummer’s ‘Where You Go When She Sleeps’ exemplifies this, painting scenes with imaginative, sensory language that lets readers inhabit the world rather than merely observe it. I love how this creates a sense of unity, a flow between writer and reader, where experience becomes shared, almost alive in both minds. Addonizio and Laux explain that this is when a poem transcends its lines, and it becomes an experience. The reader doesn’t just witness the poem, they live it. There’s something profoundly collective about that. The way shared memory, sensation, and imagination can connect us. And for me, that is the heartbeat of poetry: a living bridge between writer and reader, past and present, self and other.
The text in this chapter seems to describe the ideas of imagery and how looking at a simple photo can trigger your idea box. Images can stay in your head after you look at them, and something the authors mention and make a comparison to the idea of the five senses. In particular, they mention the idea of someone using a cup of coffee to describe the color, scent or taste of it, but to remind all poets to be mindful of keeping all five senses at bay. Images are not just something you see, they are also much deeper than that. The author suggests that a poem is something to feel, something to smell, something to taste, etc. It appeases all five senses, not just the individual thought of the reader. Imagery is a conductor, and your imagination is the train. Another thing I noticed was when the poem “Oranges” was displayed towards the end of the chapter. The author of the chapter mentioned that the poet displayed the orange on a gray sky backdrop as a way to make the orange pop. Color schemes can represent so much about a poem and its tone. For example, blue can represent sorrow, black can represent melancholy, red can represent anger and orange can represent wonder and beauty. Color palettes can usually be what constructs an image, and the imagery is what constructs the mood or tone of the poem. Basically, images are not one dimensional, and they are not just for your eyes, and I think every poet should remember that when they go to write their next poem.
This chapter offered a lot to think about regarding the role of imagery in poetry. One of the most interesting points was how images aren’t just visual details, but they also carry symbolic and emotional weight.The authors’ discussion of how images in poetry work not just as decoration but as the central mode through which emotion, meaning, and sensory experience are conveyed. They emphasize that an image has to do more than be pretty, it must surprise, evoke, and ideally connect the abstract with the concrete in a way that feels fresh. The idea that good images often come from observations in unexpected places, not only nature or grand scenes, but also in everyday objects, small moments, things one might overlook. That notion gives permission to pay attention to the mundane. I liked the idea that a strong image can ground an abstract idea and give it real emotional force. What I found particularly helpful was the advice to let images really do something. Rather than just sit passively in the poem. I also appreciated the reminder to avoid cliches, to reach beyond the obvious and look for surprising or overlooked details in everyday life. One thing I’m still curious about is how to balance originality with clarity. How far can you push an image before it becomes confusing? The authors also mention that an image needs to “live” in a poem, I’d like to better understand what makes an image truly n necessary instead of simply decorative. What separates an image that lives from one that just decorates? Is it fully about its relation to the rest of the poem (theme, voice, etc.), or are there more formal metrics (tone, rhythm, placement) that distinguish living images? This chapter definitely made me want to pay more attention to images used in writing, both by myself and others.
I find the discussion about color in “Oranges” very interesting, in particular the likening to a visual artist’s methods. I’ve heard of colors being described as “hot” or “cold”, but I don’t believe I’ve heard much of this technique of putting colors together to accentuate others in the art world, let alone any consideration that words could have a similar effect. It opens my eyes a little to using color in my poetry more often.
I really liked this chapter. Imagery is one of my favorite things about poems, I love when I can clearly visualize a version of what is happening. It takes me deeper into the poem and allows me to appreciate it and the poet better. The first poem was very interesting to me because it is a poem about love, but it goes to a very dark place. I feel like the imagery of a violent fall was pretty accurate to falling in love with someone. I feel like using something that is generally pretty opposite of what you are writing about and using it to write about your topic is incredibly interesting. It makes the poem more complex emotionally and linguistically. I also liked the concept of “Never ask a question you can answer”. The second poem was my favorite. I thought it was really interesting how the poet used color descriptors to make the orange stand out. I didn’t realize they did that until after, when I was reading the paragraph that follows and it was mentioned. I knew that the orange was sticking out, but I wasn’t sure why. So that was very cool.
There were many helpful things in this chapter. Advice was given, “poets need to keep five senses on continual alert, ready to translate the world through their bodies, to reinvent it in language.” I also liked the quote by Richard Hugo, “Never ask a question you can answer.” I think that even the simplest poems are still mysterious because of the meaning they hold for the poet who wrote it. The reader will never fully grasp that meaning, leaving all poems a bit of a mystery. The best poems leave you thinking and lingering on the words for moments after you’ve finished reading. As it was said in this chapter, one should make their poetry “become an experience for the reader.” Visualization isn’t always automatic for me when I’m reading, I often forget it’s an option. However, the poems included in this chapter made it so easy to visualize the words on the page. They’re great examples of how to create that experience for the reader.
This reading states why imagery is such a powerful sense. They are related directly with memory and the reason why we respond to memories in such a visceral way. It is interesting to me that within poetry imagery consists of the five senses. They can translate the world through our bodies and put senses into language. When this happens one can experience something and years later probably miles away someone can experience that same thing. When you are using imagery you want to be as specific as possible, use physical details and you can do this in a metaphorical way. For example, if one says “her hair glimmered in the light, it was gold” this doesn’t actually mean that she has gold hair.
I thought that the example of going to the movies was very helpful. When you first sit down in your seat you are aware of the people around you. Someone eating popcorn, talking too loud, and even entering through the door. You notice the screen doesn’t fill up the whole room and there is black space around it. But, as the movie starts and you get pulled into the world, emotions, and stories everything else starts to fall away and you are now a part of that world.
The quote said by Robert Hass, “Images haunt”, really stuck with me and made me sit with my thoughts. Which in a way, proves his point. Images stick in our heads for some time as we perceive them. The concept of imaging haunting someone in a poem can be seen from both ways, that being, the narrator and/or the reader. I appreciate how as the chapter’s focus is imagery, the text is full of very detailed descriptions to haunt the reader as they read along. The chapter compares how going to the movies is “like being alive twice”. I see it as an escape from reality but I’ve never looked at it like that before. After doing so, I’d have to say I agree. The use of color can really make a story pop. Images can be perceived as not always visual because they aren’t always. An image can be something you picture in your head as you read a description. Or even sound. The more sense of image created in your story-telling poem, the more experience you are giving the poem. The goal of a poet is to make the reader picture your words. When an image is doing its job right, it has the ability to direct the reader towards insight. The importance of story-telling is quite literally telling the story. It’s a matter of doing it right. There’s no story without description. If not, you are simply just spitting words at the reader. The use of verbs, adjectives, personification, etc, is what brings the story to life. The author suggests you pay close attention to your surroundings, auditory and visual to incorporate them into your poem. She also emphasizes on the fact that in a poem everything will fall into place—tie together in some way.
The main idea of this chapter was to give the reader a better idea of what imagery means in the context of creative writing, and how invoking strong imagery can help to strengthen a piece of writing. Specifically, in using all five senses, and translating those feelings into language, the writing should evoke a much deeper connection with the reader which will enhance what they read. This doesn’t exclusively apply to poetry either, as imagery as a big theme in many of the creative writing courses that I’ve taken, whether it is creative nonfiction, creative fiction, and my poetry analysis class that I took last semester.
One of the more interesting, and impactful parts of this excerpt from the book came at the end of the chapter, wherein the author writes something to the effect that a poem isn’t just something that talks about an experience, but instead, it should be something that is an experience to the reader. Imagery is how we can breathe life into writing, and manipulate language in such a way that the reader actually feels something when they read our writing. In the chapter, the author specifically talks about how reading particularly evocative writing about coffee, for example, might cause a reader to feel as if they could smell the coffee while they’re imagining it. This is incredibly interesting to me, and I’d be curious to learn more about what is specifically causing this neurobiologically speaking. It reminds me of the phenomenon of synesthesia, wherein one of the cognitive pathways (senses) leads to an automatic triggering of another, seemingly unrelated cognitive pathway (a different sense). The author seems to impress upon the reader that there’s someway to stimulate a familiar sensation in a reader, even if perhaps they don’t have this sort of pathway.
Something that stood out to me in this chapter is that imagery is not as simple as making a poem “pretty”. It delves more into using the senses so readers can experience the poems in real time. I definitely found it interesting how the poets put a lot of work into the imagery of their poems. They really found a way to directly connect with me. While I was reading the poems in this chapter, I could almost close my eyes and feel all five senses were being activated at the same time, like I was really there in that moment. I really enjoyed how the poems used all the senses instead of just trying to explain the intellectual feelings of the poet. I thought it was helpful to see how the language of the poems were not just abstract. Instead of being very vague with their emotions, the poets in this chapter created an image that expressed their emotions through physical detail. In my opinion it makes the emotion more immediate and real. I will definitely be trying this form of imagery in one of my own poems in the future. A part of this chapter that left me curious was how the authors used imagery and memory in the same sense. They went really deep to talk about how very specific sensory details are what really grounds a poem. It gives it more authenticity even if the topic is difficult to understand. It honestly makes me think a lot more differently about the way poems can express universal emotions versus my own personal ones. This chapter made me want to deep dive into the five senses more in my own poems. I want to remember what I write down more vividly in my mind without making readers try too hard to understand what I am expressing.
I appreciated this chapter because it gave me a better understanding of how to enhance my descriptions in poetry. While writing can be straightforward, engaging our five senses is a great way to think about how that appeals to the readers. Lines that hold these senses often have an emotional pitch that gives insight into the moment. In my own poetry, I want to practice taking a closer look at the subject and describing details I normally wouldn’t. I believe this will improve the message in my poems and help me practice diving deeper into my message. Engaging my senses in the poem, like using specific colors and connecting words to it will help create a lasting image that’s more tangible. I also want to improve on the creativity of my lines; I feel I’m still holding onto that formal style of writing and struggle with practicing creative writing. I think taking more time when writing and coming back to the project will help with creativity and hone in on describing with the senses.
In this chapter about images, I found the actual description of images interesting. I had never thought about them as anything more than visual before. It makes sense to aim for more than just a visual experience with your writing. I found it helpful that the examples were thoroughly examined for readers. Sometimes I worry about interpreting a poem wrong or missing things and when a poem is used to teach something, I think it can be helpful to truly understand it. I liked the description of colors against a certain background. It reminded me of a discussion I had in a creative nonfiction class last semester; when muted colors are described for a long time, the shock of vibrancy is even more pronounced. I found the prompts at the end of the chapter to be interesting as well. I especially liked the idea of keeping a log of sensations in my own life to use in future writings. I think I will implement that for a while.
I thought that the concept of images being described as haunting was very interesting. The text stated that “We are all haunted by images, both light and dark.”. This idea was new to me as I never thought of fondly remembered images as haunting. The use of haunted in a positive context gave the word more power to me. The unforgettable nature of images makes the memories of them more impactful than other senses. It’s mentioned later in the passage that images aren’t only a visual sense, but connect to all the senses. And as a poet, it is important to access all these senses when describing an image.
13 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 3”
This chapter is all about imagery, and how potent, sensual, and alive it can be. It reaches the reader through the five senses, pulling up memories like old photographs tucked in a drawer. Addonizio and Laux call this the magic of poetry, “a reality so real it’s like being alive twice.” I love that idea–the feeling of reliving a memory–because it’s what makes us human: the ability to feel, to remember, to carry fragments of the past into the future. It makes me think of déjà vu, those fleeting moments when you sense you’ve been somewhere before, inhaling the aroma of fresh bread or the crisp scent of autumn air, brushing your fingers over the soft fabric of a worn sweater, or tasting the sweetness of a long-loved treat. You can’t explain why it feels familiar, yet it resonates deeply, already etched in memory. That, to me, is poetry; that is its magic. Through imagery, a writer can illuminate what burdens the reader, make their emotions tangible, or convey meaning without spelling it out. As the book points out, moving from the literal into the figurative allows the writer to articulate feelings in ways that words alone sometimes cannot. T.R. Hummer’s ‘Where You Go When She Sleeps’ exemplifies this, painting scenes with imaginative, sensory language that lets readers inhabit the world rather than merely observe it. I love how this creates a sense of unity, a flow between writer and reader, where experience becomes shared, almost alive in both minds. Addonizio and Laux explain that this is when a poem transcends its lines, and it becomes an experience. The reader doesn’t just witness the poem, they live it. There’s something profoundly collective about that. The way shared memory, sensation, and imagination can connect us. And for me, that is the heartbeat of poetry: a living bridge between writer and reader, past and present, self and other.
The text in this chapter seems to describe the ideas of imagery and how looking at a simple photo can trigger your idea box. Images can stay in your head after you look at them, and something the authors mention and make a comparison to the idea of the five senses. In particular, they mention the idea of someone using a cup of coffee to describe the color, scent or taste of it, but to remind all poets to be mindful of keeping all five senses at bay. Images are not just something you see, they are also much deeper than that. The author suggests that a poem is something to feel, something to smell, something to taste, etc. It appeases all five senses, not just the individual thought of the reader. Imagery is a conductor, and your imagination is the train. Another thing I noticed was when the poem “Oranges” was displayed towards the end of the chapter. The author of the chapter mentioned that the poet displayed the orange on a gray sky backdrop as a way to make the orange pop. Color schemes can represent so much about a poem and its tone. For example, blue can represent sorrow, black can represent melancholy, red can represent anger and orange can represent wonder and beauty. Color palettes can usually be what constructs an image, and the imagery is what constructs the mood or tone of the poem. Basically, images are not one dimensional, and they are not just for your eyes, and I think every poet should remember that when they go to write their next poem.
The Poet’s Companion (pp. 85-93: “Images”)
This chapter offered a lot to think about regarding the role of imagery in poetry. One of the most interesting points was how images aren’t just visual details, but they also carry symbolic and emotional weight.The authors’ discussion of how images in poetry work not just as decoration but as the central mode through which emotion, meaning, and sensory experience are conveyed. They emphasize that an image has to do more than be pretty, it must surprise, evoke, and ideally connect the abstract with the concrete in a way that feels fresh. The idea that good images often come from observations in unexpected places, not only nature or grand scenes, but also in everyday objects, small moments, things one might overlook. That notion gives permission to pay attention to the mundane. I liked the idea that a strong image can ground an abstract idea and give it real emotional force. What I found particularly helpful was the advice to let images really do something. Rather than just sit passively in the poem. I also appreciated the reminder to avoid cliches, to reach beyond the obvious and look for surprising or overlooked details in everyday life. One thing I’m still curious about is how to balance originality with clarity. How far can you push an image before it becomes confusing? The authors also mention that an image needs to “live” in a poem, I’d like to better understand what makes an image truly n necessary instead of simply decorative. What separates an image that lives from one that just decorates? Is it fully about its relation to the rest of the poem (theme, voice, etc.), or are there more formal metrics (tone, rhythm, placement) that distinguish living images? This chapter definitely made me want to pay more attention to images used in writing, both by myself and others.
I find the discussion about color in “Oranges” very interesting, in particular the likening to a visual artist’s methods. I’ve heard of colors being described as “hot” or “cold”, but I don’t believe I’ve heard much of this technique of putting colors together to accentuate others in the art world, let alone any consideration that words could have a similar effect. It opens my eyes a little to using color in my poetry more often.
I really liked this chapter. Imagery is one of my favorite things about poems, I love when I can clearly visualize a version of what is happening. It takes me deeper into the poem and allows me to appreciate it and the poet better. The first poem was very interesting to me because it is a poem about love, but it goes to a very dark place. I feel like the imagery of a violent fall was pretty accurate to falling in love with someone. I feel like using something that is generally pretty opposite of what you are writing about and using it to write about your topic is incredibly interesting. It makes the poem more complex emotionally and linguistically. I also liked the concept of “Never ask a question you can answer”. The second poem was my favorite. I thought it was really interesting how the poet used color descriptors to make the orange stand out. I didn’t realize they did that until after, when I was reading the paragraph that follows and it was mentioned. I knew that the orange was sticking out, but I wasn’t sure why. So that was very cool.
There were many helpful things in this chapter. Advice was given, “poets need to keep five senses on continual alert, ready to translate the world through their bodies, to reinvent it in language.” I also liked the quote by Richard Hugo, “Never ask a question you can answer.” I think that even the simplest poems are still mysterious because of the meaning they hold for the poet who wrote it. The reader will never fully grasp that meaning, leaving all poems a bit of a mystery. The best poems leave you thinking and lingering on the words for moments after you’ve finished reading. As it was said in this chapter, one should make their poetry “become an experience for the reader.” Visualization isn’t always automatic for me when I’m reading, I often forget it’s an option. However, the poems included in this chapter made it so easy to visualize the words on the page. They’re great examples of how to create that experience for the reader.
This reading states why imagery is such a powerful sense. They are related directly with memory and the reason why we respond to memories in such a visceral way. It is interesting to me that within poetry imagery consists of the five senses. They can translate the world through our bodies and put senses into language. When this happens one can experience something and years later probably miles away someone can experience that same thing. When you are using imagery you want to be as specific as possible, use physical details and you can do this in a metaphorical way. For example, if one says “her hair glimmered in the light, it was gold” this doesn’t actually mean that she has gold hair.
I thought that the example of going to the movies was very helpful. When you first sit down in your seat you are aware of the people around you. Someone eating popcorn, talking too loud, and even entering through the door. You notice the screen doesn’t fill up the whole room and there is black space around it. But, as the movie starts and you get pulled into the world, emotions, and stories everything else starts to fall away and you are now a part of that world.
The quote said by Robert Hass, “Images haunt”, really stuck with me and made me sit with my thoughts. Which in a way, proves his point. Images stick in our heads for some time as we perceive them. The concept of imaging haunting someone in a poem can be seen from both ways, that being, the narrator and/or the reader. I appreciate how as the chapter’s focus is imagery, the text is full of very detailed descriptions to haunt the reader as they read along. The chapter compares how going to the movies is “like being alive twice”. I see it as an escape from reality but I’ve never looked at it like that before. After doing so, I’d have to say I agree. The use of color can really make a story pop. Images can be perceived as not always visual because they aren’t always. An image can be something you picture in your head as you read a description. Or even sound. The more sense of image created in your story-telling poem, the more experience you are giving the poem. The goal of a poet is to make the reader picture your words. When an image is doing its job right, it has the ability to direct the reader towards insight. The importance of story-telling is quite literally telling the story. It’s a matter of doing it right. There’s no story without description. If not, you are simply just spitting words at the reader. The use of verbs, adjectives, personification, etc, is what brings the story to life. The author suggests you pay close attention to your surroundings, auditory and visual to incorporate them into your poem. She also emphasizes on the fact that in a poem everything will fall into place—tie together in some way.
The main idea of this chapter was to give the reader a better idea of what imagery means in the context of creative writing, and how invoking strong imagery can help to strengthen a piece of writing. Specifically, in using all five senses, and translating those feelings into language, the writing should evoke a much deeper connection with the reader which will enhance what they read. This doesn’t exclusively apply to poetry either, as imagery as a big theme in many of the creative writing courses that I’ve taken, whether it is creative nonfiction, creative fiction, and my poetry analysis class that I took last semester.
One of the more interesting, and impactful parts of this excerpt from the book came at the end of the chapter, wherein the author writes something to the effect that a poem isn’t just something that talks about an experience, but instead, it should be something that is an experience to the reader. Imagery is how we can breathe life into writing, and manipulate language in such a way that the reader actually feels something when they read our writing. In the chapter, the author specifically talks about how reading particularly evocative writing about coffee, for example, might cause a reader to feel as if they could smell the coffee while they’re imagining it. This is incredibly interesting to me, and I’d be curious to learn more about what is specifically causing this neurobiologically speaking. It reminds me of the phenomenon of synesthesia, wherein one of the cognitive pathways (senses) leads to an automatic triggering of another, seemingly unrelated cognitive pathway (a different sense). The author seems to impress upon the reader that there’s someway to stimulate a familiar sensation in a reader, even if perhaps they don’t have this sort of pathway.
Something that stood out to me in this chapter is that imagery is not as simple as making a poem “pretty”. It delves more into using the senses so readers can experience the poems in real time. I definitely found it interesting how the poets put a lot of work into the imagery of their poems. They really found a way to directly connect with me. While I was reading the poems in this chapter, I could almost close my eyes and feel all five senses were being activated at the same time, like I was really there in that moment. I really enjoyed how the poems used all the senses instead of just trying to explain the intellectual feelings of the poet. I thought it was helpful to see how the language of the poems were not just abstract. Instead of being very vague with their emotions, the poets in this chapter created an image that expressed their emotions through physical detail. In my opinion it makes the emotion more immediate and real. I will definitely be trying this form of imagery in one of my own poems in the future. A part of this chapter that left me curious was how the authors used imagery and memory in the same sense. They went really deep to talk about how very specific sensory details are what really grounds a poem. It gives it more authenticity even if the topic is difficult to understand. It honestly makes me think a lot more differently about the way poems can express universal emotions versus my own personal ones. This chapter made me want to deep dive into the five senses more in my own poems. I want to remember what I write down more vividly in my mind without making readers try too hard to understand what I am expressing.
I appreciated this chapter because it gave me a better understanding of how to enhance my descriptions in poetry. While writing can be straightforward, engaging our five senses is a great way to think about how that appeals to the readers. Lines that hold these senses often have an emotional pitch that gives insight into the moment. In my own poetry, I want to practice taking a closer look at the subject and describing details I normally wouldn’t. I believe this will improve the message in my poems and help me practice diving deeper into my message. Engaging my senses in the poem, like using specific colors and connecting words to it will help create a lasting image that’s more tangible. I also want to improve on the creativity of my lines; I feel I’m still holding onto that formal style of writing and struggle with practicing creative writing. I think taking more time when writing and coming back to the project will help with creativity and hone in on describing with the senses.
In this chapter about images, I found the actual description of images interesting. I had never thought about them as anything more than visual before. It makes sense to aim for more than just a visual experience with your writing. I found it helpful that the examples were thoroughly examined for readers. Sometimes I worry about interpreting a poem wrong or missing things and when a poem is used to teach something, I think it can be helpful to truly understand it. I liked the description of colors against a certain background. It reminded me of a discussion I had in a creative nonfiction class last semester; when muted colors are described for a long time, the shock of vibrancy is even more pronounced. I found the prompts at the end of the chapter to be interesting as well. I especially liked the idea of keeping a log of sensations in my own life to use in future writings. I think I will implement that for a while.
I thought that the concept of images being described as haunting was very interesting. The text stated that “We are all haunted by images, both light and dark.”. This idea was new to me as I never thought of fondly remembered images as haunting. The use of haunted in a positive context gave the word more power to me. The unforgettable nature of images makes the memories of them more impactful than other senses. It’s mentioned later in the passage that images aren’t only a visual sense, but connect to all the senses. And as a poet, it is important to access all these senses when describing an image.