Journal 3 -- Ciera Yamarick

In chapter nine of The Triggering Town, Richard Hugo talked about his role as a poet and the impact that occupation can make. He recalls in the chapter that, 'Here, I am close to poetry's only consistent audience...And teaching gives me a personal satisfaction no there job ever did" (Hugo 109). This really resonated with me because, one, I really admire his love for sharing his talent to other people. Secondly, teaching people about certain things in life through poetry is an authentic and special experience. This can help people learn how to put words to their emotions while other outlets can't fulfill that same impact.  Not only teaching about the subject but writing poems can be a source of information that can help people to become more aware of different topics. The concept of teaching with poetry is really important as it can be used to inform and help people process their experiences.

The first memorable piece of advice that I took away from The Triggering Town was the idea of revision. He really goes in depth into the techniques in his chapter of "Nuts and Bolts", and more specifically he says that "Often you know something is wrong but out of fear or laziness you try to ignore it, to delude yourself that the poem is done" (Hugo 39). As a writer, I tend to write something then stick to it without much editing...which is a poor way of going about things. His encouragement to mess up and fix your work has been a very helpful piece of advice for me, personally. Additionally, his statement of impact that poets hold with their writing gives me another perspective on my role as a creative writer. He says that "One of our privileges as creative writers is that we are vulnerable people who hold jobs in an environment where self-protection is a way of life" (Hugo 55). Poetry is a way to express thoughts that may be too hard to process or be said. It's another perspective in a world of fact and poets have the opportunity to share insight in that world. Revision and learning the role of a poet has helped me the most from this book.


This is also one of my favorite quotes from Richard Hugo.