Being an artist gives a writer much more freedom and creativity than reporting. Writing about feelings requires the brain to return to memories. Creating poetry about a feeling can take the writer anywhere. The same is true if the writer starts with the memory. Writing about a memory requires the brain to associate a feeling with the memory. A poem about a memory can take the writer anywhere. They can move into the future or farther back in time before the triggering event. A poem can move the writer entirely away from the event. One poem can offer all three of those spaces.

People often ask performance poets why they write such sad poems, or worse, offer pity for our experience. Any poet will give the same response. By the time we perform a poem, the healing has begun, no matter how much emotion we display in the delivery. Sharing poetry deepens the cathartic release. Poets validate themselves by performing, no matter how the audience responds. We leave grief, shame, and self-doubt on the stage. We flaunt the power that we find through picking up the pen. No one shares their journal. The feelings stay caught up between pages for the writer to return to time and time again. As an artist, the next poem is always waiting to carry you beyond the words. We can choose to return to a poem, update it, or share it. So many options exist.