Lovely and Cheeky / Jan Owen

The Jan Owen we saw yesterday was sweet, quiet, well-spoken and somewhat reserved. Yesterday, she read us one of her poems that she wrote about an old teapot that she couldn’t bear to throw away. She seemed polite and just lovely, the kind of lady you would like to have a sophisticated afternoon tea with. Today, we saw a very different side to Jan Owen. The side that writes cheeky little limericks that contain a fire and wit we didn’t see yesterday. One of her limericks included the expression “crack a fat” which I have not heard in a long time and caused much laughter amongst the audience. Not only is the expression funny and nostalgic, hearing it said by someone so sweet and articulate and knowing that she used it in one of her limericks makes it even better. Along with reading these limericks, Jan also read some French poetry that she has translated and it was absolutely beautiful. The contrast between the translations and the limericks was wonderful to see; poetry can take many different forms. It can be serious, it can be beautiful, it can be lyrical, it can be funny, it can be silly, it can rhyme, it cannot. The possibilities for poetry are endless and Jan Owen proved this with her diverse range of poems.

Seeing these two sides of Jan Owen made me think about the complexity of people and how everyone has many different personalities and traits. If we apply these varying personalities to poetry, we are able to write and explore it in a number of ways. I found this session very helpful in regards to my relationship with poetry. I can write silly things, I can write things that don’t make sense, I can write beautiful long pieces and it goes on. I can write. Poetry isn’t something I should be afraid to create because it can take such a wide range of forms and I don’t have to stick to just one form, I can experiment and play. After all, isn’t that what poetry is about? Playing with words, experimenting, discovering. We did that when we were children, it should continue on. Jan Owen in her diversity reminded me of this.