lava

21 September 2022

Thoughts on Biographical Fallacy

Like, here’s the thing, y’all. Poetry is self-expression. I’m no longer seeking validation on this point – nor do I care about anyone’s approval. My poetry, once shared, is no longer my own. In the sharing, it becomes the reader’s. What do you see in it? What emotions or sensations does it evoke in you? What elements of your own life, your own past, surface when you read it?

Please do not commit biographical fallacy by applying what appears in my poetry to what might be happening in my life. At times, my poems may be created in-the-moment from my own life experience, but at other times, they may be inspired by something I read in a classmate’s essay, or saw in a movie, or dreamt about – or, believe it or not, sometimes they’re OLD poems incorporating emotions from long ago. This past week I’ve been neck-deep in my classmates’ writing, and being the insufferable empath that I am, other peoples’ emotions move me deeply. It is what it is.

Do not fret about me when you read my poetry. Instead, take it in, roll it around on your tongue like wine or a cigar or fine cheese, and make of it what you will. Like it or hate it or something in between, but form an opinion on the words/ideas rather than the poet. Please. For the love of all that’s artsy.

Yours truly,

Meg