Writing Philosophy

I have always loved Walt Whitman's saying, "The great poet does not see men and women as dreams or dots." Much of my work deals with real or created characters. I often write about my own experiences but I've never been interested in confessional poetry. I remember one day hearing a soccer coach call out to his son on the field, "James, be attentive." Perhaps that is the ultimate philosophy for a writer.

I have an intense curiosity about history, art, science, technology, and the oddities of contemporary culture. I've written poems about Victorian engineers like the extraordinary Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, who planned the CPR, and about the analysis of Vermeer's pigments. My forms include the free verse lyric, the prose poem, and the verbal collage.

Bert Almon's works copyright © to the author.