Oprah Poetry Contest--And Outrage

The Oprah Poetry Contest has got me thinking about the difference between poetic styles. 

My sister writes with hope.  I write with outrage.

I judge.  Point fingers.  Look for failure and injustice and shine a spotlight on it.

Once a professor asked me, "Do you only write poetry when something happens?"

No, but it can certainly set me thinking.  I wrote about the young man who hanged himself in a staff bathroom after spending three days parked in a hospital hallway. 

I write about homelessness. Bad marriages and endings that are also beginnings. 

I write reality.  I don't try to make it nice; I just report it.  Sometimes my anger gets in the way.