Hello everyone I'm Rafael and welcome to the 74th episode of my poems podcast, where I read poems, talk about them, and try to demystify the art of poem writing. 

News bit: This week nothing much happened… There was a huge gym fair for the whole week so it was kind of hard to take the public transports as suddenly you have 20'000 more people, but well I survived.       

This week's poem is called "Sleeping Moe" that was inspired by a drawing made by the very talented liuxiaoyu. The guest poem is called "How come" that was inspired by something he's done to someone else, from http://zenzero541.deviantart.com. Now I'm going to read my poem then the guest poem, I'll talk a bit about both, how I made mine, and a few tips and tricks for those of you who would like to start writing poems but find that too scary or mystical to even dare to try.

Sleeping Moe,

I'm a sleeping moe,

When I start to read,

It's like dreaming,

To imagine myself in another world,

I don't need to have my eyes open,

I just need to read the first sentence,

Then I just continue for myself,

There I can be anyone,

Do anything I like,

Some people find me cute,

I suppose it's because,

When I sleep, I'm happy.

When I had a look at the picture this poem is based on, I knew I had to write something about it, it was just too cute not to. Also it made something resonate in me, and that's always a sign that I have to write something about it. 

Well as always, don't try to make something harder when you have the solution just in front of you. For the title it was obvious that it was going to be the title of the drawing. 

So first the presentation, hello, hi, I'm a sleeping moe, and here is my story. When I start to read it's like dreaming. Well she has a book in her hands and she's asleep, so let's put those two together and make 2 sentences with it. 

Now, what does reading feel like? Or put in another way, what does reading bring you? Well for me at least, it makes me go deep into the world created by the author, and live the story just as if I was part of it. My imagination is crazy active, so I kind of described myself here, that to imagine myself in another world, I just need to read the first sentence, and the rest I can imagine it for myself, and I do that better with my eyes closed, when I'm the most relaxed. 

Well the next paragraph is pretty self explanatory. Just like I said before, I just need the first line to kickstart my imagination. The best part about imagination and dreams, it's that you can imagine being anyone and doing everything you want, isn't that awesome? 

I had to put the cute word somewhere, just because the girl in the picture is just too cute not to mention it. But I thought that she might be a bit shy, so I turned the sentence in a way that showed it. Some people find her cute when she's sleeping like that, just because when she sleep she's happy in her own little world! 

So I chose this guest poem because it seems to have a very big meaning and be very important for his writer, so here it is: 

Why did you leave me all alone 

Why did you leave me to die in this hole

This hole of depression 

Before i sink too far, hear out my confession

I may have defiled your trust 

But I cant see the big fuss

All i did was trick you 

But what do you expect me to do

I needed to know

So please stop your silly show

All I want is one explanation

Before you throw out your condemnation

So is this too much too ask

Is this too hard of a task

        So i ask again

Why did you leave me all alone 

Why did you leave me to die in this hole

This hole of depression 

Now that you have heard my confession

My first impression on this poem was, that it was more like a confession, or something you would like to tell someone, not really a poem.

So it starts with a few simple questions: Why did you leave me alone? Well that one cannot be more classic, that's what every lover is asking himself. Then you have, why did you leave me to die in this hole? Which is a good way to emphasize the first one, and make it much more dramatic. This hole of depression, well I'm not sure if we really needed to have that kind of detail, but it goes to show that sometimes you want to be really clear and detailed on what you're talking about. Before I sink too far hear out my confession, and here I think starts the more story like part where the poemy part fades into the background. 

I might have defiled your trust, well first of all the use of the word defiled, is a very good choice! It's elaborate and understandable by most people at the same time.  But I can't see the big fuss, all I did was trick you. Here the writer gives a question and the answer at the same time, what's the big fuss? Well you tricked her. Then comes the time for the apology, But what do you expect me to do, I needed to know, so please stop your silly show. Asking the person you're talking about how to make things better is a good way to engage with the audience as makes the poem more alive, then obviously the writer wants an honest answer, not a silly one. 

All I want is one explanation, this just repeats what was said in the earlier paragraph, and he wants this explanation before he's condemn for what he did, which is fair. Is this too much to ask, or is it too much of a task, those two sentence really emphasize the will to have an answer so much that it's like shooting it to the stars, it's just that high! 

So after all these explanations, and confessions, he wants to ask again the big question, which is also fair. 

Here taking the same paragraph than the first one, is a good way to clearly show the beginning and end of the poem, just like 2 book stop would do in a library. At the end we really want to know what the girl for which this poem is meant said, and what was her answer, which is good, as it leaves the reader involved. 

This is the end of this episode of my poems podcast, where I read poems talk about them and try to demystify the art of poem writing. Today, look at a book and dream, and when in doubt in a love affair just ask for the answer. Have a great week everyone, see ya!