Being a poet is a lifestyle. It is a commitment to being your rebellious, authentic self.

I preach that poetry shouldn’t follow any rules! I hope to inspire others to find and use their voice to tell their own stories.

Of course, it can be fun to write a haiku or a sonnet. It can also be worthwhile playing with rhymes schemes and alliteration. But do not let academic ideals hold you back. You do not need to write certain stanzas in a certain order for it to be a poem. You need only to bare your soul.

A poem to me is when someone deliberately writes or performs words with passion and with the intent to connect. Whether telling a tale of horror, beauty or wonder. Every mundane moment, joyful event or traumatic experience becomes a fairy tale inside of a poem.

Find your story and tell it in your own voice. Some people criticised surrealist painters on their arrival for not following the rules of realism. Some people state that ‘free verse’ is not poetry because we don’t follow their rules either. But why should we? Let’s describe how we feel as we feel it. Connect to yourself first and then to others.

Express yourself!

I wasn’t always confident at all. I have only called myself a poet proudly for the last three years.

I have always written, always daydreamed and always created. Writing stories and lyrics were my main focus. But for the most part I kept them to myself.

Until my wife encouraged me to take my poetry to the local open mic and since then I haven’t stopped.

Finding a community of creative people in and around Colchester lit a fire inside my core. Poetry became my language to breathe this fire!

Unlike stories I did not need a beginning, middle and end. Each poem can tell its own story, in whatever length I feel best. And unlike lyrics I do not need a band, producer or engineer to make them into a finished product.

With poetry I only need me. Well, to begin with. I only need my mind, my heart, my pain, my love.

But then I need you. I need an audience to connect it to. To bounce it off; to inspire, to question, to think, to resonate.

I use poetry to share my philosophies, my hopes, my fears, my dreams and my nightmares.

What would you like to share?

Please write something down after reading this. Anything. First thing that comes to your head. Feel free to email it to me and start a discussion; riccireadart@gmail.com

Earth Man is available in Red Lion Book Shop for £10. I appreciate anyone that supports me.

To see more art of mine and events that I do please reach me on the email above or on my social media @riccireadart (mainly Instagram and Facebook).

Thank you for your time.

-Ricci Read