Honesty and Poetry by Sheli Ellsworth essence, whittling away the cumbersome burden of articles, pronouns and tenses. What drives newspaper editors insane gives the poet wings. While traditional prose paints the entire film version and sets up sequels, poetry merely offers a glimpse. Ms. Raab suggests that beginning poets write letters in poetic form. Not necessarily to be mailed, but to be savored. Write from the heart, something you might never ÒsayÓ to someone in an actual letter, to unburden yourself. Give yourself a chance to use elemental words without explaining them to death. ÒThink more along the lines of emotion, image and music,Ó she suggests. Ms. Raab also recommended The Poets Companion by Adonizo and Laux. An accomplished journalist, Ms. Raab, in response to questions about memoirs, explained that they maintain the arc of fiction but with genuine characters and real situations. She suggested reading quality memoirs like: This Boys Life and AngelaÕs Ashes. According to Raab, successful memoirs, unlike autobiographies, are a Òslice of someoneÕs lifeÓ that has both theme and focus. She also intimated that honesty in memoir writing is the Òtruth as you know itÓ and writing without regard for the consequences is its own reward. April was Poetry Month, and two talented poets spoke at our general meeting. Diana Raab, memoirist, poet, and author, invited us to pen our own poem; and VCWC member and poet Virginia Hutchinson allowed us a peek into her upcoming poetry book, Tracks in Snow. Virginia has been writing poetry since her childhood and shared with us that much of the inspiration for her poetry stems from being a victim of child abuse. Like a rose, VirginiaÕs poetry has both petals and thorns. Her ability to weave beauty into images that are sensual and compelling inspired the artwork included in her book. It promises not only to be an eloquent read, but is aesthetic in presentation. Diana Raab quickly confessed her poetry of choice is written in a narrative style, because she simply isnÕt good at rhyming. I suspect that this talented writer could write anything she put her mind to. However, poetry of this style liberates its master, allowing him or her to use the other 499,999 words that donÕt rhyme with Nantucket. Both poets agreed: poetry should be written from the heart. With poetry we can pare down to the