My name is Joseph Corey, I am a Computer Science Student at BYU. I enjoy writing poetry, reading, and spending time with friends.
Introduction (adapted from my book):
I didn’t think I would write much poetry when I left on my mission, but I came home with a year and a half of emails ending in poems, and many more I’d jotted down in my notebooks. I hadn’t written much gospel poetry before I’d left. Mostly I had done slam poetry or poems written to be songs. I found, though, that the scriptures and the Spirit are full of tons of amazing words and phrases and that the mission is a great place to receive inspiration, including literary inspiration.
I started writing poems when I was in high school, taking as my model the poets which I had read in school. The three I most remember were Shakespeare, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickenson. I wrote mainly in strict meter and verse until I discovered spoken word poetry. Miss Walker, an English teacher at AFHS, would hold a poetry club in her room every Thursday during lunch, and I loved to go and read my poems and hear so many other people and what they could do with words. I think I love poems most because of the ideas and images that can be so sharply sketched out in so few words.
On my mission I mentioned my love of poetry to my mission president, and sent him a couple of my poems, before deciding I would also send them to my family. I started sending one every week, and it ended up being a tradition I stuck with. I even used my poetry in missionary work when I wrote a “Restoration Rap” and “Plan of Salvation Rap” and performed them at English practice. I often used poetry to express something I’d studied recently, a thought someone had shared, a line from a conference talk, or my thoughts about an experience from the week.
When I got home from my mission, I decided to keep up sharing my poetry, and I started this blog. I hope you like it!
