Hello, Björn here I have been thinking a lot about my poetic voice over the years and how I might tune it. I have found that it is often a good exercise trying to change our perspective when writing poetry (or in prose). Many of us might prefer to write in first person singular or third person singular. We may even have tried our hands at writing from a second person singular.

Today I would like you to try to find a collective voice and writing from a first person plural. I find this very useful, especially if you want to include (or exclude) your audience. Therefore I find it especially good if you write for a cause (political or whatever). My last MTB prompt talked about rhetorical devices and you may want to take a look back and see if you can combine some elements from that prompt as well.

I have found that when writing from a first person plural, it is important to think about inclusion and exclusion. Are you writing to someone, accusing them you might see them as part of “the enemy”, and even if not there might be others that are excluded such as them, and actually any collective need those that are excluded to make sense.

If you don’t want to write explicitly using the pronouns “we”, “us”, “ours” and “ours”, it can be understood that you subtly appoint you as a spokesperson of a collective with other means.

For this prompt I think it would be great if you try to stretch yourself beyond the kind and caring person you are, and be entitled or prejudiced but I think it would be great to think about the audience reading your poem and invite them to your collective.

The collective can also be used in love poetry where first and second (or third) person perspectives merge into collectivity of two.

As for examples of such poetry I had a bit of a struggle to find any, but Mr Google helped me find the poems by American poet George Oppen who lived from 1908 to 1984, and wrote his longest and most recognized work, Of Being Numerous, in 1968, and awarded the Pulitzer prize the year after

It begins… 

There are things
We live among ‘and to see them
Is to know ourselves’.

Occurrence, a part
Of an infinite series,

The sad marvels;

Of this was told
A tale of our wickedness.
It is not our wickedness….

Later he also evokes the others:

We encounter them. Actually
A populace flows
Thru the city.

And thin it’s penultimate part

There can be a brick
In a brick wall
The eye picks

So quiet of a Sunday
Here is the brick, it was waiting
Here when you were born

Mary-Anne.

Indicating that in the end there might be that there is a more intimate collective of a family, maybe seeing the collective is concentric circles.

Another example that is more well-known is John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”

In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders’ fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders’ Fields.

Where the collective is clearly defined as all the dead soldiers. 

So today I would like you to explore your collective, think about who are “in”, and who are “out”, and try your best to set your thoughts into a voice of that collective. 

There are no requirements on form or length, but the poem should be a new one (or the edited version of an older poem of yours). 

Once you have written your poem and posted it to your blog you may join us by linking up in Mr Linky below, you can leave a comment below and remember to read and comment on other’s poems. Remember it is only by reading that we become better poets.