Sentimentality Hit List

Posted on January 21, 2005 in Originality & Creativity

The poets among you may wish to make a meme of this or just make your own version. Over the past few weeks, I’ve noted that there are certain words/images that crop up too damn much in poetry. I hear them in others and I hear them in my own. So I have made a list of them and made a not-so-strict oath to avoid their use:

• sun
• moon
• stars
• journey
• blood
• fire
• ashes
• heart
• nakedness
• darkness
• blackness
• scream
• sea
• ocean
• ex-girlfriend
• dead
• death
• hurt
• pain
• wound

I doubt that I have hit all the words. What others do you feel make for sentimental writing? Are there words on my list that you feel have been unfairly singled out?