Repressed Memories and Poetry

Repressed material is one that has been prevented from surfacing into our conscious

minds by inhibitions that we have undergone in our childhood. Everyone experiences

repression. Analogically, repressed material can be compared to the frustrations

that we undergo in everyday life and which, as healthy adults, we can cope with

creatively. Poetry, in general, and depth poetry, in particular, transforms repressed

material into metaphors, metonymy, and other symbolic tropes by figurative language.

Introspection and relaxation techniques like meditation and conscious rhythmic

breathing, etc. can help us retrace our repressed feelings and thoughts

to transform them into poetic tropes. The creative process, closely linked

with language and our relation with language, relieves our anxiety linked

with repressed material so that we can establish a stronger and healthier

relation with the world, with our wishes and aspirations.