Artwork
- × Paintings
× Photography
× Sculptures
× Videos
Design
Writing
- × Fiction
× Non-Fiction
× Poetry
Contact Info
Existentialism, Romance and Psychology
There are three things all poets talk about: Death, love and the meaning of life. This observation is no less true for Charles Moffat, a Canadian writer, artist and also a prolific poet who lives in Toronto.
In Moffat's poems he frequently uses metaphors or key words to get his meaning across. "Gossamer Lies" for example aludes to the idea that the lies are see-through and the poem itself deals with a tragic suicide of a doctor and how it effected the psyche of the doctor's only daughter.
Moffat's poetic works also sometimes appears in his fictional work, as he is apt at sneaking both poetry, riddles and love letters into his novels and short stories.
He uses the poetry in his fictional work as a narrative device to provide a metaphor for the characters/plot, or sometimes as a riddle pertaining to the plot itself.
Moffat's love letters are also quite poetic, not only because he has studied formal letter writing and traditional love letters, but also because he is a true romantic at heart.
Apparently romance isn't dead. Even his one poem "Romance on a Stick" deals with the topic of whether romance is dead and he even questions whether it can also be a commodity. Would people pay for romance?
His poetry also sometimes compliments his artistic work. For example his painting "Persephone and the Pomegranate" goes quite well with the poem of the same name. Likewise roses, succubi, romance/sexuality also feature in his artistic works.
Moffat's poetic works can be grouped into several categories:
× Existential
× Political
× Psychological
× Romantic
× Whimsical
His existential works frequently deal with life, death, meaning, purpose, suicide (something he is adamantly against).
His political poetry deal more with concepts of patriotism, ignorance, warmongering and power struggles. (Moffat is also a pacifist.) ie. Naked in the Desert
His psychological works deal with largely with men, violence, loneliness, sexual lust and animal magnetism/metaphors. ie. Man's Evil Ego
In Moffat's romantic poetry he frequently uses romantic symbolism, such as roses and dancing. ie. Desolate Roses on Sunswept Gales
Sometimes he just writes whimsical poetry which has no real special meaning beyond saying something simple like thank you. ie. Thanx for the Raisin Cookies
One of his most important poems is The Sumerian Legend of Lilith, a poem which he re-translated from Hebrew because the original translation was poorly done.
Moffat became the Vice President of the Toronto Poetry Club in December 2011, but later left to form the more open and freethinking Toronto Poetry Association.
In February 2012 Moffat published his first poetry book: "a dream of unfettered roses", some samples of which are available below. The eBook for "a dream of unfettered roses" can be purchased on Lulu.com for $6.99 USD. There is also a hardcover version available for $35.99 and a softcover version for $14.99.
