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Margaret Alden is a writer from New Zealand who has been writing poetry for years. Her poetry has recently been published through Triond on AuthSpot. Her work covers a broad scope of topics from “ecstatic joy” to “dark depression”; and from “the secular” to “the spiritual”. Her writing will interest a broad spectrum of people – even if not all poems will interest all.
One of her goals is to be a bit unpredictable with her writing, so that the reader who follows her work as she creates it will never know just what she will come up with next.

Margaret Alden on Triond

Is unpredictability important to you?

Unpredictability is a critical component in surprising your reader. You have to capture your reader’s attention firstly with a title and secondly with the first couple of lines. If the title and the first couple of lines are unpredictable you are going to entice your readers to continue reading. You have to capture their imagination quickly and  use your juicy imagination so that not only will they come back for more, but they will be advocates for you, and recommend that others read your work. After all, it is not what you know, but who you know. You have to give them something to come back for.

Psychedelic Moss
God’s Glory clearing one’s soul

Do you write poetry with a purpose?

One of my aims as a poet is to uplift people, and at the same time provoke and challenge their thought processes. I am not afraid to tackle subjects that other writers might be cautious about. I want to leave my readers with something to masticate on. Where possible I like to approach the subject of faith in a way that is non-threatening.

What would you say are some of the more provocative subjects you have covered in your poetry – since publishing through Triond?

I would say: cutting – self harm and some of my ecstasy poems – in particular “Stroke My Butterfly” (erotic).

The Next Cut is the Deepest
A quest to relieve mental anguish.
Stroke My Butterfly
An erotic poem