WORDS Tara Crutchfield
PHOTOGRAPH Amy Sexson
The Lost Words of a Trying Poet My editor sat in a bar across from a new friend a year ago. When she asked about his hobbies, he rattled off a few and added, “...and I write poetry.” That comment sparked a ‘secret poet’ monthly feature in the magazine. Each month since, this private poet has submitted work to be published in the magazine. We’ve heard guesses that this poet was someone on our staff, a local business owner, or a community leader. Haven Magazine’s secret poet, who goes by The Lost Words of a Trying Poet on Instagram, is none other than Austin Tharp.
“You wanted me to wear a bow-tie, and I said, ‘I don’t know…,’” Tharp laughed. “I guess it’s not my style to be ‘out there.’ I write for fun. Every now and then – it’s very rare – I write one for someone, like a friend.” Tharp discussed fellow poet and the beautiful mind behind Orange Blossom Poems (and regular poet in our LKLD Magazine), Dr. Diana Álvarez-Hughes, saying, “I don’t know if I could do what she does because she does a very good job, right there on the spot.” Tharp lauded her ability to see the joy or pain in others’ lives and commit it to paper.
Tharp was born and raised in Winter Haven. The 25-year-old is a financial advisor, co-owner, and Vice President at Aventail Wealth Management. When he isn’t working, the VP likes to travel, read, cook, do CrossFit… and write poetry.
HOPELESS ROMANTIC
A TRYING POET
So, how does the Trying Poet get inspired? “Alcohol,” he laughed. “A lot of it is [written] under the influence.”
“Someone gave me my first poetry book two years ago,” Tharp said. The book was Charles Bukowski’s “Love is a Dog from Hell.” He’s since read about six of Bukowski’s poetry collections. “I like his writing because he really does put it all out there on paper. He doesn’t hold back. He says what he has to say. He says what needs to be said. The world isn’t all sunshine and roses, and he addresses that. I try to stay in line with realism when I write because I feel like being real with yourself can be the most beautiful thing in the world.”
Jokes aside, many of his ideas come to him as he lays in bed. “Something will hit me, and you can’t turn it off. You have to put it on paper, or you’ll forget it,” he said. Tharp keeps notes in his phone and a big red notebook full of poetry.
Inspired, Tharp began writing poetry about a year and a half ago.
“At my age, there is a lot of pressure on you. ‘Are you dating anyone yet? When are you going to get married? How are you single? Do you want a family?’ I hear it constantly. I feel like I use some of my writing as an outlet for some of that stuff,” he said.
As a single guy and self-described ‘hopeless romantic,’ Tharp writes from his experiences. His themes cover “the ups and downs of the dating world [and] the journey of finding your forever person.”
After the conversation with Haven’s editor, Amy Sexson, he decided to create a social media platform for his writings. The name of his Instagram account and what he signs his Haven poems with, The Lost Words of a Trying Poet, is an ode to his year-long anonymity. “These poems I write just come from a nobody, a starving poet, a poet that is just starting. And these are my lost words, the lost words of the nobody poet, the words that I would never have thought to be put out there in public,” he said.
Love isn’t the Trying Poet’s only muse. “Some of it represents just everyday life – how hard it can be on you even if you are the strongest one in the room. It doesn’t matter who you are – even kings have bad days. Some of the poems help remind me to stand tall no matter what. We honestly live in a world that tries to bring you down every day. It can be a close friend, your job, or even a stranger. But in the end, I tell myself to ‘stand up, smile, and don’t stop.’”
“I first suggested he do something like Orange Blossom Poems […], but he was not interested,” said Sexson. - CONTINUED ON PAGE 32 -
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