What I’ve Learned

This past weekend I finished a six week project mentoring under another poet. It’s been a great way to stretch myself beyond that point of complacency that sometimes creeps into our routines. The were a number of things that I learned or relearned in come cases.  Just off the top of my head, a few of them that readily come to mind:

• I have a lot yet to learn.

• Political poetry is best pulled off with subtle political tone and greater narrative.

• I can look to other poetry for ideas and examples as to how others have used poetic devise.

• Cut, cut and cut again if you can.

• Look for fresh & unique ways to show with my writing.

• It's all right to write about simple things.

• Beginnings and endings should both be strong.

• The middle of the poem still has a job to do... remain interesting enough to hold the beginning and the end together.

• Manuscripts are pieces of art in themselves.  Not just a collection of 30 to 50 poems...  they need a connective thread to establish some relevance, one to another.

• Write daily.

• Write daily even if what you are writing sucks.  It won't improve by not writing. 

• Read lots of poetry.  Learn from other's mistakes and successes.

• Improve my work ethic, but don't take myself so seriously that I don't enjoy what I'm doing.  Even if it gets frustrating at times.

• Even dead poets speak wisdom. 

• Look for the musicality in your verse. Work to improve this. 

During this period of time I’ve had exposure to a lot of poems from six different poets. A wide spectrum of topics. Many ways of approaching the art.  Fresh ideas.

I feel like I’ve had my battery recharged!

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Please Be Advised

In case there is any question, this blog is a weapons free zone.  Please check your side arms before entering.

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The attack of ideas….

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago”~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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Loose Women

This morning I rolled over and looked at the clock and discovered it was 5:40 a.m. and my mind on weekend mode thought that at 6:00 a.m. I could listen to New Letters on the Air. That was pretty good for that hour of the morning. However, my eyes pulled their shades and I next looked at the clock at a quarter past six.

Lucky for me, my Zune was close at hand and I switched it over to fm radio mode and it was already on KCUR 89.3 FM.  I was able to catch Angela Elam and her guest for the show this morning, Sandra Cisneros.  The fifteen minutes of programming that I heard did manage to hear was a really insightful look at Cisneros and how she views her own creative process. These programs are ultimately available in podcast form and when this one is posted I’m making a mental note to myself to make mention of it again and post the podcast link for others that may want to listen to it.  If interested, you could check with your own NPR station and see when they air it, because not everyone gets them at the same time.

On thing I was fascinated about was a series of poems that she wrote and were ultimately published under the title Loose Woman. What was of interest to me was that these poems were never written with the intention of publication in mind. She talks a little about the freedom that gave her in writing them.  She did, over a period of time read a few of them in public readings and people were coming up to her afterwards and asking what Book or Journal had they appeared in, where could they get a copy. She would tell them she’d be happy to mail them a photocopy of the poems but they were not available in print anywhere. After this persisted for a while, she decided perhaps she should give them to her agent and see what they could do. Hence, Loose Women.

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Warm Apple with Crispy Oatmeal & Brown Sugar, a sprinkle of Cinnamon – and Vanilla Ice-cream

When I walked out of the building Friday afternoon at the end of the work day it was just gorgeous. It was the kind of weather you just want to Xerox so you can enjoy it every day.  I appreciate these kind of days. It was bight and mostly sunny but the air was cool – a perfect pre-fall day.  It put me in the mood for Apple Betty a-la-mode.  Of course It didn’t hurt that earlier in the day I read a blog post about it.  I knew I’d think about it all weekend, so when Kelli posted three “Apple Brown Betty” recipes today, I had to get domestic and make some. Cathy had gone into her office today and so when she came home, Walla!  I made the second recipe which worked really well. I do think it could use a little more of the batter, but the flavor was perfecto!

Off to do a writing session. The night isn’t getting any younger you know.

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Bright Star puts Sexy back into Poetry

I know it’s a period piece, but the reviews circulating in print this week are calling Bright Star a hit…  it lets us rediscover the thrills of poetry, played with mesmerizing vitality and heart-stopping grace by Abbie Cornish and exhilarating, and deeply pleasurable.

Bright Star is the story of the intense love affair between the young poet John Keats and his younger neighbor, Fanny Brawne.  Their story is a love story of non-traditional sorts. Keats after all, is an impoverished writer who has contracted tuberculosis. Their love is never consummated, and Keats will ultimately die at the young age of twenty-five. His love for Brawne inspires some of his greatest poetry.

You can check out the official movie site here.  I’m anxious to see this movie.

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Off the beaten path..

As I sat down to write last night, I went to an epigraph I lifted from another poem that I had thought about for a while and started to write. Beyond the fist line of my own (not the epigraph) it stopped working. I tried forcing it. The old I’m going to pound this square peg into the round hole if it’s the end of me method of writing. Well, it was the end of me writing anything worthwhile for the evening. It ended badly as these things usually do when I’m in that mode of operation. I become a poet wondering in the desert. Lost.




Perhaps the poet will find his way back onto the page today.