Posted by i got pretty far behind blogging about the tupelo 30/30 poetry project… but the poems came first, and the streak is still alive! (despite the snow, despite the dark, despite the ice and rain, despite the hoidays and their demands!)
and something interesting: in writing today’s poem i felt a natural energy and momentum that i haven’t felt with my writing for at least 2 or 3 years. they’re all still first drafts, of course, but that feeling — it’s how a writer knows she’s alive.
here are samples/excerpts from the recent poems:
- poem #21, “how to construct a diorama:” and if there were a way to make the curtains / mimic the real curtains and the way the real wind blows them, / you would. and you would let them hear the music you hear / from the pit band: the horn popping up to catch every off-beat: the joy! the joy! the joy! the joy?
- poem #20, “shedding some light on winter’s darkest day* (an ars poetica):” nine hours, 32 minutes of daylight’s not nearly enough time. / the dog paws at his bowl. / you and i both know it’s empty far more than it’s full.
- poem #19, “2013 retrospective:” there was enough time / to fall in love with a wild creature, each of you wild / to the other. and neither of you strange. and no one afraid.
- poem #18, “fish in the aquarium always want to be fed:” haven’t we always / navigated by iphone, known our place by google map, / turned to amazon for delivery of our blessings?
- poem #17, “december sonnet #14: it comes so close to terribly wrong:” i want to unbalance the tightrope walker, then / catch him in my arms as he gazes at the reason he’s alive./ i want to be someone’s big cat snarl, someone’s death-
defying. - poem #16, “blackbirds baked in a pie:” a messy pile of black / feathers titled by the artist: / in the confusion. there must have been a cat, / we decide
- poem #15, “december sonnet #13: sunday snow removal:” dear god, i am up to my knees / in trouble. and what of penance? just when your / conscience is clear enough to get you to heaven, / which is the highway, the plow or the wind puts more /
in front of you.
make sure to read them in their entirety here and consider donating to support me in the last phase of this poetry marathon!
note: the photo in this post is from the 12/14 “last run” in albany. runners at the start line for the 5K (including me) watch fireworks in front of the capitol. snow. cold. running in spite of. kinda like this poem-a-day challenge: writing no matter what the conditions!