Carolee Bennett –> poet. artist. crankypants.
Posts that establish and report on writing/poetry goals I set each year.
It’s funny what prior versions of ourselves think and do. Mine not only prayed to the god of sticky dough and wooden spoons but also had very specific ideas of what it was going to mean to be a poet in 2020.
Don’t call it a comeback, but here are my Poetry Goals for 2020, which include generative goals, grant applications, reading projects and visual art. The creative hunger has returned. Let’s eat all the sandwiches!
It is a victory to dedicate yourself to a creative pursuit that, even though it’s pretty clumsy, makes you feel like the kind of human who can access the deep love in the universe… no matter what conditions are like above ground. It’s like finding — and using — a superpower.
I love seeing how other writers get shit done, and so maybe someone out there wants a peek inside my brain. (WARNING: It’s not a very hospitable planet, and you’ll have to provide your own snacks.)
I was totally surprised when I started evaluating progress on my official 2016 writing /poetry goals. According to my mood related to writing in 2016, I believed I’d failed every goal I’d set. Turns out, I totally nailed it.
When I find a phrase, an image or line that shows me something new, I believe in transformation — of the moment, of the object, of the self. And when I put them together into a finished poem, the whole world starts to make sense.
It’s far harder for me tear myself away from my significant other, from my kids, from family and friends when I’m in love with myself and all of them. But when I’m in a funk, I retreat and write.