On writing poetry
I would like to tell you
how I write poetry
Maybe you'll be inspired
encouraged to write some too.
For such a special endeavour
I plan some precious time alone
and bask in the solitude.
The room is tidy
but filled with precious treasures.
Beautiful candles are burning.
Sweet scents gently fill the room.
I relax, into gorgeous velvet cushions
and wait for the words
to start dancing in my head.
Gently I grasp some
as they are floating around.
Slowly I move to my special desk.
Words spill from my fountain pen
filling up space
on precious mulberry paper.
OK
So maybe you have gathered
that is not quite true.
In actual fact
I scribble a few words
on paper just grabbed from the printer.
Mess is surrounding me.
Then just as the pleasure
of a gorgeous line
dances in my head
while I attempt to tidy
I am being called
from the other end
of the house.
"MUM"
And it is gone.
I try to remember.
Will the words back to me
as I dodge toys and hair ties
scattered on the floor
step over dirty washing
while the machine keeps beeping at me.
After attending to the calls
I pass the table once again
A frantic search follows.
I look for some kind
of writing instrument.
Scribble a few words, remembered.
Then cross them out.
Then write them again.
I try to remember too, those lines
that sounded so good in my head
earlier in the day
during meditation.
When I was being instructed to
"return to my breath."
When my thoughts just kept wandering.
When I really wanted
to grab a pen and paper
and record them right away.
For now though
I am pleased.
I have something written down.
There will be time later
for revision and additions.
I am happy to have poetry
as part of my everyday life
both to write and to read.
Maybe for you
it can be that way too.
I wrote this poem in December last year. At the moment I am really craving some extended time alone to write but it's currently school holidays and not likely to happen for a while. So, I have posted this poem here today to remind myself how I write poetry (at least some of the time).
Last Sunday afternoon I spent a few minutes being mindful and photographing some of the flowers and plants in my front and back yards. At some time in the past it seems a keen gardener lived here. I reap the benefits of some beautiful flowers with minimal (almost non-existent) effort on my part. This morning I enjoyed combining the photos that I had taken into this collage using an autocollage program that I downloaded (a trial version, hence the type at the bottom). Plus, here is the photo that didn't really look right as part of the collage.
