Week 2

Because of a holiday this was a short week, with just one class on Thursday. Due that day were our selected poems from poets.org with the music and rhythms stressed and a poem of our own written in the same style. We read our poems in small groups for the first time, I volunteered to read first to break the ice. We had a discussion about abstract vs. concrete words and then wrote a quick poem, off the cuff, to solidify the idea. We listened to a recording of a blues song to ready us for the homework assignment.

I was impressed with the diversity of selection by my classmates and the way that they fearlessly took on some very difficult materials. I tried to stick closer to something that had obvious music. Writing in general has always been difficult for me. I can't put words on a page until they are perfect in my head, which makes for a slow and tedious process. This turns into a huge problem when asked to do "off the cuff" work in a short time frame. I don't seem to complete a whole line while others have five or six. I just finished up my Blues poem which actually went pretty well in the writing. That is not me claiming it is good, just that the process wasn't too painful. I stuck to the basic format outlined in class, more like a blues song. The readings were a bit more fancy, more developed, more poetic. I loved the reading out of MYOD, particularly the last stanza. It read something like "Goin to the Mountain with a razor and a gun, Goin to the Mountain with a razor and a gun, I'll cut him if he stands still, and I'll shoot him if he runs". What a great picture that paints in my head.

So far, I haven't felt terribly inspired when writing poetry. Even when I have inspiration I feel like I'm just trying to rhyme words and fit the correct amount of syllables. Its more like trying to put together a gig saw puzzle of some Picasso work rather than painting the Sistine Chapel. In the end, when I'm looking at a finished product, I don't feel that I was true to what initially inspired me. I think this gos back to the writing process, for me, and the length of time it takes me to put words to paper. I think if I worked on these poems for days and weeks and months that I could be more true to an idea, but I admit with a busy schedule I'm trying to rush the process. What does this say to me about inspiration? It takes time and vision but also commitment and hard work. You need to believe in your idea in order to bring it to fruition even when what you've put to paper is devastatingly inadequate and it seems like the words will never come. Passion is just as important as inspiration.