
No audio today. Iβm not feeling well.
I got an MFA in creative writing with a poetry concentration in 2002. The sonnet form was my favorite to read and write. I loved fitting words into the required form, and it was a challenge I adored. However, I wrote different types of poems, both formal and free verse. Some were even published in literary magazines such as the North American Review (Jan./Feb. 2001, p. 45). It was the first (and only) time I was paid for writing, and I still have the check stub. The poem was published in print, but this is it:
Soloist
Shortly after you lay your head on the pillow and place your left arm around my shoulders,
a concerto of sleep begins. Your breath is accompanied by an orchestra of late-night
traffic: the staccato rhythm drummed by a helicopter flying overhead; the muted notes of a distant train
whistle, like a French horn playing, pianissimo; the crescendo and decresendo of an automobile
passing beneath the window. And I, the conductor, nuzzle against your neck, bringing forth your solo
of murmurs.
This is the best poem Iβve written in my life, in my opinion, but I havenβt written a poem in almost ten years. I tried writing a poem a day in April 2015 during National Poetry Month, but all I came up with was drivel. Iβd begun learning to write fiction, and now itβs like Iβve lost my poetry mojo, though Iβm not sure thereβs a correlation. It probably didnβt help that I stopped reading poetry to study as many novels and short stories as possible.
Iβve become a person who no longer βgetsβ poetry no matter how hard I try. I guess this happened because I stopped reading and writing it. I took a free poetry workshop last April with Regie Cabico, a Filipino-American poet. It was fun, maybe because I didnβt expect too much from myself. Iβd love to resurrect my love for poetry but Iβm unsure how.
Wow! This has me reflecting on what hobbies/passions Iβve given up or lost interest in π€
Thanks for sharing your beautiful and this (for me) unique experience ππ½
I'm sorry that it's become hard for you to love poetry. One of the best ways for me to get out of my writing ruts is to either figure out a way to embody it... or play.
Since I'm mostly a nonfiction writer, I started to play with other forms of writing-- poetry, for me in the form of spoken word and even rap, has been a way for me to fall in love with writing yet again. Maybe a new form of poetry or experimentation-- or even queering genres and forms? Would be helpful?