Nine days into my year of writing a poem daily and I'm sensing a pattern about my writing. I pen my poems an awful lot like Randy Newton crafts his songs. There is a hilarious Family Guy skit about Randy Newton "singing about what he sees," that I only know because my husband has pointed quoted it to me numerous times. And yes, I do seem to write most often about things in front of my eyes. In the future, I will try to make sure I'm cognizant of this tendency and seek to expand my topics, but really, we live in such a magical world and people are so amazing, inspiring, and sometimes bewildering, that I can't help but want to capture that awesome in my writing. Or, I guess I could help it and I don't really want to stop.
I'm sure it comes without surprise that today's poem is about a person I saw on the bus ride home. This person was happily engrossed in a often-teased form of entertainment and not giving one fig about it. It really brought to mind one of my favorite phrases to use lately, "you do you." Be loud and proud for what you like even if it's not popular*. And now, I'll share my poem, about something I see because you be you and I gotta be me (whew, this poetry thing doesn't turn off). *Note: statement does not apply to intolerance, hatred, or discrimination.
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I love volunteering. I'm passionate about volunteering. You can tell from the photo above that I'm really, really happy when I volunteer. I think volunteering in our communities is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and for others.
I don't want to get all sanctimonious because why I volunteer is definitely not all altruism. First of all, I'm far, far on the extroverted spectrum, secondly, I truly believe in the ripple effect of helping within your community, and third, there is so much fun to be had when you are performing a meaningful task. So really, my public service announcement is "volunteer to help others in your community and get payback in the form of endorphins, a stronger community, and satisfaction from a job well done." Also, here's my poem. It's Sunday night. My stomach is pleasantly full, and I'm just enjoying some downtime resting on the couch with my husband and cat. In short, I'm feeling pretty great. So I decided to challenge myself in writing a "blank verse" poem. According to the article I read, blank verse poetry doesn't rhyme but rather uses the "da dum" pattern to make "same-length-of-syllables" lines (like doing iambic pentameter but as many syllables as you want). I think I got that right, though readers can feel free to give me direction if my interpretation was faulty. I chose to do ten syllables in each line and definitely enjoyed the challenge and maybe my brain got some exercise out of it.
The subject matter is every home improvement store. I love home improvement shopping. Home Depot, Lowes, Menard's, you-name-it, I would love to go. Appliances, curtains, electrical wiring, flooring, whatever, I want to peruse. It really does pull me in as if I'm in the "twilight-zone." Hence, the poem. Happy Reading! Today's poem is about one of my most favorite places in the universe. Thanks, Lucia, for making a sanctuary.
I was inspired to write today's poem by a topsy turvy Friday. Typically, my Fridays are a heady combination of fun and productivity. I love wearing jeans and comfortable-yet-professional tops to work on my "day-before-Saturday" and am, in general, in a good mood. Today's Friday, however, really tried to get me and I'm happy to report, I persevered!
Soup in the lap, bloody nose in public, and a bona fide work kerfuffle had me fretting. So, I did my usual mode of processing and talked it out. I got some wonderful support and sympathy which called to mind wise words my father says when little things cause frustration. Wise words that encourage perspective on how really good I have it and the realization that all it takes to overcome is some elbow grease. I titled it "Infrequent Friday" because it's rare to have a Friday that challenges me and that's part of the perspective too. I really do live a charmed life. A few weeks ago I had an unsettling incident which was the theme for my poem today. As I was waiting for my bus one day before the holiday, I was punched in the head by a stranger who was obviously suffering from mental health issues. It was definitely a shock. At first I agonized over what it was about me that attracted his violence. I kept going back to that thought, until I realized that this wasn't about me and that I can't change how I go about in the world because of it, other than to raise my awareness. Coincidentally, the book I'm currently reading is the incredible disaster analysis book, Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley, which helped me frame the assault by stranger in a different light. She talks about people experiencing disassociation or freezing when they should be taking action as a natural response to fear, and that's what I felt I did. Froze.
She also talks about what can be done to overcome that paralysis and how to prepare for next time. Which is exactly what I'm doing, gleaning all the lessons from my experience and other great resources so that in the next situation I'm ready and aware. Without further ado: I'm not sick of the challenge yet. I wrote today's poem in a cozy seat on a warm city bus on my commute out of the city. I reached that place of writer's zen and lost awareness of the world around me as I took my mind back to the experience I was trying to capture, teaching my first vinyasa yoga class to people who aren't family. Now, I'm not prone to nervousness and I love public speaking, however, in this instance, I so desired giving the group an incredible yoga practice that my "stress" response kicked in as my prehistoric brain prepared me for fight or flight. Conveniently, studying yoga philosophy prepared me for this moment and I knew that breathing, taking those full, deep, breaths would bring me back to where I needed to be to hold space for the yogis on their mats- the moment I wanted to share. When I finished the poem I looked up around me, astonished I was nearly home. All in all, a pleasant way to travel and a good way to reflect.
Enjoy - Last year I had the obvious realization that if I wasn't creating something, I was likely consuming. Food, tv, social media, goods, services, were all sucking me in to a vortex of consumerism and pulling me away from creating the myriad of ideas I have in my head. So in 2017, I resolved to create more often and was, ultimately, successful. I wrote more, crafted more, made more art than many of the previous years. And then I went to a Creative Mornings MPLS talk featuring Mary Jo Hoffman, a native Minnesotan who took her minimalism philosophy, her creative spirit, her love of nature, and her gift for photography and gave herself a photography challenge to take one photo a day and post it where others could see it. Her urge to other creatives at the talk was to do just that, find one thing, anything you like to create, do it, and share it where others can see. And in 2018, I've resolved to do just that - my creative venture is poetry and my goal is to write just one poem a day, about anything, and share it where people can see it. Here. On my blog.
I've loved writing poems since grade school when we were given an assignment to write a book of poetry. I was particularly proud of one eloquent piece titled "Fall" that went: leaves fall, fall leaves. Ha! I still love that poem from my adolescent brain. I also see many parallels between poetry and the other creative adventure I've been on, my yoga instructor training. Writing poems gives me space for reflection and an outlet for experiences. I chose poetry as my creative challenge because that joy from penning a good line is still there. I still get that satisfaction when I synthesize an experience or feeling with all the words that feel right. And like Mary Jo's choice of photography, I am choosing something that brings me joy. I don't know what I'm going to learn yet, and I don't know where it will take me. Mary Jo admitted that some days were harder than others, that some photos turned out better than most, and I've no doubt it will be the same with my endeavor. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy the reading of them for the most part, as I'm sure I will enjoy the writing. |
AuthorCreative enthusiast, gregarious naturalist, opinionated humanist, MBA, RYT 200. Amy Kay Czechowicz completed a poetry challenge for 2018, 2020, and half of 2023 by posting an original poem daily to this blog. She teaches yin and vinyasa weekly at Green Lotus Yoga in Lakeville, Minnesota and chimes in here from time to time with musings and rhymes. Archives
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