Day 16 of 30: Global Poetry Writing Month and National Poetry Writing Month
Today Maureen at NaPoWriMo challenged us to write a poem using concrete details about a specific place. I chose China.
To all poets and creatives out there, take a moment to listen to the compelling words of Ira Glass in his two-minute talk Storytelling. Among many things, he says it is super-important for creatives to produce a lot of work. That's what I like about the "30 Days, 30 Poems" challenge: if forces me to produce. Although I'm not completely happy with any of my poems, at least I am at the page, working, and that is divine.
The crucial thing is this: show up at the page. Write every day. As Confucius notes: "It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop." [Note. to. self.]
Photo "Hangzhou Bridge and Skyline"
©Copyright 2012 Kat Shamash
"Hangzhou, China"
I. Captive Art
underneath the shirt of the
conga drummer at Eudora Station
is another shirt that says “Free Wei Wei”
every time his hands move,
free and easy and magic on the skin
of the drum,
he is thinking of escape
II. Found Art
on the sidewalk outside my high rise in Bin Jiang
lie the toothpicks that she dropped
such scattered beauty in the rain
wood against stone
in such a hurry to get somewhere else
she left them there
in the dark
for me to find
III. The Art
beside West Lake the silent
tea-harvesters
in straw hats bend
to pick tea leaves
worth more per ounce than gold
at day's end they sneak some
home for a slow-steep cuppa
they walk with soft earth underfoot
they sip the drink of emperors
they have no need for
concrete streets nor
the bullet train to Shanghai
Hangzhou.
It is the Grand Canal, the river barge
the porcelain cup, the pedal bike
the sky rise
© Kat Shamash, April 15, 2016
Notes from the Field: Day 16
As I look back over the poems that I've written, I see many that I'm not happy with, and a couple that I like. Not having the time to go back and tweak each poem is killing me. On the other hand, the whole point of this the "30 poems in 30 days" challenge to write, write, write and to keep writing new stuff. In May I'll blog more about what this experience has been like for me, but until then, suffice to say, that putting myself out here, publicly, is scary. It makes me feel very vulnerable. Ten years ago.. five years ago... even a year a go I would have never even dared to share my poetry with the public in this way. But there's something shifting in me... a fearlessness that comes with confidence and love. I come back to Rumi's words: "Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious."
And beyond all the fears we have, as creatives, to show our work, it is important to remember that the creative life takes time. As Ira Glass says in his talk "Storytelling",
"The most important possible thing [for creatives] to do is to do a lot of work." It won't be great. It will take time... years. My work is, many times, a disappointment to me and it's not measuring up to what I want. But that's okay. The important thing to do is to show up at the page. Write every day. Don't stop. As Confucius notes: "It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop."
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