Lessons in Commuting
Erzulie Dreams
Her heart sits below the waist
in an open drawer, boxed in
by nothing but air. Her useless
arms have fallen off–there’s no
curve in her hips, only bone.
With shut eyes and mouth, she dreams.
A coiled necklace quiets the screams.
~Pamela L. Taylor © 2013
~Inspired by a mixed media sculpture by Renée Stout in the Virginia Museum of Fine Art
To Be Abelia
Like the shrub I bloom best in full
or partial sun and ample rain, surrounded
by buzz and flutter. But loveless years
have pruned back hopes, cut fairy-tale
dreams to the ground. What will grow
from this stub of myself? How much
longer before flowers return?
~Pamela L. Taylor © 2013
Inspired by “You’re an Abelia,” on Story Shucker.
Once again, I’m writing a poem a day in support of all the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) writers in their challenge to produce 50,000 words in 30 days.
Tree in Abscise
From the window, I watch you become
inflamed as if shamed by the sudden
rush of your own beauty. Not long ago you idled
in the heat of summer’s yawn, camouflaged
in tender verdure. I thought this was your true
nature, but now I see the way you draw the dew
within, shed what won’t last through winter.
~ Pamela L. Taylor © 2013
It’s been a year since Poet’s Double Life joined the blogosphere. A few quick stats (because that IS what I do): 95 posts over 3,000 views from over 20 countries! I’ve posted mostly about how I maintain the creative side while having a full-time career in the non-literary world. For me, it boils down to the three R’s:
1) Reading: Keeping the brain fed with other good writing is the primary way I maintain my creative side. I’ve had several posts on the books that have found their way off the library shelves and into my hands. I’m currently reading two books that came highly recommended: a young adult sci-fi novel, Ender’s Game, and a poetry collection by Carolyn Rodgers, How I Got Ovah. Reading helps me maintain inspiration, even when I have trouble writing.
2) (W)riting/Revision: These two R’s go hand-in-hand. Having several writing spaces in the Triangle helps me find the necessary solitude to get my ideas on paper. Though I often carry my poet’s notebook, having an iPhone handy is another way I jot down ideas that come to me. Writing challenges and prompt, such as the November and April poem-a-day challenges push me to produce on a daily basis and have resulted in plenty of clay to shape into better poems. Critique groups also help improve my work by letting me understand how trusted readers hear my work.
3) Reach: I am true to myself as a poet when I am getting my poems out in the world. I attend at least one open mic in the Triangle each month to read poems and connect to other writers. This past year,I’ve taken the plunge into publication by submitting my work to various contests and literary journals and have been happy with the results (see Transit of Venus, Poetry in Plain Sight, to name a few).
Thanks for taking time to follow my double life adventures. I appreciate your comments and support.
Last month was the 4th year I celebrated National Poetry Month by participating in the April Poem-a-Day (PAD) Challenge. I wish I could say writing 30 poems for 30 days gets easier with time, but it is marathon writing experience. There’s a point in the month where I hit the wall and I have to push through. Fortunately, I’ve got a crowd of supporters whose words of encouragement keep me going until the end–which brings me to the first lesson from this year’s challenge:
1) Let MORE people know you’re doing the Challenge: Back in November, I made a public promise to share the April PAD poems on this blog and I’m so glad I fulfilled that promise. Posting the poems here introduced me to a lot of other poets and lovers of poetry who left comments or started following my blog. And I started to follow a few new blogs myself.
2) Work can be your muse: As a double-life poet, I didn’t have time to start writing once the prompt went up on the Poetic Asides blog; I had to get through an 8-hour work day first. Fortunately my “work husband” and other colleagues were more than happy to help me figure out what to do with the prompt, particularly the <blank> prompts that came out on Thursdays. My colleagues filled in the blank for the poems on day 4 (Hold that Hot Potato) and on day 11 (In Case of a Wild Hair), and work was clearly the subject of Day 15 infested poem, “During the Legislative Session” (my boss’ favorite).
3) Play with form: Sunday prompts in April were the time to use a specific poetic form. I was introduced to the sevenling, the senryu, and the shadorma, and wrote my first real sonnet (iambic pentameter and everything)! I also wrote in two of my favorite forms–the villanelle and the pantoum–and tried a bop. Writing in form makes me focus on the essence of the poem, which helps me tighten the language and imagery.
4) Be prepared to write anywhere: I usually have my journal, but I don’t carry it with me all the time. Bringing a mini-notebook helps, so does the pad of scratch paper at the office and the iPhone Notes app. Inspiration will come at any time–even at milongas!
5) You will lose sleep: I promised myself I wouldn’t go to sleep before I sent out a poem, which meant some nights I didn’t get to bed until after 2 AM (remember those milongas?). Only once did I fall asleep while composing a poem, but I woke up at 1 AM to finish it. As much as I love sleep, sacrificing a few hours was worth it. Besides, May is a great month to catch up on sleep!
If you have any lessons learned from the PAD challenge, let me know by leaving a comment.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these 30 days of poems!
Prompt (Two for Tuesday): Write a finished/never finished poem
Unfinished
I am an open parenthesis,
holding space for your run-on
stories and secrets as silent
as the e in hope.
I fall for your non sequiturs
time after time, hold my breath
with every comma, ride
the endless wave of ampersands.
Don’t leave me dangling
on the participle of our future.
End this complex sentence full stop
or with an exclamation of your love.
~Pamela L. Taylor © 2013
Prompt: Take a line from one of your poems and make it the title of a new poem (from “I am the Sun” – Day 18)
And Yet, You Can’t Turn Away
You watch him move in slow
circles on the floor, watch the face
of the woman in his arms open wide
to his embrace. She’s no match
for him, you think, with her clunky
shoes and choppy steps, but she gives
herself freely. He will take it all
until the music stops. He turns and walks
your way—eyes inviting, arms promising
comfort. You slide into his elbow fold, inhaling
the scent of midnight visits and tangled sheets
and hollow words and ringless phones—holding on
to each moment as if this dance has no end.
~Pamela L. Taylor © 2013
Prompt: Write a shadorma (3/5/3/3/7/5)
Voilà
the small boy
pounces on the mat
and voilà
he has made
a wondrous discovery—
automatic doors
~Pamela L. Taylor © 2013
A Poet's Double Life 