A Poem A Day...

April was national poetry month, but I didn't have much time to devote to either reading or writing poetry. Turned out April was marked, for our family, by several bouts of illness (we seemed to pass germs back and forth most of the month), travel, a lot of work hours, and tax preparation! Oh yes, and those odd wintry temperatures that we, along with lots of other places, experienced well into the month.

Which is not to say that even April didn't have its lovely moments. I just wasn't able to string together much time for poetry.

I've decided to make May my personal poetry month. Not just reading it more, but writing it more. In fact, I'm going to attempt to write a poem each day.

Not necessarily a good poem, or a long one, or a complete one...just a poem or at least a stanza, a conscious attempt to play with words for a few minutes.

Day one and day two have come and gone (well, two will soon be over) and thus far I've only managed what I'd call snippets or jottings. But I have managed to spend some time with a pen in my hand, and that's a start.

I'm not trying to be wildly productive. I just want to re-cultivate a more quiet and observing mindset. I need to remember how to look and listen. I need to remember what it feels like to sit in front of white space and not be afraid of it. I want to re-join the creative conservation. The letting go into beauty -- just because.